The Big Brother 24 Split House twist completely changed the game, and now host Julie Chen Moonves is speculating about whether or not it will ever return to the show. For the first time in Big Brother history, the houseguests were divided into two groups and played two separate and simultaneous games, with no contact with each other. In the unprecedented twist, one group played inside the Big Brother house, while the other played outside. Michael Bruner won the Head of Household (HOH) competition and became the leader of the indoor Big Brochella game, choosing Brittany Hoopes, Taylor Hale, Monte Taylor, and Jasmine Davis for his group. Terrance Higgins came in second and was the head of the outdoor Dyre Fest group, which included his selections of Alyssa Snider, Joseph Abdin, Kyle Capener, and Matt "Turner" Turner.
These two separate Big Brother games split up the dominant seven-person Leftovers alliance (Joseph, Michael, Kyle, Taylor, Brittany, Monte, and Turner), something they never expected. Terrance was able to evict Leftover member Joseph from Dyre Fest, while Michael evicted non-Leftover Jasmine from Big Brochella. The twist also led to the formation of the After Party, an alliance made up of surviving Dyre Fest members Turner, Kyle, Alyssa, and Terrance, because they were unsure of where they would stand with the Big Brochella members who had been bonding with each other indoors all week. Unlike some other past Big Brother twists that have fallen flat and not had much lasting impact on the game, the Split House twist turned the house upside down and reset the game.
In an interview with EW, Julie revealed if she thinks that Big Brother will ever bring back the Split House twist. The show has repeated successful twists in the past, and this one really seemed to challenge the houseguests and entertain the viewers. Julie shared that she "loved" the Big Brother Split House twist, calling it "mayhem and anarchy outside, and business as usual inside." However, she acknowledged that "in the end, what happened outside will now affect and change the lives, games, and strategy of everyone who stayed inside the house. They had an easy week inside, but now they're going to have to pay for it." The Split House twist will certainly have lasting effects on the game.
Julie went on to say that she hopes to see the Split House twist again on Big Brother, but she doubts that it will happen. She said, "I'd love to see this in future seasons but I'm sure we won't. We'll have something even more twisted." Although Julie did not mention it, the outdoor part of the Split House twist was marred by wall yellers, people who come to the Big Brother set and try to give the houseguests information when they are outside in the backyard by shouting it to them. Because the Dyre Fest members were living outside, it was much harder to shield them from these intrusions. If the Split House twist is ever repeated, perhaps both groups will have to live indoors, but separated from each other.
Even though Julie believes it to be unlikely, the return of the Big Brother Split House twist in a future season would be welcomed by fans. It really shook up the game, and it was fun and exciting to see something that had never been done before play out on the show. The Split House twist was an intriguing experiment that should return in some form on a future season of Big Brother.
Big Brother airs Sundays and Wednesdays at 8 p.m. EDT and Thursdays at 9 p.m. EDT on CBS.
Source: EW