Big Brother 13 is the thirteenth season of the American reality television series Big Brother. The season premiered on July 7, 2011, broadcast on CBS, and ended with a 90-minute season finale on September 14, 2011, after 75 days of competition. Julie Chen returned as host. Season 12 HouseGuest Rachel Reilly was crowned the winner, defeating Porsche Briggs in a 4-3 jury vote. For the second time, Jeff Schroeder, from Big Brother 11, was voted as the season's America's Favorite HouseGuest.
Format
The format remained largely unchanged from previous seasons. HouseGuests were sequestered in the Big Brother House with no contact to or from the outside world. Each week, the HouseGuests took 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 was immune from nominations and nominated two fellow HouseGuests for eviction. After a HouseGuest became Head of Household, he or she was ineligible to take part in the next Head of Household competition. HouseGuests also took part in Have vs. Have-Not competitions in which they were divided into either the "Haves" or the "Have Nots" depending on their performance in the competitions. HouseGuests that become "Have Nots" for the week had to eat "Big Brother slop" and a weekly food restriction (chosen by the viewing public), take cold showers, and sleep on uncomfortable beds in a room with constant fluorescent lighting. The winner of the Power of Veto competition won the right to save one of the nominated HouseGuests from eviction. If the Veto winner exercised the power, the Head of Household then nominated another HouseGuest for eviction.
On eviction night, all HouseGuests except for the Head of Household and the two nominees voted to evict one of the two nominees. This compulsory vote was conducted in the privacy of the Diary Room by the host Julie Chen. In the event of a tie, the Head of Household 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 may include strategy or details regarding nominations.
Some changes from previous seasons were implemented until only ten HouseGuests remained in the House. The first change was the HouseGuests pairing up into seven teams of two. The eight new HouseGuests were allowed to get to know one another and form duos as they saw fit. The six returning veteran HouseGuests were already paired up prior to entering the House. The second change was when a HouseGuest won the weekly Head of Household competition their respective partner received immunity from eviction as well. The Head of Household nominated a pair for eviction rather than two individual HouseGuests. The third change was the introduction of the "Big Brother Golden Key" which was given to the remaining member of the nominated pair that survived an eviction vote or lost a partner due to an expulsion or voluntary exit. The Big Brother Golden Key guaranteed this HouseGuest a spot in the top ten and immunity from all challenges and eviction. However, the recipients of the Golden Key were still required to vote to evict during the live eviction shows.
HouseGuests
As part of the twist for the season, a selection of former HouseGuests, called "Dynamic Duos" by the producers, re-entered the House for another chance to win the grand prize. The six HouseGuests that returned were Dick Donato and Daniele Donato from Big Brother 8, Jordan Lloyd and Jeff Schroeder from Big Brother 11, and Rachel Reilly and Brendon Villegas from Big Brother 12.
Name Age Occupation Residence DayenteredResult Big Brother 12 26 Event hostess Las Vegas, Nevada1 WinnerDay 75 23 Cocktail waitress Miami Beach, Florida Day 75 39 Music inventory manager Hoboken, New Jersey Big Brother 11 24 Receptionist Matthews, North Carolina 30 Writer Los Angeles, California 41 Outdoor industry executive Prairieville, Louisiana Big Brother 11 33 Advertising salesman Norridge, Illinois Big Brother 8 24 College student Huntington Beach, California 31 PhD student Riverside, California 41 1 39 Legal file clerk Inglewood, California 25 College student & Model San Mateo, California 26 Model Nashville, Tennessee 32 Human resources manager Bolingbrook, Illinois Big Brother 8 48 Website CEO Los Angeles, California QuitDay 6
Future appearances Brendon Villegas and Rachel Reilly competed on The Amazing Race 20, and later returned for The Amazing Race 24. Reilly returned on The Amazing Race 31 along with her sister, Elissa Slater. Reilly also made guest appearances on Big Brother 20 to host a Veto competition. In 2018, Reilly and Villegas participated in Celebrity Fear Factor. In 2022, Reilly competed on the USA Network reality competition series, Snake in the Grass. In 2023, Reilly competed on the first season of the Peacock reality TV series The Traitors. In 2025, Reilly competed on Food Network's TV series Worst Cooks in America Celebrity Edition: Heroes vs. Villains.
Daniele Donato later appeared on Big Brother 20 to celebrate the engagement of Big Brother 18 contestants Nicole Franzel (the winner of that season) and Victor Arroyo. In 2020, Donato returned for a third time to compete on Big Brother: All-Stars. In 2025, Rachel Reilly returned for a 3rd time on Big Brother 27.
Summary On Day 1, the new eight HouseGuests entered the house. Following introductions, the HouseGuests learned that they would be required to select a partner to compete with in the game. Though they would be competing as individuals, it was revealed that if a HouseGuest's partner won Head of Household, then they would be immune from eviction that week. They also learned, however, that rather than nominating two HouseGuests for eviction, they would nominate one duo for eviction. When picking partners, Keith and Porsche chose to be partners, as did Cassi and Shelly. Adam and Dominic then chose to be partners, leaving Kalia and Lawon as the fourth pair. Following this, the HouseGuests learned that three former duos would be joining them. This led to the original HouseGuests all forming an alliance with the goal of evicting the returning players. HouseGuests Brendon Villegas and Rachel Reilly from season 12, Jeff Schroeder and Jordan Lloyd from seson 11, and Dick Donato and his daughter Daniele from season 8 entered the house later that night. Like the new HouseGuests, the six returning duos were partnered together and would earn immunity should their partner win Head of Household. HouseGuests then competed in the "Going Bananas" endurance Head of Household competition. For this competition, HouseGuests held onto an oversized banana while being shot with chocolate and whipped cream; the last HouseGuest remaining on their banana would be the winner. Rachel was the winner. Upon returning inside, the HouseGuests learned of the "Golden Key", in which the HouseGuest who survives eviction would earn the Golden Key, ensuring them safety until only ten HouseGuests remain. The holder of a Golden Key could not compete for Head of Household or the Power of Veto, but were still required to vote for eviction. The returning HouseGuests quickly realized that the new HouseGuests had aligned, thus leading to the six of them forming the Veterans alliance.
Realizing that the new HouseGuests would be nominated for eviction, Cassi, Dominic, Keith, and Lawon formed "The Regulators" alliance, which featured one member from each of the four new duos. Meanwhile, the returning players realized they needed to get some of the new HouseGuests on their side, leading to Dick making a deal with Porsche in which she would work with the returning players. Porsche later informed her partner Keith about this plan, and attempted to get him on board with the plan; Keith later told his Regulators alliance about this, leading to them deciding to target Porsche. On Day 4, HouseGuests competed in the "One Small Step for Cows, One Giant Leap for Milk Kind" Have-Not competition. For this competition, HouseGuests split into three teams and were required to jump into a crater of milk to allow their fellow team members to squeeze it out of them; the first two teams to fill up six jugs would be the winners, while the last team would be the Have-Nots for the week. The team of Cassi, Kalia, Lawon, and Shelly were the Have-Nots for the week. The Veterans alliance later decided they wanted Porsche to receive a Golden Key in an attempt to gain her vote for future evictions. On Day 5, Rachel chose to nominate Keith and Porsche for eviction. On Day 6, Dick chose to walk from the game due to an urgent personal matter. He later revealed in an interview with People that when the producers called him into the Diary Room on Day 6, though the preliminary tests were inconclusive, they informed him there was a possibility that he was HIV-positive; this was later found to be the case. Due to his decision, Daniele received the first Golden Key. The game continued as normal, with Rachel's nominations remaining intact. When picking players for the Power of Veto competition, Jeff and Jordan were selected to compete; Adam was selected to host. On Day 7, HouseGuests competed in the "Faster Than a Speeding Veto" Power of Veto competition. For this competition, one member of the pair lifted their partner into the air by a zipline, with this HouseGuest attempting to solve a puzzle while suspended in the air; the first duo to complete their puzzle would win the Power of Veto. Brendon and Rachel were the winners of the Power of Veto. On Day 9, Brendon and Rachel chose not to use the Power of Veto on the nominated duo. Both Keith and Porsche believed they had the votes to stay, with Keith not realizing that Kalia and Shelly had made deals with the Veterans alliance to save themselves. On Day 13, Keith became the first HouseGuest to be evicted from the house in a vote of six to four; as she lost her partner, Porsche received the second Golden Key of the season.