After initially choosing to go with a viewer vote to crown each season's champion, Big Brother changed its format for season 2. Ever since then, the show has used a jury comprised of previously evicted houseguests to cast a single vote each as to whom they believe deserved the season's grand prize. This method was enacted in order to try and ensure the most deserving winner would win, as opposed to the player most liked by fans.
While most winners are considered worthy of having taken home that title, some winners have been more hotly debated. Reddit has a large community of Big Brother superfans, leading to it becoming the home of plenty of fun debates on the topic of which second-place finishers were robbed.
Ryan Quicksall (Season 9)
Season 9 is oftentimes forgotten, as it was thrown together last minute to fill up space during the 2007 Writer's Guild Strike. It also featured an extremely controversial winner, with Adam Jasinski taking the win over Ryan. Many believe this was not the right outcome.
Reddit commenter redditsavage77 wrote "Ryan should have won Season 9 over Adam for sure. He played a much stronger game..." This may be true, as Adam was mostly kept around due to being likable and goofy, whereas Ryan had to play the game more. Ryan also won five competitions, including the extremely pivotal final HoH, compared to just three comp wins from Adam. Adam making disparaging comments earlier in the season also soured him to Redditors.
Danielle Reyes (Season 3)
Danielle is easily one of the most liked Big Brother houseguests by fans of the show, but at the time of her season, her housemates seemingly had a different perception. Season 3 was the final season where the jury was not sequestered, meaning they saw everything she had to say about them in the diary room, swaying their votes away from her.
Reddit user catharinamg wrote about this, commenting "The worst part about Danielle is that she wasn't even that disrespectful in her DRs...she only lost because people expected HGs to be kind and trustworthy back then, rather than secretly cutthroat." They raise a fair point, as Danielle really didn't say anything too obscene in the DR, with her sessions being comparable to some modern day winners.
Allison Irwin (Season 4)
Making up one of the most iconic female friendships in Big Brother history, Jun Song defeated her alliance member Allison Irwin on finale night. Both were intensely controversial among their fellow housemates and absolutely needed each other as the only way to make it to the end. Allison's manipulation left a bad taste in the jury's mouth, leading to Jun defeating her.
Redditor feelriste said that they believe Allison was a deserving winner, writing "That girl played hard. Hard as hell. And she deserved a win. There is nothing that makes me more frustrated than a bitter jury, and that’s what happened to Allison Irwin." Jun perfected the floater strategy, while Allison used calculated flirtations to advance, seemingly "playing" a bunch of men, leading to Jun taking the win.
Daniele Donato (Season 8)
The iconic father-daughter duo from season 8 shocked the world and made it all the way to the final two. Dick ultimately took the win over her daughter, but it wasn't without a bit of debate.
User VHalliewell made a good observation, writing "If Eric had gotten a Daniele vote, she would have won." This is in reference to Eric Stein, who was America's Player during the season, given tasks each week by fan vote, with campaigning for Dick on finale night being one of them. He went on to win despite terrorizing his housemates all season, winning fewer comps than Dani, and narrowly avoiding eviction numerous times thanks to twists. Daniele's historic seven competition wins and coping with her estranged father may have made her more deserving.
Natalie Martinez (Season 11)
Big Brother 11 is most remembered for the JeJo showmance between Jeff Schroeder and Jordan Lloyd, with Jordan ultimately taking home the victory. While Jordan may be beloved for her iconic quotes, some viewers have a different opinion than the jury on who should have won.
A thread was started to discuss who truly deserved the victory, with commenter PresidentJoe giving one of the fairest assessments. They wrote, "I think Natalie deserved to win over Jordan, but she did make a couple big mistakes." Natalie was more involved in playing the game hard and making big moves, but oftentimes was rude in her goodbye messages, and would lie unnecessarily. This certainly sunk her game against the always honest and sincere Jordan.
Porsche Briggs (Season 13)
While Porsche isn't exactly considered a powerhouse of a player, she did still play a decent game in one of the most watched seasons ever, winning competitions and making tough decisions when she had to. The crowd who believes she deserved to win her season is more so criticizing Rachel's path to victory, claiming she had an easier route.
Redditor ZombieDonShula stated "Porsche was pretty robbed. She deserved it 1000x more than Rachel." This belief comes from the fact that Rachel benefitted from almost every twist done during the season, including her husband Brendon taking two shots for her, as he came back after being evicted, and a twist in a week she was being targeted that brought back a Veto competition that Rachel had already previously won.
Dan Gheesling (Season 14)
Dan returned four years later to defend his season 10 victory, and almost became the first two-time champion. Instead, he lost in a near-unanimous vote to Ian Terry. While it is an accepted truth that Ian played a good game, some think that Dan was slightly more deserving.
User Nicktalksflicks05 created a thread discussing this, writing "Dan played an amazing game in BB14 (Dan’s funeral, Shane’s eviction, etc.) but the jury seemed very negative towards him and almost gave Ian (who in all fairness, played an okay game) a unanimous win." The comments were largely in support of Dan deserving the win, but him having safety the first few weeks and his sometimes unnecessary deceitfulness were common arguments as to why Ian deserved it. Regardless, both of these two solidified themselves as BB legends during season 14.
Paul Abrahamian (Season's 18 and 19)
Paul is one of the most accomplished Big Brother contestants to ever enter the house, joining Dan Gheesling and Cody Calafiore as the only houseguests to reach the final two twice. What the other two have that Paul lacks, is a victory. Many think he was robbed though.
One Reddit user wrote, "Just finished season 19 and I cannot believe they lost by one vote…again. Homie played a flawless game and deserved to win. Both times." Paul played a bit of a cutthroat game both seasons by betraying many people who put trust in him, earning them a bit of a bad reputation that may be undeserved. The jurors seemed to think it was deserved, however, shutting him out twice.
Ross Matthews (Celebrity Season 1)
After finding great success across the Atlantic in the U.K., Celebrity Big Brother was brought stateside in 2017, producing some of the most entertaining houseguests the show has ever seen. Season 1 was one of the best, featuring Marissa Jaret Winokur besting Ross Matthews on finale night.
Redditor TheFestusEzeli dedicated a thread to it, writing "Personally, I feel like Ross was the Paul of this season, pulling strings behind the scenes and carrying someone with him to the end just to lose to them." Many felt that Ross had the best strategy to make it to the end, playing hard and fast in order to get himself there. Marissa's gameplay was strong too, but her relationships with jurors is what ultimately got her the win.
Tyler Crispen (Season 20)
A common theme among all of these contested finales is the second-place finisher mismanaging the jury, and that is the case with season 20 too. Tyler played what is widely regarded on Reddit as having played one of the best games in modern Big Brother history, but he still came in second.
User Kingofdaydreaming commented, "Tyler's game was Houdini level, he lost to someone with zero, and I mean, zero strategy." While saying Kaycee had "zero strategy" may be a bit harsh, her victory was largely fueled by her being more honest with her housemates, while Tyler used cutthroat strategies to maneuver his way to finale night. Fans tend to like the hardcore gameplay better, leading to many believing Tyler was robbed.