Jen Johnson

Biography

Big Brother 8 is the eighth season of the American reality television series Big Brother It is based upon the Netherlands series of the same name, which gained notoriety in 1999 and 2000. The season premiered on CBS on July 5, 2007 and lasted eleven weeks until the live finale on September 18, 2007. The eighth season saw little to no change in ratings. The season premiered to 7.40 million viewers, the lowest premiere numbers for any season at the time. The season finale had 8.51 million viewers, making it the second lowest rated finale at the time. In total, the series averaged 7.52 million viewers, only 0.4 behind the previous edition. Big Brother 8 featured 14 HouseGuests, the same amount that was featured in the previous season. The series ended after 81 days, in which HouseGuest Dick Donato was crowned the winner, and his daughter Daniele Donato the runner-up.

== Format ==

The format remains largely unchanged from previous seasons. HouseGuests are sequestered in the Big Brother House with no contact to or from the outside world. Each week, the HouseGuests take part in several compulsory challenges that determine who will win food, luxuries, and power in the House. The winner of the weekly Head of Household competition is immune from nominations and must nominate two fellow HouseGuests for eviction. After a HouseGuest becomes Head of Household, he or she is ineligible to take part in the next Head of Household competition. HouseGuests also take part in competitions to earn food for the week. The losing team will be forced to eat Big Brother Slop for the week. This is the second season to feature Slop as the punishment food, as it was originally peanut butter and jelly. The winner of the Power of Veto competition wins the right to save one of the nominated HouseGuests from eviction. If the Veto winner exercises the power, the Head of Household must then nominate another HouseGuest for eviction. On eviction night, all HouseGuests except for the Head of Household and the two nominees vote to evict one of the two nominees. This compulsory vote is conducted in the privacy of the Diary Room by the host Julie Chen. In the event of a tie, the Head of Household must cast the deciding vote, announcing it in front of the other HouseGuests. Unlike other versions of Big Brother, the HouseGuests may discuss the nomination and eviction process openly and freely. The nominee with the greater number of votes will be evicted from the House on the live Thursday broadcast, exiting to an adjacent studio to be interviewed by Chen. HouseGuests may voluntarily leave the House at any time and those who break the rules may be expelled from the house by Big Brother. The final seven HouseGuests evicted during the season will vote for the winner on the season finale. These "Jury Members" will be sequestered in a separate house and will not be allowed to watch the show except for competitions and ceremonies that include all of the remaining HouseGuests. The jury members will not be shown any Diary Room interviews or any footage that include strategy or details regarding nominations. This season featured numerous changes to the twist of the series. The main twists this season saw three sets of enemies entering the house together. This twist did not impact the main format, however, and HouseGuests were free to work with or against each other. Another twist this season saw one HouseGuest being "America's Player", and this HouseGuest was required to perform tasks for America. This allowed the viewers to also choose who this HouseGuest should target for eviction, as well as evict the HouseGuest of their choice. For the first Head of Household competition, Dick, Dustin, and Jessica were unable to compete, and were thus immune from the first eviction. This season also saw a Double Eviction week occur, making it the second season to feature this twist.

== HouseGuests ==

=== Future appearances === In 2008, Eric Stein and Jessica Hughbanks returned to host a Head of Household competition for Big Brother 9. During that same season, Dick Donato returned to host a Power of Veto competition. Jen Johnson participated in a food competition for Big Brother 10. Jessica was later a potential HouseGuest for Big Brother 11, but she ultimately did not enter the house. In 2011, Dick and Daniele Donato returned to compete on Big Brother 13 as part of the Dynamic Duos twist. In 2020, Daniele (now as Dani Briones) returned to compete on Big Brother: All-Stars. In 2025, Stein returned to Big Brother as "The Mastermind", the main antagonist of Big Brother 27.

== Summary == On Day 1, Dick, Dustin, and Jessica entered the house through the Head of Household room before the others arrived. The eleven remaining HouseGuests then entered the house, unaware of the fact that the three were already present. Shortly after entering the house, the HouseGuests learn that the three are in the house before going outside to compete in their first Head of Household competition. The HouseGuests then competed in the "Mushroom Madness" Head of Household competition. For this competition, HouseGuests paired into teams of two. Due to the uneven number of players, Nick sat out. One HouseGuest, the "sitter", was required to answer questions while their partner spun on an over-sized mushroom. When the sitter answered incorrectly, their partner's mushroom began spinning faster. The final pair remaining was Eric and Kail, meaning one of them would become the new Head of Household. The three upstairs then learned that they were given the option of selecting the first Head of Household; they chose Kail. Due to them being unable to compete, the three HouseGuests upstairs were immune from the first eviction. On Day 3, the HouseGuests competed in the "Butter Me Up" food competition. They were required to pour butter onto their bodies while their teammates attempted to take the butter from their bodies and fill a tub of popcorn; the team with the most pounds of butter was the winner. The competition resulted in Daniele, Eric, Jameka, Jessica, Joe, Nick, and Zach being on slop for the week. Kail formed an alliance with Mike, Nick, and Zach, which was called the "Mrs. Robinson Alliance". On Day 5, Kail nominated Amber and Carol for eviction, citing their last-place performance in the Head of Household competition as her main reasoning. When picking players for the Power of Veto competition, Daniele, Nick, and Jameka were selected; Jessica was selected to host. On Day 7, HouseGuests competed in the "Hide and Seek Veto" Power of Veto competition. For this competition, HouseGuests entered the house one at a time and hid a Veto box with their name anywhere inside. Once everyone had hid their boxes, they would attempt to find the boxes one at a time. When a HouseGuest found a box, they would bring it outside; the winner was the HouseGuest whose box was not found. Daniele used a pot of slop as her hiding spot and won. Jen began to annoy numerous HouseGuests, leading to her having arguments with Dick and Nick. This led to numerous HouseGuests hoping that Daniele would use the Power of Veto to allow Jen to be nominated. On Day 9, Daniele left the nominations the same. On Day 13, Carol became the first HouseGuest to be evicted from the house in a vote of ten to one. Following Carol's eviction, HouseGuests competed in the "Majority Rules" Head of Household competition. They were asked a series of questions about which of two HouseGuests would adhere to certain situations. The object was not to base the answer on personal opinions but how they thought the majority would answer. The minority of the voters were eliminated each round; if there was a tie, none of the HouseGuests were eliminated. Jen won. On Day 14, HouseGuests competed in the "Name That Pie" food competition. For this competition, HouseGuests split into two teams and bid on how many bites it would take to identify the two ingredients in a pie. If a player correctly identified the pie, they won a point for the team, but if they were unable to identify the pie, they would win a point for the opposing team; the first team to seven points would win. The competition resulted in Amber, Daniele, Jameka, Jessica, Joe, and Kail being on slop for the week. That same day, Jen nominated Daniele and Dick for eviction, claiming that the two of them were the most negative people in the house. On Day 15, Amber, Mike, and Joe were selected to play for the Power of Veto competition; Dustin was selected to host. Shortly before the competition, Jen made numerous statements to upset Amber, which led to numerous arguments in the house. The HouseGuests then competed in the "Cutthroat Christmas" Power of Veto competition. For this competition, HouseGuests were required to slide a curling stone down an icy path in an attempt to get it closest to the center; the person furthest from the center each round was eliminated. The eliminated HouseGuest from each round earned a prize that could be taken from them by another eliminated HouseGuest. Daniele won the Power of Veto for the second consecutive time. On Day 17, Daniele used the Power of Veto to remove herself from the block, with Jen nominating Joe in her place. Fearing he would nominate her if he won Head of Household, Kail began attempting to get the votes to evict Dick from the house. Despite this, not even Kail's own alliance went along with her plan, thus ending the "Mrs. Robinson" alliance. On Day 20, Joe became the second HouseGuest evicted from the house in a vote of nine to one. Following Joe's eviction, the HouseGuests competed in the "Getting Schooled" Head of Household competition. HouseGuests were asked true or false questions in the style of classic high school classes such as History and Geography. Providing an incorrect answer resulted in elimination; the last HouseGuest remaining was the winner. Dick won. On Day 21, HouseGuests competed in the "Mission InPastaBowl" food competition. For this competition, HouseGuests paired off to jump into two bowls of giant pasta which contained meatballs, each with different types of food written on them. The pairs had to match a specific "meatball" from tub A and tub B. When the two HouseGuests matched their meatballs, they won that food for the week. When the time ran out, the House would win any food collected in the competition. That day, Dick nominated Jen and Kail for eviction. When picking players for the Power of Veto competition, Jessica, Nick, and Zach were selected to play; Eric was the host. On Day 22, HouseGuests competed in the "Mad Hatter" Power of Veto competition. For this competition, HouseGuests stood on top of a pedestal while balancing a martini glass on their head. The last HouseGuest remaining who had not dropped their cup would be the winner. Jen was the winner. During the competition, Mike attempted to distract Dick as a show of loyalty to Kail and told Dick to nominate him should the Veto be used, as Mike felt it would show the others that he was a loyal person. Dick then deliberately left his pedestal, causing Jen to win. On Day 24, she used the Power of Veto to remove herself from the block, with Mike being nominated in her place. On Day 27, Mike became the third HouseGuest to be evicted from the house in a vote of seven to two. Following Mike's eviction, HouseGuests competed in the "Eliminator" Head of Household competition. For this competition, HouseGuests were asked questions about the previously evicted HouseGuests. If a HouseGuest answered correctly, they were able to eliminate one HouseGuest from the competition; an incorrect answer resulted in that HouseGuest being eliminated. Dustin was the winner. On Day 28, HouseGuests competed in the "Humpty Scramble" food competition. For this competition, the HouseGuests paired off and had to find a series of colored puzzle pieces that matched their clothing and piece them together to make an egg. The first team that completed their puzzle would win food and put five people on slop. Jameka and Jessica were the winners; they chose to put Dick, Jen, Kail, Nick, and Zach on slop for the week. Later that day, Dustin nominated Jen and Kail for eviction. Shortly following this, Amber, Daniele, Dick, Dustin, Eric, Jameka, and Jessica formed the "Late Night Crew" alliance, with the goal of evicting the other four HouseGuests. When picking players for the Power of Veto competition, Daniele, Jameka, and Jessica were selected; Eric was selected to host. Due to her religious beliefs, Jameka stated that she would take Jen off the block should she win the Power of Veto as Jen had selected her name to compete. On Day 29, HouseGuests competed in the "Vincent Van Veto" Power of Veto competition. For this competition, HouseGuests had to depict common Big Brother phrases in a series of picture puzzles. A correct answer would result in a HouseGuest gaining "Big Brother Bucks", while an incorrect answer would result in elimination. The winner of the competition would be the HouseGuest who had the most "Big Brother Bucks" at the end. Dustin was in position to win but chose to spend many of his bucks on prizes, leading to criticism from other players and leaving Jameka as the winner. On Day 31, Jameka chose to use the Power of Veto to remove Jen from the block, with Nick being nominated in her place. Feeling that Nick had voted for Mike the previous week, the Late Night Crew alliance (with the exception of Daniele) hoped to see Nick go that week. Following more arguments with Dick, Jen and Kail contemplated walking from the game; the two ultimately decided to stay. On Day 34, Nick became the fourth HouseGuest to be evicted from the house in a vote of six to two. Following Nick's eviction, HouseGuests competed in the "Times Up" endurance Head of Household competition. For this competition, HouseGuests were required to hang upside down on rocking pendulums; when a player fell off of their pendulum, they were eliminated from the competition. HouseGuests were also eliminated if their torso was raised above a bar located on the pendulum. During the competition, a banner flew over the house that referred to Amber and Eric as being "liars". This banner led Daniele to believe that Eric had voted to evict Kail the previous two weeks, and she began turning against him. Daniele was the eventual winner of the Head of Household competition. During the competition, Daniele had promised Kail safety for the week in exchange for dropping from the competition. On Day 35, Daniele chose to nominate Jen and Kail for eviction, with the hopes of backdooring Eric that week. When picking players for the Power of Veto competition, Jameka, Dustin, and Zach were selected to play; Amber was selected to host. On Day 36, HouseGuests competed in "The Numbers Don't Lie" Power of Veto competition. For this competition, the HouseGuests had to bid on how many hours they would be willing to do a task. If a player had the lowest hours, they would be eliminated; putting the highest number resulted in elimination. Jen was the winner. During the competition, Jameka agreed to sit out from the following five Head of Household competitions. On Day 38, Jen chose to use the Power of Veto to remove herself from the block, with Eric being nominated in her place. Despite Daniele and Dick believing they had the votes to evict Eric, the remaining five members of the Late Night Crew decided to turn on them and keep Eric. On Day 41, Kail became the fifth HouseGuest to be evicted from the house in a vote of four to three. Following Kail's eviction, HouseGuests competed in the "Let's Make a Duel" Head of Household competition. For this competition, HouseGuests faced off two at a time and had to guess which evicted HouseGuest made certain statements in the Diary Room; the winner of each round would select the next two HouseGuests to face off. Jessica was the winner. Following this, Dick engaged in numerous arguments with Amber, Dustin, and Jameka. On Day 42, HouseGuests competed in the "For Those About to Slop" food competition. For this competition, HouseGuests split into two teams and had to smash open guitars in an attempt to find dollar signs; the first team to find twenty would be the winners. The team of Daniele, Dick, Dustin, and Jen were the losers and were placed on slop for the week. During the competition, Dick found a "Slop Pass" and chose to give it to Jen. Later that day, Jessica chose to nominate Daniele and Dick for eviction. Following their nominations, Dick began to verbally harass the entire house in an attempt to make sure the HouseGuests voted to evict him rather than his daughter. When picking players for the Power of Veto competition, Jameka, Dustin, and Zach were selected; Eric was selected to host. On Day 43, HouseGuests competed in the "Shot For Shot" Power of Veto competition. For this competition, HouseGuests attempted to drink numerous drink mixtures, with the HouseGuests earning one croquet shot for each drink they finished. The HouseGuests then attempted to get the highest score in a game of croquet, and the HouseGuest with the most points was the winner. Dick was the winner of the Power of Veto. On Day 45, Dick chose to use the Power of Veto to remove Daniele from the block, with Dustin being nominated as a pawn in her place. Eric, as America's Player, learned that the viewers had voted for Dustin to leave, and he began campaigning against Dustin. This led to Eric and Jessica forming an alliance with Daniele and Dick, with the goal of keeping Dick in the house. On Day 48, Dustin became the sixth HouseGuest to be evicted in a vote of four to two. He became the first member of the Jury of Seven. Following Dustin's eviction, HouseGuests competed in the "Strange Visitors" Head of Household competition. For this competition, HouseGuests were asked true or false questions about intruders that had entered the house the previous day. Daniele was the winner, making her the first person to hold the title of Head of Household twice this season. On Day 49, HouseGuests competed in the "Slop Pong" food competition. For this competition, the HouseGuests split into two teams of four. The HouseGuests had to throw volleyballs across the backyard in an attempt to score ten points; the first team to do so would win. The team of Amber, Daniele, Jameka, and Jen lost and were placed on slop for the week. Later that day, Daniele nominated Amber and Jameka for eviction. When picking players for the Power of Veto competition, Dick, Jessica, and Zach were selected; Eric was selected to host. Before competing, the HouseGuests learned that the finalists in the competition would receive a special trip outside of the house. On Day 50, HouseGuests competed in the "Big Brother Speedway" Power of Veto competition. For this competition, HouseGuests were required to guess what percentage of viewers made a certain statement, and the HouseGuest who is the farthest away from the correct answer is eliminated each round. Amber and Daniele became the last two remaining in the competition, thus won the special trip outside of the house. Daniele was the winner of the Power of Veto. On Day 52, Daniele chose to use the Power of Veto to remove Amber from the block, and chose to nominate Jen in her place. That night, Amber and Daniele left the house and learned that they would be contestants on the CBS game series Power of 10. Shortly after their departure, HouseGuests Dick and Jen engaged in numerous verbal arguments, then it turned physical when Dick start poking Jen with his lit cigarettes, this causing much controversy outside of the house. Following these events, Jen decided to eat food, thus violating the punishment she accepted in "The Numbers Don't Lie" Power of Veto competition; for this, Jen was given a penalty vote, meaning she automatically had one vote cast against her that week. On Day 55, Jen became the seventh HouseGuest to be evicted from the house in a unanimous vote of six to zero. She became the second member of the Jury of Seven. Following Jen's eviction, HouseGuests competed in the "Tanks For the Memories" Head of Household competition. For this competition, HouseGuests were asked questions about statements made by the first five evicted HouseGuests from this season; if a HouseGuest answered incorrectly, they were dumped into a tank of water. Jessica was the winner. On Day 56, HouseGuests competed in the "Shop 'til You Drop" luxury competition. For this competition, the HouseGuests competed as men against women, and found letters in the outfits given to them, and were required to take off their clothing and form three words that pertain to the game with these letters. The women were the winners of the competition and won a two-minute shopping spree inside of the house. Later that day, Jessica chose to nominate Amber and Zach for eviction. When picking players for the Power of Veto competition, Daniele, Eric, and Jameka were selected to compete; Dick was selected to host. On Day 57, HouseGuests competed in the "Catscratch Veto" Power of Veto competition. For this competition, HouseGuests were given riddles and had to search the backyard to find the rubber rat with the correct answer on it; the last person to find the correct answer each round is eliminated. Eric was the winner of the Power of Veto. Eric, as America's Player, was informed that he was not permitted to use the Power of Veto, and that nominations were required to stay the same as the viewers did not have time to vote for a decision. On Day 59, Eric officially chose to leave nominations the same. On Day 62, Amber became the eighth HouseGuest to be evicted from the house in a vote of three to one. She became the third member of the Jury of Seven. Following Amber's eviction, HouseGuests competed in the "Big Brother Tea Party" Head of Household competition. For this competition, HouseGuests were required to walk back and forth transferring cups of tea from a tea pitcher to a jar on the opposite side of the backyard. The first HouseGuest to fill up their jar and claim the ball inside would be the winner of the competition. Zach was the winner. During the competition, Eric won a phone call from home, and chose to give it to Jessica. On Day 63, Zach chose to nominate Jameka and Jessica for eviction. On Day 64, former HouseGuest Janelle Pierzina returned to the house to host "The Janelle-O-Vision" Power of Veto competition. For this competition, HouseGuests had to correctly identify which two HouseGuests' face made a mixed face swirl. The HouseGuest with the most correct answers would win the Power of Veto. Daniele was the winner of the Power of Veto. On Day 66, Daniele chose to leave the nominations the same. Despite being in an alliance and assuring her safety, Daniele and Dick debated turning on Eric and Jessica by evicting her from the house. Just before the eviction, the HouseGuests learned that it would be a Double Eviction night, and that a second HouseGuest would be evicted in a matter of minutes. On Day 69, Jessica became the ninth HouseGuest to be evicted from the house in a vote of two to one. HouseGuests then competed in the "Before or After" Head of Household competition. For this competition, HouseGuests had to determine whether one event in the house occurred before or after, and the HouseGuest with the most points was the winner; Dick was the winner. Following this, Dick chose to nominate Eric and Jameka for eviction. Minutes later, HouseGuests competed in the "Niagara Balls" Power of Veto competition. For this, numerous colored balls fell into the backyard, and the first HouseGuest to collect five green balls would be the winner; Zach was the winner of the Power of Veto. He then chose to leave the nominations intact. Eric then became the tenth HouseGuest to be evicted from the house in a unanimous vote of two to zero. He became the fifth member of the Jury of Seven. Following Jessica and Eric's evictions, the HouseGuests competed in the "Picture This" Head of Household competition. For this competition, HouseGuests were shown pictures on the Memory Wall from previous competitions throughout the season. They were then asked questions about details from the images, and the HouseGuest with the most correct answers was the winner. Zach was the winner. On Day 70, Zach chose to nominate Daniele and Dick for eviction, with the hopes of evicting one of them. On Day 71, HouseGuests competed in the "Big Brother Decoder" final Power of Veto competition. For this competition, HouseGuests had to match a clue to a HouseGuest's face that interlocked with another HouseGuest's face. Once that is done, the HouseGuests must twist the knob and match the HouseGuest with the corresponding number. The first HouseGuest to correctly label the many seconds they've been in the house would win the Power of Veto. Daniele was the winner, making it her fifth Power of Veto win. This tied her with former HouseGuest Janelle Pierzina for the most Power of Veto wins in a single season; the two still hold the record. On Day 74, Daniele chose to use the Power of Veto to remove her father from the block, with Jameka being the only HouseGuest eligible to be nominated in his place. Minutes later, Dick cast the sole vote to evict Jameka from the house. She became the sixth member of the Jury of Seven. Following Jameka's eviction, HouseGuests competed in "The Bunny Hop" endurance first round of the final Head of Household competition. For this competition, HouseGuests had to stand on a pedestal, while holding their key to the house, and jumping over a moving turnstile. The goal was to be the last remaining HouseGuest, and doing so would advance that HouseGuest to the third and final round of the final Head of Household competition. Zach was the winner of this competition. On Day 75, Daniele and Dick competed in the "Chain of Commands" second round of the final Head of Household competition. For this competition, Daniele and Dick had to jump in a tank of water, collect puzzle pieces and place them in the correct order in a series of slots. The puzzle made a path that led from the first Head of Household to the last. Dick was the winner. On Day 76, Dick and Zach faced off in the "Jury Statements" final round of the final Head of Household competition. For this, HouseGuests answered questions based on how they felt the previously evicted Jury members had responded. Dick was the winner of the competition, and immediately chose to evict Zach from the house. This made Daniele and Dick the Final Two. On Day 81, Dick was crowned the winner of Big Brother 8 in a vote of five to two.

== Episodes ==

== Voting history == Color key: