I've been watching a lot of past Big Brother seasons lately, in anticipation of Big Brother Season 28. One strong opinion about a certain twist in the game has resurfaced in me with vigor, and I need to talk about it. We recently learned that Season 28 will be themed around a "time trip." So... maybe this would be the perfect season to leave the Big Brother Slop punishment in the past?
Big Brother is a notoriously unserious show. Amidst their efforts to send one houseguest packing each week, these housebound contestants are subjected to a range of ridiculous scenarios and punishments. They're slimed during competitions and made to wear goofy themed costumes, to name a couple of examples.
Fans know and expect regular doses of absurdity from the long-running CBS series, and we wouldn't want it any other way. Slop, on the other hand, isn't fun or funny or exciting. The houseguests seem to hate it, which I know is the point, but I also don't know a single fan who cares about this particular punishment, at least, not in any kind of positive way.
Slop looks like oatmeal, but based on complaints about it from the houseguests, it sounds like it doesn't actually taste like oatmeal, nor does it have the same texture. Prior to Season 7, the food punishment each season was to restrict the impacted houseguests' diet to peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Slop was introduced during Big Brother All Stars, in 2006, and has remained the food punishment each season since. In 2011, the Have Not twist was introduced, adding an uncomfortable bedroom and cold showers to the slop punishment for the three or four affected houseguests each week.
Have Nots do have a limited number of other options (pickles, some spices and condiments, protein powder, etc.) to supplement their diets, but slop is their main food source for the week. It seems like every season, houseguests complain about how being on slop makes them feel. Whether it's lack of energy, gastrointestinal discomfort or just feeling super hungry because they're not eating the slop, it certainly seems to serve its presumed purpose of putting have nots at a disadvantage. Yet, I can't remember the last time anything slop-related was entertaining on the live feeds or in the episodes. It's just a thing that gets forced on a few houseguests each week until the Have Not punishment ends for the season.
To be clear, I'm not saying they should completely get rid of the Have Not room or punishment. I appreciate the creativity that goes into designing that room, particularly when the design relates (in some dreary, creepy or otherwise negative way) to the theme of the house. Plus, it disrupts the usual sleeping arrangements from week to week, which can have an impact on the social dynamics of the game. Keep the Have Not twist if you want, let's just lose the slop requirement, or change it to something that gives the houseguests more options to get enough to eat to be their usual selves.
I'm not sure what the substitution to slop should be. Maybe it's some other limitation on the Have Nots' diet that still allows them to get enough basic nutrients throughout the week. At the very least, maybe there's an alternate punishment to slop that houseguests can choose. Meaning, if they want to eat normal food for the day, they have to take some other punishment or restriction.
As 2026 marks twenty years since Slop was first introduced, I think it's high time Big Brother does away with it, or finds a way to change up the food restriction to make it interesting, and preferably doesn't leave the affected houseguests down for the count for days.
Big Brother Season 28 kicks off on the 2026 TV schedule on July 9th, with the live feeds starting the day after. You'll be able to watch the feeds and catch up on past episodes with a Paramount+ subscription.
