‘Big Brother’ Fans Blast Unfair HOH Challenge That Put Female Players At Major Disadvantage

Big Brother fans are reacting to the first controversy of Season 22 — an unfair challenge that was played to determine which of the 16 all-star houseguests got to play in the first Head of Household (HOH) competition.

The all-star houseguests were introduced by gender and in groups of four on the live Big Brother: All-Stars premiere, as a socially distanced Julie Chen virtually emceed a challenge that would allow up to eight players to compete for the first HOH title.

After the houseguests – Janelle Pierzina, Kaysar Ridha, David Alexander, Daniele Donato, Keesha Smith, Enzo Palumbo, Ian Terry, Cody Calafiore, Nicole Franzel, Da’Vonne Rogers, Christmas Abbott, Bayleigh Dayton, Tyler Crispen, Kevin Campbell, Nicole Anthony, and Memphis Garrett — entered the house, they competed in the first round of the HOH battle. The first two contestants in each group to complete a ball/board maze after identifying the location of an item in the house won the chance to compete in the HOH. The timed competition lasted four minutes for each group.

In the end, only two women out of eight completed the maze on time, while four of the men – the max allowed — moved on to the next round of the HOH competition. Christmas and Nicole competed against Kevin, Ian, Memphis, and Cody in a platform game for the coveted title, which Cody ultimately won.

In comments posted to a Big Brother Instagram post announcing the returning all-stars, which can be seen here, many fans blasted the “ridiculous comp” that put the female players at a distinct disadvantage.

“What’s with making the girls rooms the farthest on the board and the men’s the closest? Looked rigged towards the guys,” one commenter wrote.

“Facts. They gave the girls the hardest marks on the board. The guys were super easy,” another added.

“Pretty apparent the guys were given an unfair advantage in the first competition. Disgusting. #BB22,” another commenter wrote on Twitter.

“The women’s target on the balance ball maze was at the end – yet the men didn’t have to move the ball past the middle? That explains why there were only two women able to compete in the HOH. They had to do more work in the four minutes. Ugh!!” another added.

It should also be noted that Cody’s later win was deemed unfair by some eagle-eyed viewers, as some wobbly platforms from the previous player, Memphis, were still moving when he began his round.

The controversial premiere night comes a week after past player, Season 16’s Christine Brecht Varner, alleged to Twitter fans that her season of the Big Brother game was geared to favor certain players.