Getting to Jury Is a Hallmark of a Successful 'Big Brother' Game

The Gist:

• The Big Brother jury is made up of evicted houseguests.
• Usually, the jury consists of 11 members.
• Season 25 of Big Brother switched things up.

If you're a new fan of Big Brother, you might hear the word "jury" or the phrase "getting to jury" thrown around in any given season. And each year, it's just as important as the last. It's a point in the season when a houseguest has made it far enough to have their voice count for picking the winner at the end of it all.

But there are still some other components to making it to jury and becoming a jury member on Big Brother. What's that? Did you think being a fan was as easy as watching the three weekly episodes? And being a player means simply winning competitions? Both sides of the Big Brother universe are much more in-depth. The jury is important to both being a player and following the game as a fan.

The concept of the jury house was first introduced in Big Brother Season 2.

Jury members make up the jury house, which is located outside of the Big Brother studio and remains secluded from everyone until finale night. At this time, the jury members vote live on TV, anonymously, about who they think should win out of the final two contestants.

To get to the jury house, players have to be among the 11 remaining houseguests in any given season. Thus, when they say they want to "get to jury," they mean they want to make it to the point when they are eligible to be in the jury house if they are evicted.

This gives them more time to be part of Big Brother, as the nine jury members are sequestered in the jury house from the time they arrive until the season finale.

Being a jury member also means a houseguest has a lot of power by the end of the season. Once the season reaches the point when evicted houseguests are sent to the jury house, other players work on their "jury management." This means being as diplomatic as possible to everyone else in the house who might make it to jury themselves. That way, they don't burn any bridges with future jury members.

Jury usually begins around the time when there are 11 remaining houseguests. This leaves room for a total of nine jury members, as each player is voted out of the game weekly and then sent right to the jury house. At the end of the season, the final two players of the 11 are the ones that the jurors vote on to determine the winner.

It should be noted, however, that Season 25 of Big Brother switched things up a bit. Because of the monumental nature of the season, producers decided to make the jury consist of seven members instead of the usual nine. This is a callback to Season 2, the first time there was a jury made up of the last seven evicted houseguests.

In the Big Brother house, players have the pressure of working on their physical and social games to get them far. They are also forced to partake in Diary Room sessions and competitions. The jury house is basically like a party, however, and the jury members get paid to be part of it.

Season 4 contestant Jack Owens told HuffPost, "It was a vacation in a millionaire's home on the Pacific Ocean."

He revealed that he was permitted to talk to his wife on the phone occasionally, and he and his fellow evicted jurors were allowed to drink beer and enjoy each other's company (without the pressure of trying to win a game).

While winning Big Brother is definitely the goal of the show, getting to jury is a nice consolation prize for many contestants.

Watch Big Brother on Sundays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at 8 p.m. EST on CBS.