Big Brother producers defend controversial hamster wheel competition twist (exclusive)

For Big Brother executive producers Allison Grodner and Rich Meehan, it only made sense to move one of the franchise’s most dramatic twists from the Christmas-themed spinoff series Big Brother Reindeer Games to the flagship show.

Instead of staging a standard elimination competition involving a hamster wheel maze, Reindeer Games introduced a diabolical twist. The first player taking it on would be eliminated if they could not finish it in under five minutes and 30 seconds. However, if they completed it in time, the next person would have a minute less to do it. And each person after that would have one minute less than the person before, with the pattern continuing until someone was eliminated.

The drama reached its apex when Britney Haynes shockingly solved the maze in three minutes and thirty seconds and then chose Danielle Reyes to go next, even though Taylor Hale was volunteering. Danielle was eliminated, and the conflict between the two carried over all the way into their appearance on The Traitors.

The hamster wheel concept was praised by fans and turned Reindeer Games into must-see TV. What could possibly go wrong with bringing the same twist onto the flagship series — one in which players are voted out instead of eliminated solely through competitions?

The hamster wheel chain competition popped up on day 60 of Big Brother season 27 as part of the White Locust twist and once again made for undeniably riveting television, but this time, the fan reaction was something else — outrage. “Oh, it was peak,” says Grodner of the viewer indignation.

The source of that indignation stemmed from two sources — the fact that the person eliminated was evicted without any sort of vote (or Veto), and that the person who was eliminated was none other than Iconica herself, fan-favorite Rachel Reilly.

Grodner and Meehan spoke to Entertainment Weekly about the controversial twist, and the producers pushed back at the suggestion that Rachel was eliminated by a purely athletic competition that ignored social and strategic gameplay.

“I think that’s off-base,” says Grodner. “There absolutely was a social element to this. In Reindeer Games as well. Remember, not everyone was going to go into that wheel. So your relationships and where you stood in the hierarchy of things and your threat level and the way that you worked in those 10 minutes and jockeyed for position [were key].”

Grodner points to how the eventual season winner approached the chain, taking a completely different tack than Rachel. “Look at Ashley. Ashley was part of that same alliance that Rachel was in, but yet no one said to put her in the wheel. Why was that? I think that the way that you worked those intervals was critical in terms of your survival during the White Locust twist. So I do think there’s a social element.”

Meehan concurs: “It was absolutely built to be social and strategic as well as competitive.”

He also argues that diluting the stakes of the hamster wheel for regular Big Brother would have taken everything out of what made the competition so great to begin with. “People loved it on Reindeer Games, right? It was an amazing moment. And the reason why we were like, ‘Well, it can never really live in Big Brother,’ is because what made it so great was the stakes. If it was the hamster wheel and it was just the nominees, it would just be another version of Big Brother. And I know people were clamoring for [those higher stakes] and a lot of people really did enjoy it.”

The producers also point out that all the elements of a typical Big Brother week were at play in that single competition (including the first “Survive the White Locust” challenge that Ava Pearl won to kick everything off) — even if it was in a slightly different order.

“When it was originally designed, we looked at the layers of Big Brother from a social and strategic level,” explains Meehan. “And if you look at a week of old school pre-Block Buster Big Brother, you had an HOH competition that you could save yourself, and you had a Veto competition that you could save yourself. And then you had the vote at the end where you could save yourself.”

Meehan says they then incorporated all of those elements into the White Locust twist. “So when we looked at this we’re like, ‘Well, the initial challenge is kind of like an HOH, you can save yourself. But then you start to chain, and if you get sent to the hamster wheel, it’s kind of like a Veto, where you have the opportunity to save yourself. Now, the big difference is instead of saving yourself with a vote after, you have to save yourself with a vote before. So you have to strategically and socially figure out how you’re going play that to determine whether you’re going into the wheel with enough time, or whether you’re going to avoid going into the wheel. So the social and strategic element precedes it versus happening after.”

“It was a like a mis-ordered week in a way,” Grodner chimes in.

“You still had two chances to save yourself,” Meehan notes, “and you still had a social, strategic component. It just was in a different order. So in our mind, it’s different, it’s dramatic but also, everyone went into that night with the same rules. Ultimately, fairness is everyone playing by the same rules, and they were all playing by the same rules.”

Of course, it doesn’t take a genius to realize that like the fans, the last person the producers wanted to be eliminated was their resident BB legend who had been spinning pure gold all season long. “No one wanted her to leave that night,” Grodner says emphatically.

But for the producers, the way that Rachel did leave proves how important the social and strategic elements were to this night of Mastermind mayhem.

“It was interesting because [Rachel] single-mindedly needed to get on that wheel,” says Grodner. “In her mind, that was the strategic move for her. Ultimately, could she have avoided it? You know, it is possible. She had other allies that could have gone up in her place. It’s her own ally that put her in the wheel.”

Allies that took a much different approach to the situation. “Ashley won the game,” Meehan notes. “She clearly sat down saying, ‘I do not want any part of that, and I’m going do everything to not play.”

“She didn’t mention it once,” Grodner says, laughing. “And neither did Will!”

While fans and producers alike were bummed to lose Rachel — who had remarkably never touched the nomination block in 60 days, even as the season’s biggest threat — the powers-that-be map the season out in advance and then watch it play out, regardless of who may be at risk.

“We design all the creative far before the season,” notes Meehan. “This wasn’t just thrown in. The White Locust was on the schedule before Rachel was even cast on the show. So yes, we knew going in that there’s a chance you’re going to lose whoever is there that night. But we set the game up, and then you let them play it. We’re not going to suddenly go, ‘Well, this could happen, so let’s not do that.’”

And even with the angry fan reaction — Grodner says she received death threats over the twist — the fact that the fanbase is still that invested in the outcome ultimately bodes well for the franchise. “In season 27 of a show, if you can generate that much conversation and that much buzz…” Meehan says, letting the thought trail off.

While Rachel going home was a worst-case scenario for both the people who make and watch Big Brother, Grodner notes that the stakes are what make the show. “We always say you can’t produce from a place of fear. The idea that we might lose a big player, it’s part of this game. It’s the fun of this game and the ups and downs in the roller-coaster to ride. I mean, look at our finale. That was crazy. And in the end, you didn’t know who was going to win. The outcome was completely unexpected and that unpredictability, to me, is success.”

But the real $750,000 question is: After watching it play out on Big Brother proper, and seeing the… ahem… spirited fan reaction, will the producers trot out another hamster wheel type chain competition in the future?

“I mean, it certainly was a great hour of TV.,” Grodner says, pondering the question before letting out a chuckle. “Maybe we’ll submit it for the Emmy!”

“It’s definitely something we’ll look at,” Meehan weighs in. “Is it something that could come back? It probably could come back. Will it definitely come back every season? I don’t know about that.”

And with that, Grodner issues the ultimate warning: “Future houseguests should be ready.”