Big Brother 27 Premiere: Vince Panaro named first HOH, mastermind twist threatens early eviction, return of Rachel Reilly

Indian Express

12-07-2025

Big Brother 27 kicked off with the new 'Mystery of Summer' twist, where host Julie Chen Moonves was kidnapped by Mastermind, who also hid the HOH relic. In the first challenge, houseguests were split into two groups; one was sent to rescue Julie, the other to track down the relic. Zach Cornell found Julie and bagged $10,000. Jimmy Heagerty cracked the relic hunt and earned the power to decide who'd battle it out for the first Head of Household.
Jimmy nominated himself, Vince Panaro, Adrian Rocha, and Ashley Hollis for the next challenge, which was a test of balancing weights on bars. Vince completed the challenge in one go and walked away with the win, becoming the first HOH of the season. But his power came with a major twist. Julie announced that the AI arena from earlier seasons is back, but now it's renamed BB Blockbuster. Now, Vince has to name three nominees, and those three will battle for safety before the eviction.
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Meanwhile, the return of Rachel Reilly, Big Brother 13 winner, was the big mystery producers had been teasing. But she's not the 17th contestant. Not yet. One among the original 16 houseguests is the Mastermind's accomplice. If the others figure out who it is, that person gets instantly nominated. But if no one unmasks them, they stay and officially become the 17th houseguest. Vince might think he's calling the shots as HOH, deciding who stays and who walks. But if someone outs the Accomplice before eviction night, his nominees get spared (unless, of course, one of them is the Accomplice). That could blow up Vince's game early. Two of the three nominees are guaranteed to stay, and if someone plays the Power of Veto card, Vince will end up making more enemies. In his pre-show interviews, Vince said he'd rather play honest than cutthroat, but also hinted he'd change if the house vibe demands it. He walked in unemployed, eye on that $750K, and looks ready to play hard.
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Rachel's return to the house was the major highlight of the night. She's reality TV royalty, having done projects like The Amazing Race to Worst Cooks in America. She is tough and knows the game inside out. Fans think Vince should play smart as an ally and not target her, because if he comes at her and she survives, he's got a big enemy with serious game. Speaking about Rachel's return, Julie, in an interview with EW, said, 'I loved the Rachel chant when they saw her, but these houseguests are shrewd. They know this is not good for their game. She defied all odds with the whole house against her, no allies left, and won the game. She is a BB legend!'