Fans have been asking for a second All-Stars season for many years and they finally got it in 2020. Big Brother 22: All-Stars was the show’s first All-Stars season since Big Brother 7. With plenty of fan-favorites and great players to choose from, fans were eager to see who would make the final cut.
The final cast for BB22 featured a mixture of likable and unlikable players from past seasons. Based on each houseguest’s personality, gameplay, and the way they interacted with others, some of the houseguests proved to be more likable than ever while others reached new lows of unlikability.
Memphis Garrett
Even though he was part of the larger Committee alliance, Memphis thought for himself and did what was best for his game instead of just mindlessly following the Committee. While this was respectable gameplay, Memphis showed his true colors when he mocked fellow houseguest Ian Terry for being on the autism spectrum. He made comments about Ian’s rocking motions being unsettling and that he was going to have nightmares about Ian standing over him rocking back and forth.
Memphis also had a bizarre obsession with getting David Alexander out of the game and proving to David that he was nothing more than a “rookie.” He used problematic and offensive language in other instances as well. This ableist and racist behavior, along with his generally cold and arrogant nature, made Memphis the most unlikable houseguest in this season.
Christmas Abbott
Christmas was a frustrating and unlikable houseguest on many levels. She continually called herself a “comp beast” even though she didn’t really earn many of her competition wins. When she won the week 5 HOH competition, she didn’t get any answers correct and only won because the people she happened to be paired against got the questions wrong.
She only won the week 5 veto competition because her competitors had false starts or decided to throw the competition. Her week 5 HOH reign was poorly handled as she lashed out at Bayleigh and Da’Vonne after putting them on the block and claimed she was attacked, completely oblivious of her problematic behavior throughout the week.
Cody Calafiore
Cody was an arrogant and inauthentic individual who was not as charming as he perceived himself to be. He never owned his moves in the game and always created weak, phony, and apologetic excuses to explain the moves he was making.
While he was great at winning competitions, his condescending social game alienated several houseguests as a result. He expected everyone to bow down to him and do his bidding when he was HOH, including the people that he put on the block.
Nicole Franzel
Nicole was already surrounded by criticism and controversy heading into this season. Once the game started, her obsession with Janelle Pierzina grew tiresome very quickly. She was deeply offended that she invited Janelle to her wedding and that Janelle was still coming after her in the game. Beyond her Janelle obsession, Nicole was frustrating to watch because she refused to own her manipulative game moves and always insisted on painting herself as a victim, even during her diary room sessions.
She turned on Ian Terry–who she had a final two deal with and claimed was her best friend in the house–and that was justifiable from a gameplay perspective. What’s not okay was that Nicole didn’t stick up for Ian and laughed hysterically when Memphis mocked him, which has rightfully caused Nicole to lose many of her sponsors.
Danielle Donato-Briones
Dani spent too much time trying to be the new “queen” of Big Brother and planting unnecessary seeds of paranoia, which included targeting likable houseguests such as Da’Vonne Rogers and Bayleigh Dayton. Eventually, Dani did want to start working closely with Da’Vonne, but at this point, it was too late to make it work.
She was also frustrating to watch during her HOH reign as she backtracked on getting Tyler out and made sure she wouldn’t have to keep Ian in a tied vote, even though evicting Tyler and keeping Ian was best for her game. Gameplay aside, she was one of the despicable individuals who laughed and participated in mocking Ian Terry.
Tyler Crispen
Unlike many others in the Committee alliance, Tyler thought about what was best for his game and didn’t just follow the herd-like mindset all of the time. He could be charming, strategic, and was great at competitions.
Tyler made himself unlikable, though, when he tried to get himself evicted from the game. Many fans were bothered by Tyler giving players false hope and using their social causes to justify his game moves, making him more unlikeable than he was during his original season. Of course, this is a complicated issue and many fans don’t agree with this assessment. Tyler was privileged to be given the opportunity to be an All-Star, and many former houseguests would’ve loved to be on an All-Stars season.
Kevin Campbell
Kevin brought forth important conversations about LGBTQ and biracial representation. He could be a quirky and endearing individual, and one couldn’t help but feel bad for him after being put up on the block 5 times.
His reads on what was happening in the house were terrible, though, and this made him less likable. He refused to trust Janelle and Kaysar and filled Nicole Anthony’s head with paranoia and bitterness about how they betrayed her. This sabotaged Nicole’s game, hurt Janelle and Kaysar–who were already isolated in the house–and this didn’t help Kevin’s own game at all. He saw alliances and connections that didn’t exist and was unable to wisely use the information he possessed.
Nicole Anthony
As a sweet and quirky individual, Nicole won America’s Favorite Houseguest during BB21. She had the potential to once again be one of the most likable houseguests. When she was put on the block during the second week of this season, though, she made the unlikable choice of constantly bashing Janelle and Kaysar, even though they were the only ones advocating for her to stay in the game.
While this was frustrating to watch, it wasn’t entirely Nicole’s fault as Kevin was filling her head with paranoia and bad information. It was clear that Nicole had unresolved issues from her difficult time in the house during BB21 and that returning so soon was taking a serious toll on her mental health.
David Alexander
As a former first-night evictee now returning for an All-Stars season, David was the ultimate underdog. Not only was David an underdog, but he seemed like a genuine guy who was grateful to be partaking in the full Big Brother experience.
Unfortunately, David sometimes made confounding game decisions that hurt his own game and made it difficult to forge strong connections with others in the house. At times he also seemed to lack a basic understanding of how Big Brother is played, partly because he’s barely watched any previous seasons. Lacking this basic knowledge and respect of the game made it harder to get behind what could’ve been the ultimate underdog and redemption story.
Enzo Palumbo
The hilarious Enzo proved to be one of the most entertaining houseguests to watch this season. Not only was he amusing to watch, but he was also underappreciated for his stellar social game. He forged many positive and strong connections, was friendly with everyone, and had no beef with any of his fellow houseguests. He’d frequently tell other houseguests exactly what they wanted to hear, keeping the target on others and never on himself.
Enzo’s likability was marred by the fact that he was often all talk and no action, though. He’d talk about wanting to shake up the house, not play it safe, and to get the former winners out of the game. Despite this talk, he did the safest possible thing in his week 4 HOH when he put Kaysar and Kevin on the block, the houseguest almost everyone wanted out against a pawn. During the triple eviction, he could’ve been the deciding vote to evict former winner Nicole Franzel but he chose to go the safe route and evict David instead.
Keesha Smith
Fans were ecstatic to see the sweet and fiery Keesha return to Big Brother after a 12-year hiatus from the game. Unfortunately, Keesha was put on the block during the first week and was the first houseguest evicted.
The fiery side of her never had a chance to come out and she waited far too long to start campaigning for herself to stay. However, this side of Keesha has emerged after her eviction and fans have been blessed to see it on Twitter. Keesha will always be a Big Brother icon and she deserves another chance to play as fans were robbed of the full Keesha experience this season.
Bayleigh Dayton
Bayleigh was unafraid to be herself in this game. She worked with people she genuinely liked such as Da’Vonne and Enzo. Even though most of the house was targeting Janelle and Kaysar and was keeping their distance from them, Bayleigh wasn’t scared to be friendly with them.
Bayleigh earned a great deal of respect during the fifth week of the season. Christmas betrayed Bayleigh’s trust, put her on the block, expected Bayleigh to comfort her, and lashed out at Bayleigh. Through all of this, Bayleigh kept her composure and remained a class act.
Janelle Pierzina
Janelle will always be the true queen of Big Brother and this made her a target from the second she entered the house. Despite being a massive target, Janelle was unapologetically herself and owned her game. From the moment when she entered the Safety Suite to her diary room sessions and social game, Janelle did everything with style and confidence.
While the majority of houseguests entered into countless alliances, Janelle was legitimately loyal to her allies. She fought hard to keep Keesha and Nicole Anthony, even to the detriment of her own game. Of course, she also stayed loyal to Kaysar and rekindled the wonderful dynamic and ironclad trust that they share.
Ian Terry
Ian once again proved to be a down-to-earth, kind, genuine, and highly logical individual. He bravely opened up to the other houseguests about being on the autism spectrum, providing important representation and setting a wonderful example. When Christmas made him her plus one for winning a Safety Suite competition, Ian was given a week-long punishment in which he had to constantly play the role of Dirk Spacejammer and rehearse scenes at the drop of a hat. Ian took this punishment in stride and had fun with it.
He made the logical move of aligning closely with Nicole Franzel, the only other former winner in the house. This kept him safe for a while, but when Nicole ultimately betrayed him, Ian was able to look at it as a logical game move and didn’t hold any resentment against her.
Kaysar Ridha
Kaysar showed deep compassion and intuitiveness. He engaged houseguests like Ian and Da’Vonne in thought-provoking, natural, and honest conversations about important topics like autism, systemic racism, religion, and self-awareness.
Seeing him reunite with Janelle was also a real treat. They shared a deep bond of unbreakable loyalty, admiration, and respect for one another, along with delightful banter and chemistry. Kaysar correctly identified most of the powerful alliances and players in the house, but unfortunately, he never got the power to do anything about it. That didn’t stop him from using his eviction speech to call out the houseguests’ lackluster and scared gameplay.
Da’Vonne Rogers
Da’Vonne once again proved to be a witty and intuitive individual who was playing for something larger than herself. She used her platform to discuss and bring attention to the Black Lives Matter movement, justice for Breonna Taylor, transgender rights, and the need for better representation in the game of Big Brother. Her eviction speeches were incredibly moving and her diary room sessions were full of humor and raw emotion. She consistently demonstrated that she was a diehard fan of the game and that she respects it deeply.
Da’Vonne was one of the only houseguests who defied the will of the majority and used her power to shake up the game when she won the power of veto and used it to pull Kevin off of the block. She said she will continue to play Big Brother until she wins and there is no doubt that fans will continue to eagerly watch her play.
