One of my favorite summer traditions has started! And no, I’m not talking about sunburns and me running down the street in pursuit of the ice cream man (not that, uh, I’ve done that or anything). I’m talking about Big Brother. The show is underway, the houseguests are in, and, as usual, anything goes. As far as cast members go, there are a lot of repeat customers (more on that in a minute), but there are also the siblings of former cast members Cody Calafiore and Vanessa Rousso. Are there any other siblings on Big Brother 18 ?
There are only two that viewers know of so far and since both Tiffany Rousso and Paulie Calafiore revealed their sibling status in their CBS bios, it's extremely unlikely that any other houseguests have secret familial connections. But if this season goes well and viewers find it interesting to have a plethora of family members on Big Brother 18, I wouldn't be surprised if future seasons continue this trend by adding more ex-houseguests siblings. Family day at the Big Brother house, y’all!
According to her CBS bio, Tiffany is already making her strategy to win. She said she’s going to “build rapport with everyone, be social, and have one person I can trust until the end.” Not a bad way to go about it. Paulie Calafiore, brother of Season 16 runner-up Cody, is keeping mum about how he’ll win. When asked his strategy in his Big Brother 18 bio, he said, “There are multiple strategies I’ll use, none of which have any meaning prior to entering the house and seeing what pieces I’ll be playing chess with.” Fair enough.
If you think about it, adding a sibling to Big Brother is pretty genius. You already have an advantage because your sibling can (hopefully) fill you in on how the whole process works — how to avoid cameras, how to talk to producers and people, how to choose the right alliance partners, etc. But do you know what I think would make better television? Being on the show with your sibling. It would be both a blessing and a curse, and here’s why.
The Support
The good thing about having a sibling in the Big Brother house with you is that you have a built-in support system for this weird experience. You also have someone who is guaranteed not to vote you off, because Mom would be like, really mad at you if you did that to your sister or brother.
The Secret Language
There are cameras everywhere on Big Brother — and I mean everywhere. Everyone is always wearing a mic, so everything you say is recorded. I don’t know about you, but I have a sort of secret language with my sister, and it would certainly come in handy when trying to talk strategy or about how I hate someone else in the house.
The Competition
Say you and your sibling make it to the end… then what do you do? You’ll have to compete with each other for the top prize. You could certainly split that prize money — combining the winner’s $500,000 with the runner-up’s $50,000 and halving it would still be a nice chunk of change — but not everyone would probably be in agreement of that. You’ll need Mom or Dad to break this one up.
Will Big Brother add more siblings into the mix? If Paulie and Tiffany make Season 18 an exciting one, I'm sure they won't be the last.
Images: Bill Inoshita/CBS; Giphy (3)
