CBSSummer has officially started, and it's already so much ridiculous fun.
We always look forward to Big Brother more than is probably healthy, and so far this season is totally worth our anticipation. Over the course of tonight's two hours, Julie Chen revealed three twists that will make this season just a little bit different from any other.
First, the 12 new houseguests were joined by four former houseguests! Season 16's Nicole Franzel, Season 17's James Huling and Da'Vonne Rogers, and season 14's Frank Eudy will all also be competing this season. Needless to say, the newbies weren't so thrilled by the appearance of the oldies, and planned to vote them all out as soon as possible.
Unfortunately for them, that's not going to be as easy as they thought, given twist two. All of the houseguests will be competing in teams of four this season, with one returning houseguest on each team.
The teams were first tested in a totally ridiculous challenge that involved the houseguests having to hold on for dear life as they sat spread-eagle on slippery, swinging rockets, and none of that is a euphemism. They were hit with rain and "bird poop," and the last team with at least one member still on a rocket would be safe for the next two evictions. It was so, so silly, but apparently it was really difficult to do, and Team Unicorn (James, Victor, Natalie, and Bronte) ended up winning.
The third twist was the real heartbreaker: tonight's Head of Household competition doubled as the first eviction. The members of whatever team lost after two rounds would have to compete against each other. Whoever lost would be sent home, and the other three would then decide which of them would become the first HOH.
Team Unicorn didn't have to compete, but the other three teams first had to build a 15-piece sandcastle on a suspended platform that they all had to hold together with ropes. If any pieces hit the ground, they were out of play, and they had to dig up new ones. It looked literally impossible, but somehow Frank's team (Category 4) actually managed to do it, meaning they were safe.
The next round involved much bigger, much more complicated sandcastles that the teams had to put together, and (unfortunately, because she was one of our favorites during her season) Nicole's team lost, meaning tomorrow night, Nicole, Glenn, Cory, and Tiffany will have to compete against each other.
Elsewhere, both Tiffany and Paulie gave up their "secrets" as the siblings of former houseguests basically immediately. Paulie panicked when Nicole (who was in the house with his brother Cody) arrived, and Tiffany started to panic when James and Da'Vonne joined the house, but it was Michelle (the girl who's scared of literally everything, including beards and North Korea) who called her out.
At least she did it in private, but Tiffany sounds and looks SO MUCH like Vanessa that we can't imagine it will take very long for everyone else to figure it out.
In other news, we first thought Paul was going to be fun, but he might actually be a nutcase, and we might actually explode if Bronte explains to us one more time that she knows nothing is up because she's a mathematician. We. Get. It.
What did you think of the premiere? Who's your favorite houseguest so far? Sound off in the comments!
Big Brother airs every Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday at 8 p.m. on CBS.