Big Brother Northwestern 6

## Cast/Memory Wall

**Big Brother Northwestern 6**, also known as **Big Brother Northwestern: Age of the Apocalypse**, is the sixth season of Big Brother Northwestern. Taking place on June 6, 2023, this season was themed around the Apocalypse, with zombies, viruses, and cures being incorporated into the challenges and twists. This is also the first season to feature houseguests outside the Class of 2025, with the Classes of 2023 and 2024 making their debut.

A dynamic season with several blindsides and backstabs, Season 6 forced the houseguests have to fight new twists, as well as each other, to avoid the Apocalypse. While the Walking Dead twist allowed for some fake evicted houseguests to physically stay in the house, both new and returning players were targeted and evicted. Following the Walking Dead's conclusion in Round 5, a power alliance consisting of the five remaining new players took control, relegating remaining returnees Abby Ciabaton, Gavin Shaub, and Morgan Barber to the bottom of the pecking order. This new alliance was successfully able to evict the outsiders and reach the Final 5 intact, where the most powerful sub-alliance, consisting of Kylie Boyd, Peggy Helman, and Theo Gyra, overpowered the other members to reach the Final 3, where Kylie was crowned the winner in a 4-3-2 vote.

## Production

Big Brother Northwestern follows the format of the rebooted Big Brother Australia series (seasons 12-14), thereby featuring the following production changes from the American version of Big Brother

* **Nominator Challenges:** At the start of each round, the housemates compete in a "Nominator Challenge". The winner of the competition has the sole power over the nominations. Immediately after the challenge, the winning housemate will be called to the Diary Room by Big Brother to name three nominees, and provide full reasons for their nominations. If the competition is run in pairs, then the winning pair must decide together on nominations.
* **Eviction Vote:** On eviction night, all housemates must vote to evict one of the nominees, with the exception of the nominating housemate (who will only cast a tie-breaker vote, if required), nor do the nominated housemates vote when there are only two nominees (on account of their votes canceling the other's out). The eviction vote is by secret ballot, with housemates casting their votes orally in the Diary Room to Big Brother, and must provide a reason for their vote. The nominee with the most votes is evicted from the house.
* **Final 3:** The finale of the seasons consists of the final 3 houseguests in the game.
* **Jury Vote:** Due to Big Brother Northwestern not having a viewing audience, the winner of the season was determined through a Jury Vote as opposed to a Public Vote.

## Twists

* **The Walking Dead:** Starting in Round 3, the houseguest that receives the most eviction votes would not be evicted, but would instead be “exiled” as a member of the Big Brother Walking Dead, with one foot out the door. In Round 5, the Walking Dead houseguests faced another eviction vote, with one Walking Dead houseguest returning to the game.
	+ **Nomination Challenge:** During Round 5, instead of having a Nominator Challenge, the non-Walking Dead houseguests competed in a Nomination Challenge, where the loser would be nominated for eviction alongside the two Walking Dead houseguests.
	+ **Double Eviction:** During Round 5, the two Walking Dead houseguests and the loser of the Nomination Challenge faced a Double Eviction vote, with the two nominees with the most votes both being evicted.
* **Quarantine Prevention Vote:** During Round 7, the houseguest participated in a vote, where each houseguest voted to "quarantine" another houseguest without knowing what "quarantine" meant. After all the votes were cast, it was revealed that the vote was a Prevention Vote, and that the two houseguests that received the most votes would be “Quarantined” and would not be able to compete in the Nominator Challenge, but they could still be nominated and evicted.
* **Second Chance Challenges**: During Round 7 and 8, it was revealed that the three nominated houseguests would compete in a second challenge, where the winner would save themselves from eviction.

## Houseguests

  **Winner**

 **Runner-Up**

 **Third Place**

 **Jury: *Kylie***

 **Jury: *Kylie***

 **Jury: *Peggy***

 **Jury: *Kylie***

 **Jury: *Theo***

 **Jury: *Peggy***

 **Jury: *Theo***

 **Jury: *Kylie***

 **Jury: *Peggy***

## Alliances

*Arranged by duration/effectiveness/power:*

* **Post-Lola's Eviction/Final 5 Alliance** - *Clay, Daniel, Kylie, Peggy, Theo*
* **Final 3 Alliance** - *Kylie, Peggy, Theo*
* **First 2 To Arrive** - *Kylie, Theo*
* **The Frogs** - *Kylie, Peggy*
* **Matillyda** - *Abby, Morgan*
* **Andrew Torres Alliance** - *Daniel, Theo*
* **Bronco + His Agent** - *Daniel, Morgan*
* **Delusions** - *Lola, Peggy*
* **Head Empty** - *Lola, Peggy, Theo*
* **Wrong Reality Show** - *Clay, Daniel, Kylie, North*
* **Detra Payne** - *Daniel, Gavin, Morgan, Sofi*
* **Peggy's Friends** - *Becker, Lola, Peggy*
* **Shaubhead** - *Clay, Gavin*
* **VC2** - *Morgan, Sofi*
* **ABC** - *Abby, Becker, Clay*
* **The Girls ™** - *Becker, Sofi, Peggy*
* **Paschaub** - *Gavin, Sofi*
* **Level Dumbass** - *Becker, Sofi*
* **Top 2 Alliance** - *Abby, North*
* **The Kings** - *Becker, Theo*

## Game Summary

### Round 1

 **Nominator**

 **Nominee1 Vote**

 **Nominee4 Votes**

 **Evicted5 Votes**

Kylie and Theo were the first two to enter the house, and immediately formed a Final 2 deal despite not knowing each other five minutes ago. In the Apocalypse Now challenge, Abby and Becker started out strong which caused them to get eliminated, resulting in Clay and Kylie being the final 2 standing. Kylie won the challenge and chose to nominate Becker, Gavin, and Sofi, trying to make as inoffensive as possible nominations, but she preferred that Sofi stayed. In his speech, Gavin remarked that he already knew who was getting evicted, much to the house’s surprise, while Sofi talked about how she has yet to do anything in the game and Becker talked about the charisma he brings. In a shocking 6-4-1 vote, Becker was blindsided when he was evicted, alongside Gavin, who expected that he would be the one evicted.

### Round 2

 **Co-Nominator**

 **Co-Nominator**

 **Nominee2 Votes**

 **Nominee2 Votes**

 **Evicted5 Votes**

For the next challenge, the houseguests were divided into pairs, which were Theo & Lola, Abby & Sofi, Morgan & Daniel, Gavin & Peggy, and Clay & North, while Kylie didn’t get a partner and was given safety for the round. Gavin & Peggy won the challenge. Peggy wanted to nominate Morgan because she believed that Morgan threw the challenge and needed to be nominated, and both Peggy and Gavin agreed that North was a threat. Gavin wanted to name Abby as the final nominee but Peggy convinced him that Daniel was a better option. After the nominees were announced, Abby sat with the three nominees instead of joining the other houseguests, putting a target on their back. When the votes were revealed, it was North who was evicted in a 5-2-2 vote.

### Round 3

 **Co-Nominator**

 **Co-Nominator**

 **Nominee2 Votes**

 **Nominee2 Votes**

 **Fake Evicted4 Votes**

In the next challenge, the houseguests were once again in pairs, those being Lola & Daniel, Abby & Theo, Morgan & Kylie, Gavin & Clay, and Sofi & Peggy. Abby & Theo won the challenge. During their deliberation, Abby and Theo disagreed over who they wanted to nominate, each wanting to protect different people. They made a deal that if Theo agreed to nominate a man, Abby would let him nominate anyone he wanted, despite Abby wanting to keep both Clay and Sofi safe. After initially deciding to nominate Peggy, Theo convinced Abby that Clay should be the main target, with Abby agreeing to give up Sofi and Theo agreeing to give up Gavin. The house was very shocked by the decision and how long it took Abby and Theo to choose their nominees. During the speeches, Clay mentioned that it was the end of his senior year and that he would have people’s backs, while Sofi and Gavin repeated their speeches from Round 1. Despite a plan to evict Clay coming to fruition, the reveal of the Walking Dead twist scared many people, resulting in a 4-2-2 vote that named Sofi the first member of the Walking Dead.

### Round 4

 **Nominator**

 **Nominee0 Votes**

 **Nominee2 Votes**

 **Fake Evicted4 Votes**

Kylie won the nominator challenge and chose to nominate Abby and Morgan for being a tight duo, with Abby as the target, alongside Gavin “because why not.” During the strategy talk, Gavin wrote out on a paper that Abby was the bigger threat and to evict them. In a 6-2-0 vote, Abby joined Sofi as the second member of the Walking Dead.

### Round 5

#### Round 1

 **1st Safe**

 **2nd Safe**

 **3rd Safe**

 **4th Safe**

 **5th Safe**

 **6th Safe**

 **7th Safe**

 **Walking Dead**

Following Abby's "eviction," the next challenge was revealed to be a Nomination Challenge, and that instead of there being a winner, there would be a loser who would join Abby and Sofi as the final member of the Walking Dead. The remaining houseguests had to race to find a piece of Walking Dead Antidote. Lola failed to find a piece of Antidote and was named the third Walking Dead Member, while Clay received tie-breaking power due to being the first houseguest to find Antidote.

#### Round 2

 **Nominee3 Votes**

 **Evicted4 Votes**

 **Evicted4 Votes**

It was then announced to the houseguests that the next vote would be a Double Eviction, and only one of the Walking Dead houseguests could return to the game. During the strategy portion of the round, the three Walking Dead houseguests agreed to vote in a circle. When the votes were cast, Sofi was evicted 4-3-3, and Clay cast the tiebreaking vote against Lola, wanting to weaken Theo’s connections in the game.

### Round 6

 **Re-EnteredNominator**

 **Nominee0 Votes**

 **Nominee2 Votes**

 **Evicted5 Votes**

Following Sofi’s and Lola’s eviction, a new alliance was formed, consisting of Clay, Daniel, Kylie, Peggy, and Theo, with their plans being to target Abby, Morgan, and Gavin and reach the Final 5 together. Competing in Touchy Subjects, it came down to multiple tiebreaker rounds before Abby came out on top over Daniel. Despite initially considering Theo, Abby chose to nominate Daniel, Gavin, and Kylie, not having a general target over the others. In their speeches, Kylie talked about how she was a threat and knew she probably wasn’t winning the game, while Daniel straight up declared that his target is Abby and Gavin talked about Kylie’s challenge threat. Despite Theo throwing a rogue vote, the new alliance controlled the vote and evicted outsider Gavin in a 5-2-0 vote.

### Round 7

#### Round 1

 **Quarantined2 Votes**

 **Quarantined2 Votes**

Before the next challenge, the houseguests had to take part in a Quarantine Vote, without knowing what “Quarantine” would mean. Abby, Clay, Peggy, and Theo all voted for themselves to be quarantined, expecting it to be another round of safety from eviction, and Morgan voted for Abby for this same reason, while Kylie voted for Daniel and Daniel voted for Theo. Each with 2 votes, Theo and Abby were “Quarantined” from competing in the next challenge, but could still be nominated and evicted.

#### Round 2

 **Nominator**

 **Saved**

 **Nominee1 Vote**

 **Evicted3 Votes**

Daniel won the Nominator Challenge and nominated Abby, Morgan, and Peggy, with Abby as the target. In the Second Chance challenge, Abby sacrificed themself to take out Peggy, giving Morgan the win. Now having a 5-2 majority, the Final 5 alliance stuck together and Abby was evicted in a 3-1 vote.

### Round 8

 **Nominator**

 **Saved**

 **Nominee1 Vote**

 **Evicted2 Votes**

Theo won the next challenge and decided to nominate Peggy to hide their alliance from the larger group, Morgan for being the easy vote, and Kylie for being his own personal threat, although this was later revealed to be a mistake as Theo wanted to nominate Clay but misspoke. Peggy won the Second Chance challenge and saved herself. In the eviction, Daniel voted to evict Kylie for being the bigger threat, but Peggy and Clay stayed loyal and evicted Morgan, and the Post-Lola’s Eviction Alliance officially reached the Final 5.

### Round 9

 **Nominator**

 **Nominee0 Votes**

 **Evicted2 Votes**

In the Taskmaster challenge, Daniel’s loss by 1 second gave Theo his second win in a row. He chose to nominate Clay and Peggy, because he was scared of Clay and wanted to keep Kylie on his side for a potential Kylie-Peggy-Theo Final 3. While Clay discussed the importance of loyalty among alliances, Peggy used her speech to talk about track records in the game. In a 2-0 vote, Clay was evicted, with Daniel voting Clay because he was under the impression that Kylie would save him over Theo at the Final 4.

### Round 10

 **Nominator**

 **Nominee0 Votes**

 **Nominee0 Votes**

 **Evicted1 Vote**

In another crazy round of extra-Tiebreaker questions, Kylie emerged on top to win the final Nominator Challenge over Daniel. Choosing to stay loyal to her Final 3 deal with Peggy and Theo, she chose to evict Daniel.

### Finale

 **Winner4 Votes to Win**

 **Runner-Up3 Votes to Win**

 **Third Place2 Votes to Win**

 **Production's Favorite**

The Jury Members returned to the house and listened as the Final 3 gave pitches as to why they should be crowned the winner of Big Brother Northwestern 6. In their speeches, Theo talked about his challenge wins and his alliances, Kylie talked about her strategic gameplay and deep desire to get a win under her belt, and Peggy talked about her social game and her determination in the game despite losing her closest ally in Lola early on. Another big topic of discussion was the Final 5 alliance, which all three finalists credited as a big part of their games. Ultimately, Kylie's speech proved to be the most powerful and she was crowned the winner in a 4-3-2 vote. After the season, Drew announced that Theo was the recipient of the Production's Favorite award, becoming the second finalist ever to win the award in the same season.

#### Jury

 **Peggy**

 **Kylie**

 **Theo**

 **Peggy**

 **Theo**

 **Kylie**

 **Peggy**

 **Kylie**

 **Kylie**

## Trivia

* This season was originally planned to feature 8 new houseguests and 4 returning houseguests, but last minute changes resulting in a 7-5 split, marking the first time that a season featured an odd number of both returning players and new players.
* This is the first season since Season 1 to feature only new players in the Final 3.
* This is the first season since Season 2 to have a new player crowned as the winner, breaking a 3-season streak of returning players winning the game.
* This is the first season to feature non-Class of 2025 houseguests.
	+ As a result, Kylie Boyd is the first non-Class of 2025 houseguest to reach the Final 3, as well as the first non-Class of 2025 houseguest to win the game.
* This is the second season to feature a Plurality Jury Vote, after Season 2.
	+ Because Season 2's Jury Vote was originally a three-way tie, Kylie is the first winner to directly win via Plurality Vote.
* Coincidentally, this season was held on the 1-year anniversary of Season 1. There are many similarities between these two seasons:
	+ The Final 3 consisted of first time players.
	+ At one point in the game, one houseguest was given safety from eviction after not receiving a partner during a pairs Nominator Challenge.
	+ There were multiple "Fake Evictions" followed by a vote for one houseguest to return to the game.
	+ The BB History, Plank, On A Mission, and Touchy Subjects challenges were present.
	+ The On A Mission challenge was used as a special challenge, an Advantage Challenge in Season 1 and Nomination Challenge in Season 6.
	+ Becker Spear and Gavin Shaub appeared as houseguests, with Becker being evicted in 12th Place and Gavin reaching the Top 8.
	+ There were two Second Chance Challenges that appeared at the Final 7 and Final 6, and the winners of the Final 7 Second Chance Challenge (Hayley Chisholm and Morgan Barber) were immediately evicted after losing the Final 6 Second Chance Challenge.
	+ Every finalist received at least 2 votes to win from the Jury.
* This season is the first time that a Double Eviction took place and resulted in two houseguests being evicted, as opposed to being a fake eviction.
* This season started at 9:10 PM and ended at 1:27 PM, lasting a total of 4 hours and 17 minutes.
	+ Coincidentally, this season was exactly 1 minute shorter than Season 4.
* Houseguest nearly on this season who ultimately did not participate included:
	+ Returning Players - Arwen-Vira Marsh, Evan Trotter-Wright, and Hayley Chisholm.
	+ New Players - Coco Gonzalez, Claire Scavone, Ryan Lein, Kate McCracken, and Emily Thompson.
		- Coco Gonzalez was originally slated to compete on the season, but pulled out at the last minute. She was replaced by Lola Bodé.
		- Claire Scavone was also slated to compete, but became too sick to participate. She was replaced by Gavin Shaub, resulting in the 7-5 split between new and returning players.