It's finally time for Big Brother Season 27 on the 2025 TV schedule, and with the cast plus the icon Rachel Reilly playing the game as we speak, fans are picking favorites and making predictions for the "first boot" left and right. I'm not better than everyone else, and despite not watching one second of any of these people yet on the live feeds with my Paramount+ subscription, I have some strong feelings, both good and bad, on a handful of them.
Preseason interview videos are out for each Houseguest (minus Rachel), which gives us an idea of how they intend to play the game. Of course, that doesn't always work out, and as I've confirmed time and time again in interviews with Houseguests over the years, everything can change once you're actually in the house playing Big Brother. Even so, I have three players I'm feeling good about headed into this season, and three I think are going to be in danger right from the jump. Let's talk about them all!
Ashley Hollis - Good
I'm not sure I've ever felt more bullish about a Houseguest pregame than I have Ashley Hollis. The young lawyer said all the right things in her pregame interview in terms of strategy, and of course, plans on telling no one about her true profession. Her background in pageants will likely help her be diplomatic with other Houseguests, and she just gives off likable vibes. I'm sure a lot of people will want her in their fold when alliances start forming up. In the premiere I thought it was good that she volunteered to play for HOH for Jimmy Heagerty, and I feel I can see the beginnings of an alliance between those two.
Another major plus for Ashley is that she is apparently a longtime friend of BB23 Houseguest Hannah Chaddha. Hannah noted on Instagram that they've been friends since preschool, so I'm sure she had some tips to pass along to her friend ahead of the game. While some readers may remember Hannah more for her hammock injury or the failed showmance with Derek Xiao, she had and still has a great mind for strategy. If she passed even some of that onto her friend, Ashley will be off to a strong start in the game.
Adrian Rocha - Bad
Adrian Rocha is brimming with confidence in his preseason video, which makes me feel like Big Brother Season 27 is going to hit him like a ton of bricks the second the game gets rolling. A young Houseguest in their early twenties who thinks they have the game all figured out and will dominate once they get in the house? Where have I seen this before?
This type of Houseguest has popped up a few times in BB, with Matt Hardeman from Season 26 being the most recent example. Matt was so confident he was running the game that he forgot he wasn't the Head of Household in Week 1 and ended up starting a feud with then-HOH Angela Murray that led to his quick exit. I also feel like Adrian has the same energy as Season 10's Jessie Godderz, who was doing the absolute most right out of the gate. Lo and behold, he came ridiculously close to winning not one but two competitions in the premiere, and I guarantee more than one person clocked that. He's off to a bad start in terms of establishing him as a comp threat.
Clifton "Will" Williams - Good
Men over the age of 50 in Big Brother are often a crapshoot. It can be hard for them to warm up to a house full of people decades younger than them, but for every Kenney Kelley and Steve Arienta that went home pre-jury, there's a Cliff Hogg and Jerry MacDonald who had a deep run even if they didn't stand a great chance at winning.
Clifton "Will" Williams looks like a charismatic guy, and his job podcasting about women's basketball gives him a hot topic to discuss that's very much in the mainstream. I think he's going to build bridges and alliances much easier than other Houseguests his age, though I do wonder if his military background, which he keeps harping on in the Diary Room may be offputting to other Houseguest and they'll label him as uptight. He doesn't seem like that type of person to me, but we'll just have to wait and see!
Ava Pearl - Bad
Ava Pearl has jumped out as a fast favorite for the online community on X, with tons of viral tweets about loving her energy. I'll admit, Ava seems like she'll create good television, with threats to take anyone down to get the money that she "desperately needs" to afford to continue living in New York City as an aura painter.
The problem is, I feel like Ava gives off the energy of someone who is a little offbeat and will have trouble fitting into any alliance. By her own admission, she also said her biggest weakness was keeping her attitude in check. I feel like anyone who has enough self-awareness in life to acknowledge that as a weakness might be underselling how much of a problem it can be, and if she makes enough noise early on, Houseguests might just band together to get her out rather than be subjected to a season of chaotic fights. She was able to keep her attitude in check in the Big Brother Season 27 premiere, but remember, it's the first night.
Jimmy Heagerty - Good
Jimmy Heagerty's pregame interview sounds almost like Adrian Rocha's in some areas, but I feel like he's better at reining in his confidence that he's going to win the game. He also seems to understand the importance of being someone who can hold a normal conversation about life and not be 100% about game talk from start to finish.
Big Brother is a game, so you can't really go in and not discuss strategy. At the same time, Houseguests who only want to talk game are often seen as threats, and I think someone who's made their way in life as an AI consultant knows how to balance strategy and being personable well enough. Case in point, I think the way he handled picking players for the HOH was very calculated but also mindful. I think he's already established trust with a few players and is off to a great start.
Rylie Jeffries - Bad
When watching the Big Brother interviews, there was one Houseguest who looked like the square peg of the bunch by a wide margin. Rylie Jeffries is the lone professional bull-rider in a house full of people, many of whom work with computers, and I think he's going to have a hard time relating to people early on because of that. He sticks out like a sore thumb, to the point that if you were playing Guess Who? with this cast, you could knock him off the board immediately by asking if the person had a cowboy hat.
While I give Rylie points for saying he's going into the game as his authentic self, I knock more off because his strategy thrives on being a "follower." While I think there's value in knowing when to hold back, the days of being a follower in modern Big Brother are largely over, with majority alliances not forming until later in the game. Season 27 Houseguests will have to prove their worthiness of keeping in an alliance, I feel, and I'm not sure if his strategy to follow and throw is going to make him an attractive piece.
Big Brother Season 27 is actually already underway. I'm ready for a season of unexpected twists and turns, and hopefully some of these Houseguests surprise me in a way I didn't expect. In fairness, I was pretty bad at picking the winner last season, so for all I know, one of these people will be the accomplice and discovered before anyone is eliminated.
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