DeSales Big Brother 1

**DeSales Big Brother 1** is the first ever season of DeSales Big Brother, and the second season of Johnston-hosted Big Brother games overall. It is the successor to CSW Big Brother, as the host campus moves from The Charter School of Wilmington to DeSales University. This also the first Johnston-hosted Big Brother game to be done in a 100% virtual format.

## Background

### Development

On April 24, 2020, Matt Johnston made a post to a private social media account, gauging interest among his close friends in a mock Big Brother competition. Responses to this post began a rather informal casting process, continuing until approximately May 1. On May 6, the dsu.bigbrother Instagram account made its first post, with a cast reveal following soon after.

### Theme

The theme for this season is **Gods vs. Mortals**. This also includes references to Greek mythology, biblical times, and other similar themes. Examples of competitions designed to reflect the Gods vs. Mortals theme include Name Your Deity, Sunday Night Prayer, Masters of Mythology, and others.

## Twists

* **Three Replacement HouseGuests:** During Week 2, three HouseGuests chose to walk from the game almost simultaneously: Katelyn Vecchiolli, Sydney Abbott and Megan Castellane. As a result, after the Week 2 Eviction, three new HouseGuests-- Matt Camardo, Alex Austin, and Nicole Balistrere-- entered the house to take their place.
* **The Underworld:** For the first five weeks of the game, each evicted HouseGuest was informed upon their eviction that they will soon get the chance to battle their way back into the game. The first two evicted HouseGuests will face off in a competition duel. The winner will move on to face the next evicted HouseGuest, and so on. The final duel, however, was not a competition. Instead, the three evicted HouseGuests who lost their duels would become the Underworld Committee, with the responsibility of deciding which of the two eligible candidates (the winner of the first three duels, and the fifth evicted HouseGuest) should return to the game. If the person who returns from the Underworld makes it to the final two, their cash prize will be partially divided amongst all the members of the Underworld. The person chosen to return will re-enter the house immediately before the Week 6 Veto competition.
	+ **Blessing and a Curse:** In addition, the person who returns from the Underworld has both a blessing and a curse placed upon them. They are ineligible to compete in the Week 6 Veto competition. However, they are safe for the week and also have the ability to make their vote count triple at the Week 6 Eviction, if they so choose. Doing this, however, will force them to cast their vote publicly before the other HouseGuests vote.
* **Backwards Week:** Week 5 was Backwards Week, meaning the order of events in a week of Big Brother would play out in reverse. Right after the Week 4 eviction, Houseguests were called to the diary room one by one to vote for two Houseguests to be nominated for eviction. The two or three HouseGuests with the most nomination votes will automatically be nominated. If a replacement nominee is required due to the Power of Veto being used, another nomination vote will take place. After the final nominees are set, the HOH competition will take place with the previous HOH and the nominated houseguests to be excluded. The winner of the HOH competition will cast the sole vote to evict.
	+ **Heavenly Power of Veto:** This twist was introduced in addition to Backwards Week, as there was a tie for the second-most nomination votes, forcing there to be three nominees instead of the usual two (as there was no means of breaking a tie). The holder of the Heavenly Power of Veto has the choice to either leave the nominations the same, save a nominee and call for a replacement nomination vote, or save a nominee and not call for a replacement nominee.
* **Double Eviction:** During Week 9, after the first eviction takes place, the HouseGuests will be forced to play a week's worth of game in one night, culminating in a second eviction for the week.

## Competition History

*Main article: List of competitions by season*

## Voting History

**Notes**

* Note 1: □  Instead of permanent eviction, the first five evicted HouseGuests were sent to “The Underworld” and received a chance to return to the game. The first two evictees faced off in a duel, in which the winner advanced to face the next evicted HouseGuest, and the loser became permanently eliminated; following three duels, Aaron was the last evictee standing among the first four and went on to face the fifth evicted HouseGuest (Grace) in a vote conducted by the three evictees who lost their duels. Grace won this vote and re-entered the house on Day 39 just before the Veto competition.
* Note 2: Because Katelyn walked from the game during her Head of Household reign prior to making nominations, a new HoH had to be named. Molly was the runner-up of the most recent HoH competition, and thus became the new Head of Household for the week.
* Note 3: New HouseGuests Alex, Matt and Nicole entered the house on Day 15 as a twist in response to the self-evictions that took place in week two. For week three only, these new HouseGuests were given a Veto Ticket, which guarantees their participation in the Veto competition and grants them a HouseGuest’s Choice chip if they are the HoH or a nominee.
* Note 4: On Day 29, it was revealed that Week 5 would be "Backwards Week", with the week's competitions and ceremonies played in reverse order. Following the Week 4 eviction, an instant House Vote was held to determine Nominations, with each HouseGuest voting for two nominees. Izzy received the most votes (receiving 5 out of a possible 10 nominations) and was nominated. Fiona and Grace tied for the second-most votes (receiving 4 nominations each), and because there is no means of breaking a tie, both of them were nominated as well. Then the HouseGuests competed in the PoV competition. Had it been necessary, a second House Vote would have been held to determine the replacement nominee. Finally, the HouseGuests (excluding Molly, as outgoing HoH and Grace and Izzy, as the nominees) competed in the HoH competition, with that HoH having the power to evict either nominee at the Eviction.
* Note 5: Because there were three nominees instead of the usual two, the PoV was upgraded to the Heavenly Power of Veto, which gives the holder the chance to decide whether a replacement nominee should be named (if the PoV is used). Fiona saved herself and chose not to call for a replacement nominee.
* Note 6: □  When Grace re-entered the house, it was revealed that she had an Underworld Power for the remainder of the week; she could not play in the Veto competition, but was safe from eviction and could choose to make her eviction vote count as three votes. If she did this, however, she would have to cast her vote publicly. Grace ultimately decided not to use her power and voted normally.
* Note 7: As Head of Household, Eileen was forced to break the tie on Day 43.
* Note 8: This week was a double eviction week. Following the first eviction, the remaining HouseGuests played a week's worth of game—including HoH and Veto competitions and Nomination, Veto and Eviction ceremonies—during the remainder of the call, culminating in a second eviction for the week.
* Note 9: As Head of Household, Matt was forced to break the tie on Day 77.
* Note 10: During the finale, the jury members voted for which finalist should win DeSales Big Brother.

## Memory Wall

* After Day 15
* Before Day 15

## Trivia

* This is by far the longest Big Brother season Matt Johnston has hosted, being 85 days long. The next longest (CSW Big Brother) was a full two weeks shorter, being 70 days.
* This is the only season to...
	+ ...utilize What the Bleep?! as a Veto competition, rather than an HOH competition.
	+ ...have a previously evicted HouseGuest return to the game.