Big Brother’s breakout stars during the 2010s: Big Brother 13

With the 2010s soon to be in the rearview mirror, we decided to look back at Big Brother seasons of the past decade. Over the next several days, we will look at the most notable breakout player from each season (in our opinion) this decade. This will mean Big Brother 12 to Big Brother 21 with Over the Top and Celebrity versions included.

With the 2010s soon to be in the rearview mirror, we decided to look back at Big Brother seasons of the past decade. Over the next several days, we will look at the most notable breakout player from each season (in our opinion) this decade. This will mean Big Brother 12 to Big Brother 21 with Over the Top and Celebrity versions included.

Now, we will be examining the breakout star of Big Brother 13. This season was tricky to decide on the breakout star. At first, I wanted to choose one of the newbies because the veterans technically already had their breakout and that’s why they got invited back. But then I realized, none of the newbies played a particularly great game this season. The only one I could have possibly made a case for was Shelly Moore. Realizing this, we ended up choosing Rachel Reilly as the breakout star of Big Brother 13.

Big Brother 13’s breakout star: Rachel Reilly

There was a huge difference in Rachel’s game between Big Brother 12 and Big Brother 13. For one thing, there was no brigade this season. It also likely helped her that showmance, Brendon Villegas wasn’t around as much after he sacrificed himself for Rachel. With Brendon gone, she was able to focus more on strategy.

Big Brother 13 started off with a dynamic duos twist. This twist forced the 8 newbies to form 4 pairs of 2. Keith Henderson paired up with Porsche Briggs, Cassi Colvin paired up with Shelly Moore, Dominic Briones paired up with Adam Poch, and Lawon Exum paired up with Kalia Booker. The twist also sent 3 pairs of former houseguests into the house. The duos included Brendon and Rachel, Jeff Schroeder and Jordan Lloyd, and Dick “Evel Dick” Donato and Daniele Donato.

If your partner won HOH, you were also immune from eviction. As HOH, instead of nominating 2 people, you would nominate 1 duo. As a result, the POV would also remove one duo if it was used. If the POV was used on a duo, then a new duo would be named the replacement nominees. If your partner got evicted along the way, you would receive a golden key, making you immune until the end of week 3. However, those with the golden key were not allowed to play in competitions.

Rachel started off Big Brother 13 as part of the veterans alliance that dominated the early portion of the game. Despite having only 6 veterans to 8 newbies, the veterans were able to reel in some of the newbies including Adam and Porsche.

Rachel won the first HOH and nominated the duo of Keith and Porsche for eviction, with the intention of evicting Keith. During Rachel’s HOH reign, Evel Dick quit the game, giving Daniele the golden key. The houseguests played in duos for the first POV of the season. Brendon and Rachel won the POV and they kept nominations the same. Rachel was able to eliminate her target when Keith was evicted in a 6-4 vote.

Rachel was able to remain safe during week 2. During this time, she helped her alliance take out Cassi. This earned Shelly the golden key.

Rachel won HOH again in week 3, earning Brendon safety. This time, she nominated the duo of Dominic and Adam, with the intention of targeting Dominic. It was during this time that Daniele started to stray away from the veterans alliance as she had a close relationship with Dominic. Brendon won the POV and chose not to use it. Dominic was evicted 7-1.

After week 3, the dynamic duos twist dissolved and Big Brother would be played as it normally is. Daniele won HOH in week 4 and chose to nominate Brendon and Rachel, with the intention of splitting them up. Brendon won the POV that week but instead of using it to save himself, he instead chose to save Rachel. Jordan was named the replacement nominee and Brendon was evicted 5-2. Rachel and Porsche were the only votes to save Brendon.

In week 5, Kalia won HOH and nominated Jeff and Rachel. However, Jeff won the POV to save himself that week. Julie had previously announced that one houseguest would be re-entering the game after that week’s eviction. With this in mind, Lawon decided he wanted to be evicted under the belief he would return to the house with some sort of superpower. Lawon was named the replacement nominee and evicted 6-0.

After Lawon’s eviction, it turned out Lawon would face off against whoever America voted for in a competition to re-enter the Big Brother 13 house. America voted for Brendon to get a shot at re-entering the game. Brendon defeated Lawon in the competition and returned to the house.

In week 6, Daniele nominated Adam and Shelly for eviction. However, her true target was Brendon. Adam won the POV that week and used it to save himself. Daniele nominated Brendon in his place. At the live eviction, Brendon was evicted 5-1. The lone vote to save him came from Rachel.

In week 7, Rachel remained safe through the front end of that week’s double eviction. During this time, she was able to get revenge on her in-game rival, Daniele by helping evict her.

On Day 55’s double eviction, Kalia was HOH and she nominated Jeff and Rachel for eviction. Porsche won the POV and chose not to use it. When the vote came down, it was a 2-2 tie. Kalia broke the tie as HOH and voted to evict Jeff.

In week 8, the duos twist was unleashed back into the house after Porsche opened Pandora’s Box. The new duos were: Rachel and Jordan, Porsche and Kalia, and Shelly and Adam. Porsche won HOH that week, earning Kalia immunity. Porsche chose to nominate Rachel and Jordan for eviction. However, Rachel won the POV that week and used it to save herself and Jordan. With no other options left, Porsche named Adam and Shelly the replacement nominees and Shelly was evicted 2-1 over Adam.

In week 9, the duos twist went out of play for good. Rachel won her 3rd HOH that week and nominated Kalia and Porsche for eviction. Adam won the POV that week and chose not to use it. When the vote came down, it was a 1-1 tie. Rachel broke the tie as HOH and evicted Kalia.

Week 9 was also a double eviction. On Day 68, Adam won HOH and chose to nominate Porsche and Jordan for eviction. Porsche won the POV that week and chose to use it on herself.  Rachel was named the replacement nominee since she was the only option available. With the sole vote to evict, Porsche chose to evict Jordan.

At the final 3, Rachel won her 4th HOH of the season. By default, Porsche and Adam were nominated for eviction. Rachel chose to evict Adam, taking Porsche to the final 2. On finale night, Rachel was crowned the winner of Big Brother 13 4-3 vote. Rachel garnered the votes of Jordan, Shelly, Jeff, and Brendon.

As you can see, Rachel played a very big role in Big Brother 13. Her strategic game and social relationships helped her stay in the house despite being nominated 5 times throughout the course of the season. Sure, you could argue that several twists helped her along the way, but you also have to give her props for using those twists to her advantage. Between the poor play of the newbies and her heavy hand in the season, Rachel is our breakout star of Big Brother 13.

Who is your breakout star of Big Brother 13? Let us know in the comments!