The Big Brother 26 cast is here and, hopefully, ready to expect the unexpected.
The 16 new houseguests were announced on Monday, July 15, and the group ranges from a celebrity chef, a former undercover cop, a former marine and more.
Before they officially move into the Big Brother house during the two-night premiere on Wednesday, July 17 and Thursday, July 18, Us Weekly asked the contestants to reveal which Big Brother alum they would feel most threatened to see in the game.
“Jag [Bains] from season 25,” Rubina Bernabe, a 35-year-old event bartender, told Us. “You couldn’t beat that guy! He won everything.”
While Rubina doesn’t want to face off against competition beasts, Joseph Rodriguez, Lisa Weintraub, Tucker Des Lauriers, Cam Sullivan-Brown are more wary of the strategic players.
“Somebody like a Vanessa Rousso,” Joseph, 30-year-old video store clerk, told Us. “Somebody who is really smart and cunning and also willing to call you out in front of other people and have you struggle to come up with a good answer in the moment.”
For Lisa, a 33-year-old celebrity chef, she would not be thrilled to see Big Brother 16 champ Derrick Levasseur.
“He had his hands in all of the cookie jars and he did it with kindness but also with really smart gameplay,” she reflected. “I would love to be on his team but I would also not like to go against him.”
Tucker, a 30-year-old marketing and sales executive, answered Big Brother legend Dan Gheesling. While Tucker thinks he and the The Traitors season 2 star could be buddies, he knows what Dan can do in the game.
Meanwhile, Cam, a 25-old physical therapist, would hate to see a player like Big Brother 23’s Tiffany Mitchell in the game.
“She was the mastermind behind it all,” he explained. “She really wasn’t threatening in terms of challenges but she was threatening because she was pulling the strings with the Cookout.”
Speaking of pulling strings, the 16 houseguests will get to do just that this season. CBS revealed on Monday that the first twist the players will encounter is the chance to vote in a 17th houseguest during the premiere. Additional details about who that player would be have yet to be announced.
For Kenney Kelley, a 52-year-old former undercover cop, he’s not afraid of anyone who would walk in the house since he’s not the kind of person who gets “intimidated” easily.
“There’s nobody I’d be threatened by at all,” he said. “I’m a pretty confident person. I’ll be able to get in that house and handle whoever is in there.”
Watch the video above to see what the other houseguests had to say and keep scrolling to get to know the BB26 cast:
Chelsie Baham
Age: 27
Hometown: Rancho Cucamonga, CA
Occupation: Nonprofit Director
Angela Murray
Age: 50
Hometown: Long Beach, CA
Current City: Syracuse, Utah
Occupation: Real Estate Agent
Quinn Martin
Age: 25
Hometown: Lawton, OK
Current City: Omaha, NE
Occupation: Nurse Recruiter
Leah Peters
Age: 26
Hometown: Pittsburgh, PA
Current City: Miami, FL
Occupation: VIP Cocktail Server
Tucker Des Lauriers
Age: 30
Hometown: Boston, MA
Current City: Brooklyn, NY
Occupation: Marketing and Sales Executive
Kenney Kelley
Age: 52
Hometown: Boston, MA
Occupation: Former Undercover Cop
Lisa Weintraub
Age: 33
Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
Occupation: Celebrity Chef
Kimo Apaka
Age: 35
Hometown: Hilo, HI
Occupation: Mattress Sales Rep
Makensy Manbeck
Age: 22
Hometown: Houston, TX
Occupation: Construction Project Manager
Brooklyn Rivera
Age: 34
Hometown: Covington, GA
Current City: Dallas, TX
Occupation: Business Administrator
Matt Hardeman
Age: 25
Hometown: Loganville, GA
Current City: Roswell, GA
Occupation: Tech Sales Rep
Cedric Hodges
Age: 21
Hometown: Running Springs, CA
Current City: Boise, Idaho
Occupation: Former Marine
Joseph Rodriguez
Age: 30
Hometown: Tampa, FL
Occupation: Video Store Clerk
Rubina Bernabe
Age: 35
Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
Occupation: Event Bartender
T’kor Clottey
Age: 23
Hometown: Chicago, IL via London, U.K.
Current City: Atlanta, GA
Occupation: Crochet Business Owner
Cam Sullivan-Brown
Age: 25
Hometown: Bowie, MD
Occupation: Physical Therapist
Big Brother 26 premieres on CBS and Paramount+ on Wednesday, July 17, at 9 p.m. ET.
