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We're off! Almost (Tuesday, June 25)

Meet 'n greet (Thursday, June 20)

  She says she's a psych major which you think would help in this game, but she doesn't think it'll give her an edge. (Admittedly it didn't do much for BB Canada Alec Beall, and he's a published social psych PhD candidate.) She's going to lie about it anyway, along with her prior pageant wins. She also says she's bad at lying and while she considers herself a fan, she only heard of BB in December. Her study sessions since then have only been CBS episodes, so that'll be interesting. She has some modeling shots out there: most are demure and then some (many are for a scrubs line), but she's also got the first nekkie I knew of, so she's a mixed bag. She seems to be self-conscious about her teeth or something? She's cute and has a nice smile, but watch for that. As far as the casting formula goes, she's the garnish, along with Jessie and Kaitlin.

Most likely to give mirror-face, most likely to waste away on slop, and most likely to either be booted early for no reason, or go to finals against someone they all hate and win

  Along with Nick, she's done more than her share of non-BB media before this, including red carpet interviews, so I'm afraid she'll be doing some name-dropping.. ugh. And she'll be loud.. ugh. But on the upside, she seems to have a good sense of humor, and I don't think she'll hold back if somebody pushes her buttons. She and Judd both brought up their double-Ds, but I think Amanda's will get more attention than J-U-double-D Party Daugherty. I'm not really getting much else from her so I'm putting her on my Wait 'n See list, but I have a feeling she'll liven up the feeds one way or another.

Most likely to be Diary's favorite

  He's a teacher, a waiter, and an improv comic so he knows how to multi-task (high five!), and he's extremely well-spoken so he might be able to do wonders in there with rhetoric. He says he's not a gay stereotype but he kind of is, but that's who they fill that slot in the casting formula with so it worked for him. He uses big words like conundrum so he might confuse some viewers, but online dictionaries are just a click away from the feeds in this wonderful modern world we live in, so that shouldn't be a real issue. He says he wants to emulate BB3 Danielle Reyes & Jason Guy with a small secret alliance which would be great, since nobody's really pulled that off in the same way since them. The graffiti wall in his CBS bio does exist so if he gets tagged #ThatGingerBastard a lot, he has only himself to blame for mentioning it. Also there's a poopy pants story going around - it's also true. He says he can get bitchy or sassy if he needs to, so let's hope he needs to as that would liven things up.

Most likely to have a memorable freakout about slop

  She says she works in scrubs as a pediatric speech therapist, so maybe Aaryn can hook her up? Or maybe they'll go stereotype pageant girls and scratch each other's eyes out. She's 'super single and flirty' and open to showmance, and another who might be preachy in there - have we all got her hooked up with Howard yet? She'll turn 30 on September 19 so we'll get one of our awkward birthday parties if she sticks that long. We've seen her adoption story already and she seems okay and well-adjusted with that, but not finding out til she was 26 may have left some resentment residue, so that's something to watch for, for those of us who like the 'what makes them tick' angle of all this. I think she'll go by Candie.

Most likely to say she's there 'for the experience'

  What exactly is going on here? He's the guy who's going to propogate the ditzy California stereotype that makes the rest of us roll our eyes, dude. He says he's watched since BB1, with mom, who he lives with and who shot his audition tape - 'you just might be a BB catlady if' jokes write themselves. He says BB has never had a 'full-on surfer dude' so he clearly missed BB11 Braden Bacha. As a viewer and very casual feedster (maybe? it's hard to tell), he didn't remember everyone's name and only focused on the ones who were interesting - yeah, good luck with that, along with not wanting to be around lazy, arrogant, mean or bitchy people, or smokers. He'll be shirtless a lot, his hair will be its own character, and he'll alternately squick and titillate feedsters with his love of feet and toe-sucking.

Most likely to climb on stuff and be told 'Stop that!'

  I just don't know what to say about this whole Rachelissa situation. She doesn't have THE laugh but she definitely has a unique one that will grate on many. Technically we have an all-new cast like we always want, but not really thanks to her presence. At least the insider coaching she assuredly got will have focused on comps and not social game, so that's something. She says she won't reveal that she's Rachel's sister but we know that's already out in there.. it has to be, right? She also said if it does come out later, she'll shrug off having kept it secret - again, lack of social game coaching. I'm still unclear if her son Riley is her own or a stepson? I can't imagine even someone in that family naming a child Riley Reilly. (UDPATE: Riley seems to be hers, when she went by Elissa Clanton.) But all that said, I would hate to pre-judged based on my sibling (and how!) so we should keep an open mind, but I don't want to hear any preaching from her about either religion or elissercise. On the upside, this means I'll be able to do Rachel Ratings again at some point.

Most likely to duckface in HOH and/or photo booth pics, and most likely to outlast her shelf life

  I'm pretty sure she'll go by GiGi, which will further the Staten Island Italian comparisons to BB14 JoJo Spatafora, and further encourage Judd. She seems to have something to do with promoting Toddlers 'n Tiaras type fiascos, and she's already lying about having fake boobs. (So sue me if I'm wrong, but nature just doesn't come in that style/size/shape combo.) I can't really take anything she says in the interviews seriously, mostly because of this. Also, I've got no problem with bottle blondes in theory, but who starts off with an inch of dark roots? She has an August birthday so she's got a better chance of celebrating it with us than Candice. GinaMarie says she'll jump out of a cake, so that's proof she's never seen the size of the kitchen in there.

Most likely to inspire colorful catlady commentary

  She's married with 2½ and 4-year-old boys, so she'll catch some flak for leaving them home, and she'll probably be expected to fill the house mom role and cook & clean for them. I hope she doesn't fall into that role and in fact, none of them mentioned that they cook or like to.. it'd be great fun for us if none of them can! I'm always leery of tags like 'political consultant' as it could easily mean someone who sits around quoting pundits on Twitter all day, but she seems legit. She's very bright and well-spoken and has a lot going for her, including her looks. Usually the female eye candy gets ogled by guys who are twice their age, so Helen's a novelty there. I think she's a dark horse who should go far. While it's very sad that her friend who sucked her into BB and then suddenly died recently, sob stories won't help her in cutthroat Big Brother.

Most likely to talk too much and too long

  He's also unemployed, but it sounds like his youth mentoring work is (was) legit, including working with kids with drug/alcohol problems. That is extremely challenging work and he'll know how to deal with BS and how to have patience (unless he doesn't and that's why he's no longer doing it). His actormodel past is minor compared to some of the girls, and I think he'll be filling the eye candy slot for some and the bright guy slot for others. He claims to be a deep thinker and tends to analyze everything, so he could easily lose his mind in there if he lasts more than a few weeks. I'm fine with him being a devout Christian - I just hope he doesn't preach or I may have to put him on ignore. That goes for any of them, and for any excessive religious zeal of any flavor. This is Big Brother, not a tightrope walk across the Grand Canyon Little Colorado River Gorge. He could, however, do some of his 'spiritual miming' on the feeds - that'd be different.

Most likely to parannoy, eventually

  He wants us to root for him because he's been working all his life and he needs a break - hello, he's 23! Try again in a few decades. He's another one who'd never heard of the show until his superfan mom got him to apply - why don't they just put the moms in? He's arrogant, and thinks he'll be the alpha male of the house, but he wants his name to be 'the least one heard' - I don't think he can have it both ways. He's full of cliches like 'single, ready to mingle' and says he's planning on a showmance. I've already added his tattoo quote to the FAQ on the left sidebar because it will be asked. Although the quote is Einstein, his arm is a Cherokee themed work in progress that sounds like it'll be to Cherokees what BB Canada Emmett Blois's arm is to cows. He's 1/16th Cherokee (that'd be great-great grandparent), and says he's an 'embodied soldier, fighter, warrior' for Cherokees, but he admits he doesn't know much about them or their history.

Most likely to get in a fight

  Another young, cute Texas girl who seems very nice, and open to a showmance: in other words, more garnish. She too claims to be a superfan but she's never had feeds and she admits she's a bad liar, so while she seems likable enough, she's probably another lamb about to be led to slaughter. She has some locale and family ties to BB12 Lane Elenburg but she says she's never met him, and I believe her - why would she lie to us about that? She also says she thinks he's 'super sweet' but again, she's never had feeds and she's likely not scoured the sites, so she might not know about his special showers.. ssshh, I won't tell her if you won't.

Most likely to find herself without an alliance

  I want to like this guy. He might keep a low profile at first but I think he'll come out and entertain us, especially if they aren't chintzy with the booze deliveries. He seems willing to embrace the 'country hick boy' tag that will inevitably be laid on him, but I think he's got some smarts and he does understand the game - albeit mostly from a TV edit perspective. But he's a recent feedster and watched at least some of BB Canada, which is more than a lot of so-called superfans can claim. He's a county worker so he can probably tolerate BS better than most. He'll get a lot of flak for his lucky Walmart bear shirt, and he'll probably be found drooling over GinaMarie on a daily basis. He's going to introduce many of us to things like frog giggin, and he'll probably supply us with a never-ending supply of Juddisms.

Most likely to be a sleeper fan favorite: hated at first, loved later

  She'd never heard of BB before some talent monkey tapped her in her bar, so that's one big strike against her on behalf of all the diehard fans that actually want to be on the show. She claims 'super single' and that she's open to showmance, especially as strategy: those are the ones who usually fall head over heels, if they fall at all. Contrary to what locations might indicate, she and McCrae do not know each other. She seems nice enough, cute and wholesome, which are good for garnish but not necessarily good qualities in a hamster, but I think she'll be a good drunk girl if they ever get enough booze. She follows Justin Bieber on Twitter but that's offset by following Aaron Paul and Official Dexter, and she also follows some decent humor accounts including Amanda Bynes.

Most likely to be intimidated, taken advantage of, and blindsided

  I've known him online since 2007 when Justin Kan wore a camera on his head for a 24/7 feed for a few months to launch Justin.tv. McCrae goes by Chumlord, but his middle name is not Tuglord - don't believe everything you read on Facebook, people! He's smart, funny, twisted, and won't give a damn if he's got haters.. in fact, he'll probably embrace them. He was likely an alternate who replaced someone who bailed or was bounced at the last minute, and I'm just so happy for him that he got in. He knows this game very well, and he also knows feedsters want a good show. See Kaitlin: despite geographic proximity, they do not know each other - this according to his family, friends, and roomies. He might or might not have the book smarts of BB14 Ian Terry but he's got better social skills, and I believe and hope he can go the distance. #TeamChumlord all the way!

Most likely to make my day and annoy others with Hamsterwatch shoutouts

  Word on the street is he's not as bad as he seems, and that makes sense since he's got legit cred as a skater and sometimes red carpet interviewer. He's the guy who thinks this will lead to A List fame and he's even got a self-professed 'social media team' running his Twitter.. oookay. I don't think playing a character at this point is a good idea at all but since he's apparenty gone and done that, why would he choose to channel BB9 Adam Jasinski? Dude, it's okay to stop and take a breath once in awhile.

Most likely to namedrop and be generally annoying

  He's one of those ordinary folks we always want to see, even if railroad conductors aren't something you run across every day. I like his sense of humor and that he doesn't seem to take himself too seriously. He says he keeps up with the feeds (but only had them for BB7), but he had a calculated plan to audition: he grew his beard and flew to a Maine open call so he'd stand out from the crowd, and voila! That's the kind of thought process and planning that could serve him well in there. On the downside, he says he'll try to diffuse volatile situations - pffft. He doesn't have any digital footprint or past at all that I or my research pals can find, but he does now. He wants to do a Brigade type alliance, but I won't hold that against him.. yet.

Most likely to be the victim of many Yukon Cornelius chops