Power of Veto

The **Power of Veto** allows the owner to remove one of the Nominations from the Nomination Block. The Power of Veto also guarantees the holder safety should one of the nominees be removed, unless they are the only possible replacement nominee. The Head of Household chooses a new nomination.

The Power of Veto is won weekly in a competition. Six houseguests compete for the Power of Veto: the Head of Household, the two nominees, and three other houseguests chosen by the three guaranteed players or a random draw.

### The Powers of Veto

#### Golden Power of Veto

The Golden Power of Veto allowed the winner to remove one nominee off the Nomination Block if they so desired, including themselves. If the Veto were used, the HOH would select the replacement nominee.

#### Diamond Power of Veto

The Diamond Power of Veto was introduced in Big Brother 4 and reappeared in Big Brother 5, and was essentially identical to the Golden Power of Veto. Only if the winner chooses to use it, they will name the replacement nominee rather than the Head of Household.

In Big Brother 4, Cesare Giuffrida won the DPOV and used it to save Sarah Jean Baker, nominating Dorothy Zhang in her place. Dorothy survived the vote by 4-3, sending initial nominee Matthew Donahue to the jury.

In Big Brother 5, Reese Masterson won the DPOV and used it on himself, nominating Cameron Cohen in his place. Cameron survived the vote by 4-1, sending initial nominee Tatiana Girard to the jury.

#### Wildcard Power of Veto

The Wildcard Power of Veto was introduced in Big Brother 7 and was also identical to the Golden Power of Veto. However, instead of only 6 houseguests being eligible to play, all houseguests were eligible to play, if the Lucky Veto Wheel landed on the Wildcard option after being spun.

In Big Brother 7, Dante Visser won both Wildcard Vetos in Weeks 4 & 8. In Week 4, he chose not to use it. In Week 8, he chose to use the veto to save himself after being nominated by Rohan Ajay.

#### Silver Power of Veto

The Silver Power of Veto, used in Big Brother 8 allowed the winner to remove one nominee off the Nomination Block if they so desired. However, the winner of the Silver Power of Veto could not remove him or herself off the Nomination Block. If the Veto was used, the HOH would select the replacement nominee.

### The Power of Veto Contestant Selection

The Head of Household and the two nominees each got to select one player at random to compete alongside them in the Power of Veto competition. The Head of Household selects the first player. Each would reach into a bag filled with ping pong balls or small discs (depending on the season) with a houseguest's name or the words "Houseguest's Choice", where the player who draws the ball or disc gets to choose the additional player. Some twists would lead to three nominees instead of two, or one houseguest bypassing the veto draw, so in seasons that featured those twists, the nominees drew one name each to determine the six Veto competition players. The six houseguests later play in a competition to determine the winner of the Power of Veto.

List of Veto Draws

### The Power of Veto Meeting

The winner of the Power of Veto is called to the Diary Room, where they are briefed on the procedures of the Power of Veto meeting. The Veto holder then proceeds to the Memory Wall, retrieves the Veto, and studies the portraits of all the remaining houseguests as they finalize their decision. The Veto holder then calls in the remaining houseguests who await the meeting in the backyard. The houseguests take their respective seats, either on the couches or on the Nomination Block. The Veto holder begins the meeting by explaining what powers the Veto holds and then asks the nominees to make a final plea, if they so desire, to try and convince the Veto holder to use the Veto on them. Once the nominees have made their speeches, the Veto holder makes their decision. If the holder chooses to use the Veto, they place the Veto around the neck of the nominee they have chosen to save. At this point, the Veto holder takes a seat, and the Head of Household stands and chooses a replacement nominee. In seasons that feature an anonymous power winner who named a third nominee directly, if that nominee came off the block, that winner would secretly nominate the replacement. In seasons where a twist or a competition leads to the third nominee, there would be no replacement nominee if they were saved, leaving only the HOH's two nominees on the block come eviction night. If the Veto is not used, the holder places it in a box on the coffee table. After all the decisions are made, the Veto holder adjourns the meeting by closing the box shut.

## Records

* Most POV Wins in a Single Season
* Most POV Wins in Multiple Seasons

## Trivia

* The first ever Power of Veto winner in *Big Brother* history was Florence Wilcox.
	+ Damian Thornton was the first male Power of Veto winner.
	+ Florence also became the first houseguest to use the POV, while Dali Diaz is the first PoV winner not to use it.
* Tyson Geoffrey is the first houseguest to win HOH and POV in the same week; Yasmin Milton is the first female to win HOH and POV in the same week.
* Big Brother 1, Big Brother 2, and Big Brother 5 are currently the only seasons not to feature one houseguest winning the POV twice in a row.
	+ Summer McIntosh was the first person to win the POV twice in a row. Cesare Giuffrida was the first male to win the POV twice in a row.
		- Summer also set and holds the record for most consecutive POV wins, with 4.
* Florence Wilcox was the first person to use the Golden Power of Veto. Damian Thornton was the first male to use the Golden Power of Veto.
* Florence Wilcox is the first female houseguest to veto herself; Gabriele Romano is the first male houseguest to veto himself.
* Cesare Giuffrida also won the first ever Diamond Power of Veto.
* The record for the most Power of Veto wins in a single season is 4, held by Shareeta Dewan (Big Brother 2), Summer McIntosh (Big Brother 3), Cesare Giuffrida (Big Brother 4), Grace Akenzua (Big Brother 4) and Rohan Ajay (Big Brother 7)
	+ None of them made the final 2, thus none have gone on to win their season.
* Cesare Giuffrida has won the most Power of Veto competitions in total, with 7 wins over two seasons. The female record is held by Shareeta Dewan, Summer McIntosh, and Grace Akenzua - no other woman that played twice has tied or surpassed this record.
* Orson Yates, Tahini Salah and Kristin Kennedy hold the record for most Veto competition wins by a winner with 2.
* Only Yasmin Milton has completed a "Trifecta Veto", which is when a houseguest wins the veto in all three eligible ways (as HOH, as a nominee, and as a person picked to play).
* Judah Abraham, is the only winner never to win a Power of Veto competition and go on to win the game.
* Week 8 of Big Brother 5 and Big Brother 24, marks the only time in *Big Brother* history when two houseguests have held Golden Powers of Veto that were not won in the same competition.
	+ In Big Brother 5, the Split House twists saw two separate rounds of the game happen at the same time. Two separate POV competitions were played, with Tahini Salah winning the Group 1 POV and Cameron Cohen winning the Group 2 POV. However, the POV could only be used on their half of the house (i.e., Tahini could not use her POV to remove one of the Group 2 nominees).
* Orson Yates is the only houseguest to win the Final Power of Veto competition and go on to win the game.
	+ Most of the final veto winners were evicted the following week. Yasmin Milton (Big Brother 1), Milo Owen (Big Brother 2), Peter Seng (Big Brother 5), and Rohan Ajay (Big Brother 7) were all evicted in 3rd place. Aston Keigan (Big Brother 4) and Jade Soo-Kwon (Big Brother 6) would go on to be runners-up.