Little did the fans know, but Christian Birkenberger was actually rejected from being cast on Survivor prior to joining the Big Brother 23 cast in 2021. Christian had a strong start on BB23 as one of four houseguests to earn the title of team captain. Even though he was a strong competitor, Christian was ultimately blindsided one week prior to the start of the jury phase.
The players quickly learned inside the house that Christian worked as a model prior to BB23. Since being evicted from the game, Christian has been sharing different advertisements and commercials he has been a part of on social media. In addition to modeling, Christian is also quite active and fit, which helped him succeed in the physical competitions on the show. Leading up to his backdoor eviction, Christian fought his heart out in an effort to stay in the house.
Prior to Christian's eviction, live-feed viewers had overheard a conversation in which he revealed to his fellow houseguests that he had once applied to be on Survivor. According to Heavy, Christian applied to be on the show three years prior to his Big Brother stint. It turns out that he made it to the part in the casting process where the host of Survivor Jeff Probst "picks who flies out for the finals." The casting team then had to break the news to Christian that he did not get chosen simply because Jeff didn't like him.
Alas, Christian didn't take the rejection to heart. He explained to his fellow houseguests that he believed Jeff didn't like him due to the fact he was a model. In the past, there have been models who were cast on the show and turned out to be "duds," according to Christian. As such, he believes that Jeff feared he wouldn't bring anything to the show. He is not one to hold grudges, though. Christian joked that now that Jeff has seen how much of a strong and competitive player he was on Big Brother, Jeff must be regretting his decision. In addition to being a strong player, Julie Chen also noted that Christian plays with his heart, which only adds to his resume.
It is not uncommon for there to be crossover cast members between ViacomCBS reality shows. Past Big Brother players such as Caleb Reynolds and Hayden Moss competed on Survivor after their time inside the famous house. Other past players went on to compete on shows such as The Challenge and The Amazing Race. So, things will probably work out for Christian just fine. Perhaps he will be the next Big Brother alum to go on to compete on Survivor in the future if Jeff does change his opinion of him.
Big Brother 23 airs Sundays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at 8 p.m. EST on CBS.
Source: Heavy