The complete history of the Big Brother backdoor strategy

Let’s discuss the history of the Big Brother backdoor

In chess, there’s the checkmate, and in Big Brother, there’s the backdoor. If you’re new to Big Brother, during a season that’s been light on excitement, let me explain. Of course, each week, the Head of Household (HOH) is responsible for nominating two people for eviction.

However, both of the nominees have the opportunity to win their way off the chopping block by winning the POV competition, thereby forcing the HOH to nominate a replacement nominee.

While having to name a replacement nominee can put the HOH in a difficult position, sometimes it can work to their advantage. In a game of social strategy like Big Brother, you have to not only know when to strike against your biggest opponents but how to strike. While a frontal attack can earn you the respect of your Big Brother peers, it can put you in a vulnerable position if the POV gets used.

As a result, sometimes your only option is to send your target out the backdoor, a method by which the HOH initially nominates two pawns, removes one of them from the chopping block at the POV Meeting, and names their intended target as the replacement nominee.

It’s a tried-and-true strategy that allows the HOH to send their intended target out the door quietly without the opportunity to win their way off the block. So how did this strategy develop? Let’s talk about it!

Put some respect on Marvin Latimer’s name

In Big Brother 5, the Four Horsemen alliance was a force to be reckoned with, winning two HOH and three POV competitions within the first three weeks of the season.

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Unfortunately, after losing one of their members in Week Three, their alliance would be dealt another blow the following week, with member Jase Wirey becoming a part of Big Brother infamy in the process.

It all began when Nakomis Dedmon, a member of The Pinky Swear alliance, won the Week Five HOH competition and set her sights on sending Jase, the Horsemen’s strongest competitor, out the door. Before making her nominations, however, her alliance member Marvin Latimer would have an idea.

In what would initially be called the Six Finger Plan, Marvin would suggest initially nominating two of their alliance members, who would serve as pawns, saving one of them with the POV, and naming Jase as the replacement nominee.

The impetus for this plan came with the realization that the POV competition, as it stood in Big Brother 5, allowed the HOH and the two nominees to pick the other three people that would compete for the POV that week.

As a result, if you’re alliance had at least six people, as the Pinky Swear Alliance did, you could ensure that your target never got picked to play in the POV competition, the defining characteristic of a backdoor, and could be named as a replacement nominee.

With that in mind, Nakomis would name two of her allies, Marvin and Diane Henry, as the initial nominees. When Nakomis’s ally Drew Daniels ultimately won the POV and removed Diane from the block, Nakomis was able to nominate Jase in her place, and at the end of the week, Jase would be evicted by a vote of 6-1.

This technique would find widespread use in Big Brother 6, leading to a format change to the POV competition in Big Brother 7, wherein the POV players were chosen by a random draw, ensuring that one alliance couldn’t steamroll through an entire season. Ah, the good old days.

What’s your favorite Big Brother backdoor? Let us know!

Big Brother 22 airs Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at 8/7c on CBS.