It’s Cirie’s ‘Big Brother’ House, They’re Just Living In It
The best to never win gets another shot... on a different show.
In Big Brother, there’s that famous (dare I say overused) saying: expect the unexpected. Though season 25 has already lobbed a handful of signature twists at the just-moved-in houseguests, including four move-in competitions with four separate eviction nominees, the true twist of the season premiere came just as the credits began to roll.
**This article contains information from the Big Brother 25 live feeds, and will include spoilers for viewers who are only watching episodes**
As the 16 houseguests made their way inside, they were greeted with a familiar (to some) face: Survivor legend/robbed goddess Cirie Fields. We already knew that her son, Jared, would be playing the game this season, but Cirie’s surprise inclusion tilts the Big Brother 25 house entirely on its head, and though a majority of the other houseguests might not know it yet, there’s now a major strategic mastermind right under their noses, poised and ready to finally outlast the competition and bring home the win.
Let’s slow it down a bit — who is Cirie Fields, and why is the devoted side of reality TV/Big Brother Twitter losing her minds that she’s on the season? Certainly, most of the houseguests seem to have no clue who Cirie is, other than the fact that she’s a former Survivor contestant who’s joined Big Brother as a 17th houseguest for the summer. But calling Cirie a “former Survivor contestant” would be like calling Kelly Clarkson a “former American Idol contestant” — sure, it’s technically true, but it’s a gross understatement of her significance within the Survivor universe and the scope of her skill. Houseguests Jared and Cory calling Cirie the “best to never win” isn’t an exaggeration—Cirie has played four times (first in 2006 on Panama, but subsequently on Micronesia, Heroes vs Villains, and Game Changers).
Yes, four seasons without a win doesn’t *seem* like a stellar track record, but as Cory (and Cirie herself) have frequently told the other houseguests, Cirie consistently made it *just short* of final tribal council, and her allies almost always ended up taking home the million dollars: just ask Parvati Shallow. Cirie’s gameplay is masterful for its subtlety: Though she isn’t the strongest in physical competitions (her lack of a win is almost always due to her coming up short of crucial late-game challenge wins), she’s an ace at quietly collecting information, building power structures, and positioning herself and her allies in the perfect spot to control votes.
For years, fans have said that a show like Big Brother, where the competitions are just as frequently mental ones as they are physical, would be a perfect outing for Cirie to finally get that hard-earned CBS reality tv check, and now, it looks like that chance has finally come to fruition. What’s most shocking about Cirie’s time on Big Brother so far (aside from the fact that she’s in the house at all) is just how little her other houseguests seem to know about her. Unless somebody is keeping their knowledge of her Survivor tenure very quiet, the only houseguests besides her son Jared who have any reverence for her strategic capability are Izzy and Cory (the latter of whom is also the relative of a Survivor castaway).
The real kicker, though, is that Izzy is the only person in the house who knows the juiciest secret: Jared is Cirie’s son. In Big Brother even more than Survivor, social game and strategy is key: the game always ends in a final two (as opposed to varying numbers of finalists on Survivor) so knowing the Jared/Cirie connection is a crucial piece of information the other houseguests are sorely lacking. There’s no possible way anyone would come between a mother/son duo on a show about backstabbing and loyalty like Big Brother, and her fellow hous\eguests’ lack of Survivor knowledge is proving to be a massive advantage. So far, with the exception of Izzy, nobody else has any idea that Cirie and Jared are related, which puts them in the perfect position to cement Jared as a mole on the other side of the house who can constantly feed information to Cirie, who shapes her alliance’s strategies.
Yes, Cirie playing alongside her son could certainly prove to be a handicap: Jared has nowhere near Cirie’s level of social maneuvering or gameplay experience, and has already taken to putting his foot in his mouth at inopportune times and sharing information that he probably should’ve kept between himself and his mother. But at the same time, Jared is an incredible advantage—he can win the physical competitions Cirie can’t, she can guide (and smooth over the flaws) of his social game, and Cirie can confidently move forward knowing she has at least one ride-or-die ally who will never even consider stabbing her in the back—a true Big Brother rarity.
Granted, it hasn’t been 100% smooth sailing for Cirie so far—live feed viewers already know that some bad intel from ally Izzy sent Cirie on somewhat of a spiral when it looked like she might be the victim of a backdoor nomination from HOH Reilly—but if things continue the way they’re going now, Cirie doesn’t need to sweat any time soon. Positioned at the heart of a strong alliance, completely pulling the wool over everyone’s eyes about her relationship with Jared, beloved by the entire house (even those aligned against her) and (most importantly) consistently underestimated by houseguests like Cameron and Luke, who have absolutely no clue how revered she is by the Survivor community.
Certainly, she’s still got a long road ahead of her—this is, after all, the Big Brother house where things change on a dime, and with the longest season ever at 100 days, it’s far too early to tell what the true obstacles to Cirie’s potential victory may be. Could Izzy switch up on Cirie and Jared and spill their secret to the house? Certainly. Is it possible that someone else saw Jared as Cirie’s family visit on Survivor: Game Changers and is quietly keeping that information to themselves as they wait for an opportune time to drop that bomb? Never say never.
But if you (like this humble journalist) are feeling like this could be Cirie’s chance to finally take it all, you’re not alone— Big Brother 25 might just deliver a long-awaited win to a reality TV icon.
(featured images via CBS and Paramount Plus)
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