America's Favorite Houseguest Is Your Chance to Reward Your Favorite 'Big Brother' Player

On Big Brother, you have your first-place winner and a chosen runner-up. Both are voted on by jury members, and any houseguest who makes it to the final two is guaranteed a hefty check. Of course, if you win first place, that check is considerably bigger than the one you'd earn in second. But there's no third place on Big Brother.

Instead, the other players can hope they win the title of America's Favorite Houseguest.

Unlike the first and second-place winners on Big Brother, America's Favorite Houseguest is chosen by viewers. Fans can vote for their favorite houseguest and, on finale night, that player is awarded a nice $50,000 check. It's not a bad deal, but it does leave the choice up to viewers instead of to the other players.

At the end of every season, Big Brother fans vote for who they believe should win America's Favorite Houseguest. It could be because of the player's game in the show or even a fan's personal feelings regarding that houseguest.

It's the one prize that isn't in the hands of jury members and, even though it isn't worth as much as the first or second place awards, it's still a nice monetary prize.

Toward the end of each season, CBS updates its Big Brother website to include a place to vote for your favorite houseguest. Fans have the opportunity to vote online up to 10 times until the morning before the season finale.

They can use all 10 votes on one player or divide them among a few of their favorites. But every player, including those who were voted out of the house in the first few weeks, are eligible to win America's Favorite Houseguest.

In Big Brother Season 23, the prize money went up. It was a first for the franchise, but the grand prize increased from $500,000 to $750,000. It still isn't the cool million some fans have been hoping for, but hey, it's a start.

What did that mean for the America's Favorite Houseguest prize? Now, the sole winner of America's Favorite Houseguest vote gets $50,000 instead of $25,000.

Even though it seems like the winner of Big Brother should be exempt from winning America's Favorite Houseguest too, that isn't the case. Any player from an active season is eligible to win the prize.

Most fans are less likely to vote for someone who seems like they're going to win the season, but it happened in Season 24 when winner Taylor Hale also won the prize for America's Favorite Houseguest.

In Big Brother: Celebrity Edition Season 1, Ross Mathews not only won second place, but he also walked home with the winning votes for favorite player. And Season 20 runner-up Tyler Crispen also won America's Favorite Houseguest. It's rare, but it does happen.

Unlike mostly everything else that determines the fate of the Big Brother houseguests, America's Favorite Houseguest is in the hands of viewers alone.

The two-hour Big Brother 26 finale airs Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024, at 9:00 p.m. EST on CBS.