Reality Bites: Big Brother 18: Cast Bios & Season Preview

It's time for a new season and some new twists, along with maybe some old ones. "Expect the unexpected." We get a 2-night premiere, and Episode 1 will be 2 hours! So plan your watching/recording appropriately! The new season begins this Wednesday, June 22 at 8:00 EST.

New twists:

No more Battle of the Block - in its place will be a new competition that we don't know exactly what it will be yet; word is that it won't be a Have/Have-Not comp either
This isn't exactly a twist, but something new is that the pool and hot tub in the backyard have been moved in-ground, which will allow more of the yard to be used in challenges because they can easily be covered. Also, our U.S. version has inherited one of the challenge producers from Big Brother Canada, so hopefully we will see some new and exciting challenges. If you've ever watched BBCan, you know they have some pretty cool challenges, so I'm excited to see some new, fresh ideas (or at least new to the U.S. version).
The theme of the house design this year has an international/travel feel, and this may be tied into the twists of this season. This is what Alison Grodner, Executive Producer, had this to say: "It’s more than just a house theme. This is all part of the twist that’s going to unfold over the summer. Twists, plural, actually. A few of them will be announced on opening night, and many more to come. Here you are in the living room which is the terminal of an airport. That board is the departure board and you will see on opening night what we got there. It has meaning."

Old twists revisited:

2 former houseguests are related to former houseguests: Paulie Calafiore is Cody's brother (Cody finished 2nd on Season 16 and is BFF to winner Derrick); Tiffany Rousso is Vanessa's sister (Vanessa finished 3rd on Season 17)

Cody Calafiore

Vanessa Rousso

Rumor has it that 4 more houseguests will be joining the 12 announced houseguests (obviously this is true because there are always at least 16 houseguests). These new houseguests will most likely be returning players, and there is a good chance that they could be "coaches" like on Season 14.

OK, so the international theme of the house didn't get me thinking until I saw the British bedroom. If you watched this past season of BBCan that just ended, they had 2 international wild cards: Tim Dormer (winner of Big Brother Australia) and Nikki Grahame (from Big Brother UK) - they were voted in out of 4 international players (including the U.S.'s own Jase Wirey). Tim and Nikki were full-fledged houseguests and played alongside the Canadians. Could Canada be planning their own international invasion? I think that would be really cool! Especially if Tim and/or Nikki would be involved because those 2 are epic players and more entertaining than 95% of any of the U.S. players in our BB history, and I'm not even joking. Head to YouTube if you don't believe me. Those 2 are BB royalty and could teach our U.S. players a thing or 2 about making good TV.

Season 18 Cast:

Girls

Bridgette Dunning Age: 24 Occupation: Traveling Nurse Hometown: Fresno, CA Lives In: Ventura, CA	Bronte D'Acquisto Age: 26 Occupation: Student Hometown: San Diego, CA Lives In: Denver, CO	Michelle Meyer Age: 23 Occupation: Nutritionist Hometown: Washington Township, MI Lives In: Washington Township, MI
Natalie Negrotti Age: 26 Occupation: Event Coordinator Hometown: Caracas, Venezuela Lives In: Franklin Park, NJ	Tiffany Rousso Age: 32 Occupation: High School Teacher Hometown: West Palm Beach, FL Lives In: Palm Beach Gardens, FL	Zakiyah Everette Age: 24 Occupation: Preschool Teacher Hometown: Charlotte, NC Lives In: Charlotte, NC

Guys

Corey Brooks Age: 25 Occupation: Baseball Coach Hometown: Dallas, TX Lives In: Dallas, TX	Glenn Garcia Age: 50 Occupation: Dog Groomer/Former Detective Hometown: Bronx, NY Lives In: Bronx, NY	Jozea Flores Age: 25 Occupation: Makeup Artist Hometown: Bridgetown, NJ Lives In: Los Angeles, CA
Paul Abraham Age: 23 Occupation: Clothing Designer Hometown: Tarzana, CA Lives In: Tarzana, CA	Paulie Calafiore Age: 27 Occupation: DJ Hometown: Howell, NJ Lives In: Howell, NJ	Victor Arroyo Age: 25 Occupation: Gym Manager Hometown: Slidell, LA Lives In: Slidell, LA