Why Big Brother Needs to Bring Back Food Competitions for Season 27!

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As the new season of “Big Brother” approaches, I thought it was about time to revisit one of its most memorable seasons. Right now, I’m immersed in Season 10 using my Paramount+ subscription. My interest was piqued by a recent post from Dan Gheesling about Jerry MacDonald, and also because the Michigan native is considered one of the greatest players ever. So far, I’m really enjoying it, but there’s something I can’t help but hope will carry over to Season 27 when it airs this coming summer on the 2025 TV lineup.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to witness another memorable stint by a future Big Brother contestant? Indeed. Wouldn’t it be thrilling to relive the intense battles that marked Season 10? Absolutely. While I’d be overjoyed to experience all of that in Season 27, if you were to inquire about my top desire, it would be the reintroduction of a classic feature that CBS’s reality show has been without for quite some time: culinary challenges.

Big Brother Used To Do Food Challenges In Older Seasons, But Has Gotten Away From It

In the past, Big Brother would often host various contests offering luxurious prizes for the contestants. Winning a new vehicle or some money was exciting, but the most entertaining competitions were the ones centered around food. These competitions took place in two different ways.

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In one scenario, teams would be split equally, and the defeated team would face a week of meager rations. During Big Brother Season 10, this led to a heated argument within the house, as Libra Thompson argued that it was unfair for Jerry and Renny Martyn, the eldest Houseguests, to be grouped together, as they were perceived to be the primary reason their team was placed on rations. Essentially, she implied that they were responsible for their team’s predicament, which did not sit well with the older contestants, much like an inappropriate gas passing would in a church service.

In another format of culinary contests, the Houseguests collaborated as teams and undertook challenges to earn specific types of food for each completed task. This setup might result in weeks filled with an abundance of vegetables and beer, while lacking meat.

Big Brother stopped hosting food challenges after Season 10 and switched to a more straightforward Have/Have-Not challenge instead. In this twist, housemates either won food or had to make do with slop and cold showers. Over the years, it’s normal for the show to evolve, but I believe that this change made in the latest season was a mistake they should reconsider and possibly reverse.

Food Challenges Bring Some Of The Most Entertaining Content To Big Brother

Missing significantly from Big Brother’s decision to cease food competitions is the collaborative aspect of teamwork during challenges. Unlike most tasks where only one winner emerges, team challenges fostered alliances among players who didn’t always see eye-to-eye, leading to increased tension, as seen when Libra caused a commotion by complaining about being paired with Renny and Jerry on the same team, sparking a major conflict.

Additionally, I believe that teamwork significantly enriched the competitions, many of which have since been phased out from the show. For instance, there was a challenge called “Slop, Pig Ears, Crickets,” which was essentially a creative take on “Rock, Paper, Scissors.” The twist here was that the victor not only had to win each round but also had to consume the food they won as a means of scoring a point for their team.

As a movie reviewer, I can’t help but sing praises for Big Brother Season 6 and its intriguing episode titled “Conveyor Belch.” This installment saw the housemates competing in a unique challenge – they stuffed their faces with food until no crumb was left untouched. The team that managed to waste the least amount of food was granted immunity from hunger for that week, which feels like a bitter irony given that the team who ate less had to endure deprivation instead. A fascinating twist indeed!

Food contests were terrific for adding suspense and allowing participants’ survival in the form of “eating simple meals” to hang in the balance. However, it’s important to note that fairness wasn’t always a given – for instance, Jerry from Big Brother 10 lived on sparse rations for nearly an entire month. To me, this seems borderline unsafe. This brings me to another reason I’d welcome food competitions back:

The idea of contestants having to strategize and compete for edible resources adds a compelling layer of realism and challenge to the show.

I’m So Tired Of Slop Being The Only Food Punishment

In the reality TV show Big Brother, spending a week on slop is considered the harshest punishment, but nowadays, it’s seldom highlighted in episodes because it has become quite commonplace. Nevertheless, participants still face this ordeal regularly, yet they usually manage to negotiate and find a tactful solution to prevent anyone from being on slop for an extended period of time.

More On Big Brother

After Big Brother announced a new format for episodes lasting 90 minutes, I’m trying to understand if this implies significant alterations in the competition structure.

The current situation isn’t ideal. Slop, which is used to build tension and manipulate house dynamics, shouldn’t be the primary food source. I believe there are more detrimental food penalties that would be harsher than consuming slop – something equivalent to a week-long salmon diet. This not only offers a healthier choice but could potentially ruin their taste for salmon forever.

It seems obvious that with “Big Brother” having completed 27 seasons and making numerous changes throughout its history, there must be a means to enhance food penalties. If there’s still an opportunity to suggest the theme for this season and confirm the cast of Houseguests, then surely there’s time to reevaluate food punishments for this season. Let’s simply revamp the food in its entirety, as I don’t want the most memorable meals for these Houseguests to be associated with poor gameplay during their “The Traitors” tenure later on.

If you’re interested in catching up on Big Brother Season 10, you can find it streaming on Paramount+. Interestingly, Dan recently shared some news about Jerry, who has been thriving well despite being the eldest contestant to ever play the game, many years after his stint.

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2025-06-01 03:08