Big Brother 19, which aired in 2017, was a controversial season with a mix of big personalities and people with no personalities at all. There were some stand-out players for both good and bad reasons, a major injury, explosive blowouts (many involving pots and pans), and a complete upset in the end.
The series, based on the Dutch original of the same name, places a dozen or more people from different states into a massive house, where they are completely cut off from the real world and are filmed 24/7. They compete in physical and mental competitions and vote one another out each week until only a final two is left. The winner takes home a cool $500,000. But it doesn’t come easy. There has to be some strategy to the gameplay, scheming, an ability to forge strong social bonds, and maybe even some backstabbing now and then.
Naturally, forcing people to live in a house with others they don’t know, and who are completely different from them, can lead to friction and, of course, entertainment. Among the stand-outs in season 19 were five people who were the best and 5 who were the absolute worst. Here they are, in no particular order.
Josh Martinez: Best
It was a big upset when Josh won the top prize against Paul, who was sitting in the final two for the second time. Josh had a big personality and often fought with others on the show, even resorting to banging pots and pans in the middle of the night to anger his rivals. These were actions that some called bullying.
But he was also a gentle soul and was often seen crying, having a hard time hiding his emotions. He won the big prize mostly because of the jury’s dislike of Paul. But he deserves some credit as one of the only people who finally started to see through Paul’s schemes, and strategically used his goodbye messages to evicted houseguests to slyly out the competition. He even confidently took Paul to the final two with him, believing that the jury would be against him. He was right.
Paul Abrahamian: Best
It’s hard to imagine that a player who made it to the final two on two seasons and lost both times would be considered “the best.” But given that Paul controlled the house the entire time, he really did play hard and play well.
Unfortunately, while he had the gameplay part down pat, using people to do his dirty work and winning competitions left, right, and center, his social game stank. He made far too many enemies, refused to fess up for his dirty tactics, and played so arrogantly that houseguests, even those who didn’t particularly like Josh, chose to vote for him over Paul simply out of spite. Still, his antics were some of the only exciting parts of the season.
Alex Ow: Best
Small but mighty, this fierce player forged a strong and unlikely bond with the rodeo clown Jason Dent; fended off rivals, including a rift with Natalie, who was in the majority alliance; and won tons of competitions.
Betrayed by Paul in the final 5, she played a hard game and was sent packing far too soon because she was perceived to be a threat.
Kevin Schlehuber: Best
We understand that Kevin didn’t know much about the game and didn’t really play hard (or at all). But we absolutely love him. The son of a mobster, his tall stories and words of advice for the younger houseguests were entertaining through the entire season. The resident “dad,” he often walked around schooling the “kids” on how to clean up after themselves and respect people and things.
He was liked by all at first, but talk of him possibly being an undercover cop (he wasn’t) led to a few people targeting him. The house wouldn’t have been the same without him, and despite the fact that he didn’t really know what he was supposed to be doing half the time, Kevin still made it to the final 4.
Jessica Graf: Best
Hear us out: she was certainly on the “mean girls/guys” side of the house, sticking with the physically strong competitors (i.e. the “popular” crowd). But she got caught up in a lot of drama because of her showmance with Cody and attempts to defend him.
Yet, despite being a constant target and then being left on the outs once Cody was evicted, she received an award from America that helped her stay in the game. She then pulled out an important HoH win. Each week was a struggle, but she played a good, hard game, despite the odds being stacked against her, and she deserves props for that.
Christmas Abbott: Worst
Christmas might have played a good game, but her foot was broken during the first week on the show. She had to have surgery and then had to sit out of several competitions after that.
Sure, she still made it to the final three, but mainly because of her deal with Josh and Paul, both of whom likely felt they’d be a shoo-in to win against her. The injury wasn’t her fault, and being on crutches most of the time was especially hard for a physical fitness beast like Christmas. Still, the injury was her, excuse the pun, crutch.
Cody Nickson: Worst
Often keeping to himself and circling a dark cloud around everyone whenever he entered a room, the man who served with the United States Air Force and United States Marine Corps was uncomfortable all season, and that made the show uncomfortable to watch. He butted heads with many houseguests, and once he developed a showmance with Jessica, it was just PDA central, 24/7.
Deemed a big physical threat, he was on the chopping block from the get-go when he was forced to nominate not two, but multiple people due to unexpected twists and turns of the game, thus quickly making enemies. Despite his on-screen persona, sticking it out for the tough ride, and even winning America’s Favourite Houseguest, we still vote Cody as the worst for his sour attitude.
Megan Lowder: Worst
Megan clearly didn’t have the stomach for this cutthroat game. After a misunderstanding and a blow-up, she decided she wanted to leave the game. She only lasted 8 days and earned the honor of being the first female to “walk” from the game, and only the third person ever to do so.
She later said PTSD led her to walk away, which is a completely understandable reason, and she can’t be faulted for that. Nonetheless, because she didn’t technically finish the game, we have to vote her as one of the worst for the season.
Raven Walton: Worst
Arguably the worst Big Brother player ever, forget just this season, Raven was mocked relentlessly by viewers on social media (and enemies in the house) for constantly telling presumed tall tales. Her purported long list of her apparent illnesses and afflictions, injuries, and inflated sense of intelligence even spawned a Twitter hashtag #raavenexposedparty, where viewers attempted to expose each of her supposed lies.
She even argued in the jury house that it was she who was pulling all the strings in the game, which caused everyone there to laugh her out of the room. Spending most of her time hanging with her showmance Matthew, the two simply floated around the house as though they were on vacation and other people just so happened to be there.
Matthew Clines: Worst
Earning the worst player ever award along with Raven, Matthew was hanging in an Airbnb and met this wonderful girl he would spend his nights with – if only those other annoying people would leave! That’s what it seemed he was doing there versus actually playing a game.
He sacrificed himself so Raven could stay and broke rules in the house once he didn’t care anymore, which earned him a penalty vote. And he purposely picked fights to get voted out so she could stay. So it’s no surprise that he was evicted by a unanimous vote. Good riddance!
