The fans are voting to choose which player should win America's Favorite Houseguest on Big Brother 22: All-Stars, which means that it's time to look back at all the previous winners. The America's Favorite Houseguest award - which was originally known as America's Favorite Juror - was introduced on Big Brother 7, which also happened to be the series' first All-Stars season in history. From its inception, this award was meant to give fans the chance of electing their favorite player in the season. For some, this means voting for a great strategist or fierce competitor that might've gotten "robbed" of a spot in the endgame. For others, this means rewarding a player who truly captivated the fans.
Just like the list of Big Brother winners from seasons past, there aren't that many similarities in the list of America's Favorite Houseguest winners. All of these players got the AFH award for very different reasons that were specific to their respective seasons. Some won because of their charisma, others won because of their relentlessness. Some won because they were put down by the dominant players, others won because they were dominant players who fell short of a win. All in all, there isn't an exact science to winning AFH, even if one finds a few coincidences along the way.
On Big Brother 7: All-Stars, Janelle Pierzina became the first-ever contestant to win the title of America's Favorite Houseguest. She took home the title's $25,000 cash prize. 14 years later, the prize for AFH winners is still $25,000. That amount has not changed between BB7 and BB22. The following year on Big Brother 8, the show did not feature the America's Favorite Houseguest award. Instead, the show included the America's Player twist throughout the season, which had the fans controlling every decision made by contestant Eric Stein. However, the AFH award was present in every single season starting on Big Brother 9. The winners are James Zinkand (BB9), Keesha Smith (BB10), Jeff Schroeder (BB11), Britney Haynes (BB12), Jeff Schroeder (BB13), Frank Eudy (BB14), Elissa Slater (BB15), Donny Thompson (BB16), James Huling (BB17), Victor Arroyo (BB18), Cody Nickson (BB19), Tyler Crispen (BB20), and Nicole Anthony (BB21).
At the moment, BB11 and BB13 contestant Jeff Shroeder is the only two-time winner of America's Favorite Houseguest. However, it must be noted that Janelle Pierzina and Tyler Crispen are two of the frontrunners to win the title on Big Brother 22: All-Stars, which would be a second win for either of them. In any case, whoever wins AFH this year will also take home the same $25,000 cash prize that has been given out since 2006.
When looking at the list of previous AFH winners, it's hard to identify a lot of common ground between those contestants. This means that it's anyone's game to take this award on BB22.
Big Brother 22: All-Stars airs Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at 8pm EST on CBS.