Big Brother Season 28: Can an All-Returning Players Season Work Again?

A Big Brother house is nothing without its houseguests.

As Big Brother Season 28 gears up for a summer of blindsides, it’s got us wondering who will be competing for the prize.

Which lucky houseguests will be our comp beasts, our showmances, our villains? And of course, our winner!

Like clockwork, theories are floating everywhere.

What better way to use Big Brother Season 28’s “Time Travel” twist than for it to be a returning houseguests season?

The Traitors repopularized reality TV stars as casting twists, both as a partial cast and a full All-Stars return.

MTV’s The Challenge has been there and done that for 30+ seasons now. But look to House of Villains, Perfect Match, etc.

Hell, even Project Runway is jumping on the stunt casting lately!

For us Big Brother fanatics, we’ve had our share of returning houseguests.

The series loves a casting twist. The CBS summer staple has had plenty of them throughout its 25+-year run, and we love seeing returning players on Big Brother.

However, for every redemption arc (Big Brother Season 13) or explosive reunion (Big Brother Season 6), we’ve had epic implosions too. And not in a good way.

Case in point, the last all-returning houseguest season: Big Brother Season 22, aka Big Brother All-Stars 2.

Big Brother All-Stars 2 is one of the worst seasons of Big Brother ever. The show hasn’t had a full returning cast since the summer of 2020. But with the latest rumors, is the show — and we as fans —ready for another All-Stars-type cast?

Big Brother Season 22 could’ve faltered for several reasons.

For example, it was the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Casting availabilities were few and far between; many veterans opted not to return.

And, allegedly, some veterans failed their COVID test and couldn’t return.

Plus, after Big Brother Canada Season 8 shut down midseason, no one was certain if a Big Brother U.S. season would even happen.

Many things worked against this season before it was confirmed.

So, pair a global pandemic, a lot of stress, and a mismatched cast of whoever was available.

Big Brother fans, myself included, are very grateful to have a season that year. We needed it during a tough quarantine summer!

It’s also true that Big Brother Season 22 is what we got.

We didn’t get all our Big Brother legends back or summer gimmicks. But the game made the best of what could be done.

Big Brother Season 28 is now six years later. It’s a whole new world of casting possibilities and changes that can fix those bumps.

Let’s look beyond the 2020 world and analyze an all-returning-players season by itself.

Big Brother U.S. achieved this twice: Big Brother Season 7 and Big Brother Season 22.

We’ve had newbie-versus-veteran seasons before, including twists in which Survivor and Amazing Race players joined the cast. But there’s nothing as complete as these two.

Bringing back a large pool of returning players has its benefits. However, it also has challenges.

It’s like The Hunger Games: Catching Fire effect for reality TV shows.

These returning houseguests have histories!

History with the game. History with their past performances. And of course, history with each other.

The juiciest moments come from when a houseguest hasn’t gotten over their past hurt. Or how their relationships changed since their original season.

These dynamics spice up the game, fueling all the storylines and alliances.

The downside is what ultimately hurt Big Brother Season 22.

Particularly, the pre-game alliances and expectations stopped everyone from playing the game.

As reality TV fanatics, we can admit there is pre-gaming from returning players. It’s either directly planned or naturally assumed (e.g., forming alliances).

The problem is that when these large alliances take a firm hold on the game, they take it hostage.

Big Brother Season 22 has a dominant alliance that won everything. In turn, their ego and attitude about winning negatively affect the course of the season.

And for three months, Big Brother All-Stars 2 was stuck in a never-ending cycle of despair.

Comparatively, Big Brother Season 7 didn’t have a huge gap.

Sure, there were pre-game alliances, and the Big Brother Season 6 alliance had a winning streak. However, the momentum changes early on to give a fair shot.

The 2006 houseguests were open about making deals and betraying each other.

Could this be due to reality TV still being in its early era? Or that Big Brother Season 7 is the first iteration of a Big Brother All-Stars?

Where could it be adjusted if we’re still feeling hesitant?

The Challenge and The Traitors have a good concept in where they pull their talent from. Maybe it isn’t only from Big Brother veterans?

Could a few spots be pulled from other CBS shows, like Survivor or The Amazing Race? Or a half-cast of newbies vs. veterans?

Survivor Season 16 is a classic for a reason. While the newbies don’t always stack up against the veterans, they can surprise us.

Another option could be casting twists.

Returning exes, the coaches, dynamic duos, and secret siblings are just some of Big Brother’s beloved twists.

If I had a choice, let’s bring back the dynamic duos or the secret pairs! (Or the exes; I love the dash of chaos.)

The duo’s twist forces houseguests to work together, creating new alliances. It effectively breaks up pre-game deals.

On the other hand, secret pairs prioritize their main alliance over a big group. These houseguests need to start thinking strategically about what benefits them.

If Big Brother Season 28 (or a future season) is all returning players, we’ll need to make peace with the pre-game alliances.

While it ruins the spirit of the game, it’s unfortunately inevitable.

There will always be moves that happen pre-season where we’ll have no impact on. Hopefully, the veterans learned the lessons of the past so as not to waste their chance.

The last thing we need is another Big Brother Season 22.

Would you be excited for an all-returning-players Big Brother season?

Let us know in the comments, or share this article with someone who is ready to chat Big Brother. You’ll never know what they’ll say. It’s never too late to expect the unexpected.

You made it to the end — and that means a lot.
We’re an independent site run by passionate fans, not studios or corporations. If you enjoyed this piece, please share it or leave a comment — it really does help.