Sometimes, Big Brother players go into the house lying about what they do for a living. If the occupation suggests prestige and stable income, the person might be perceived as not being as deserving to win. If it requires a high level of intelligence or special skill, that instantly makes the person a threat.
Thus, many lawyers, nurses, detectives, engineers, and even MENSA , have hidden their true professions or intellectual statuses. Instead, they claim to have less threatening jobs like teacher, personal trainer, or even, in the most recent season, escape room designer. Some have managed to keep houseguests fooled the entire time, but some have raised suspicions.
Derrick Levasseur (Season 16)
Like many other houseguests in the past, Derrick – one of the best winners of Big Brother - went onto the show with a clear game plan for how he planned to play. Except Derrick managed to put every phase of his plan in motion and did it so successfully that he ended up winning the game.
Part of the reason for that is that Derrick was a trained and active police sergeant who got his start working as an undercover officer. He told everyone in the house, however, that he was a parks and recreation coordinator. It’s obvious why Derrick didn’t want the other houseguests to know that he was a detective, which meant he was trained to read people and work undercover, talents that would benefit him in the game. In the end, his reveal to the houseguests on finale night was one of the most shocking moments that season as no one suspected a thing.
Xavier Prather (Season 23)
One of many lawyers who played the game, Xander felt that itting he worked in a highly educated, handsomely paid profession might give houseguests two reasons to vote him out: he was smart and strategic and likely didn’t need the money as badly as others in the house.
Thus, it’s no surprise that the real-life employee benefits attorney (and model) chose to tell the houseguests that he was a bartender. Early on, many houseguests questioned his occupation, immediately clueing in on things that suggested Xavier was far too educated and articulate to be working a part-time job. Nonetheless, the lie paid off as Xander won the game. He also made history as the first Black houseguest ever to win a regular season of Big Brother, and the first to ever win the increased $750,000 cash prize.
Michael Bruner (Season 24)
In the latest season, Michael was a fan favorite houseguest, named among the Big Brother 24 players most likely to play again. He was expected to win the game until he was blindsided during a double eviction. He tied Big Brother veteran Janelle for the most competition wins ever in a single season, formed tight alliances, and made strategic decisions throughout his time on the show.
It’s no wonder given Michael’s job as an attorney, which requires him to possess decision-making skills, confidence, and a strategic mindset. Michael didn’t want others to know this, so he pretended he was an escape room designer instead. It wasn’t a total lie, as Michael did indeed used to do that job before graduating from law school. Several houseguests suspected Michael worked in a high-powered career position. In one scene, several houseguests sat around the kitchen table talking about who they thought might be lying about their job, and several pinpointed Michael.
Joseph Abdin (Season 24)
What was funniest about Joseph’s lie was that no one suspected a thing. While he is a legal counselor in real life, a fact he revealed to the other houseguests on the live finale night, he pretended to be a personal trainer instead.
It was convincing since Joseph worked out all the time and had a chiseled body. This made the lie easy since others made instant assumptions that he was all brawn and no brains. Indeed, many other houseguests made comments suggesting Joseph was not very bright. In actuality, he had them all fooled. Unfortunately for Joseph, a bad situation and twist led to his eviction, and he only made the jury.
Matt Hoffman (Season 12)
Matt didn’t necessarily lie about his job, but he did strategically avoid telling his fellow houseguests that he was a member of MENSA, an exclusive organization for those who possess an IQ of 132 or higher. Naturally, knowing how fiercely intelligent he was and how differently his mind could think would have instantly made Matt a target. So, he only revealed the base level truth: that he worked as a web designer.
Matt did well in the game as the leader of The Brigade, one of the strongest alliances ever on Big Brother. However, his teammates turned against him, and he was evicted. His alliance continued to dominate the game and his ally Hayden eventually won.
Vanessa Rousso (Season 17)
Vanessa went into the house claiming she was a DJ, which was partially true as she did do some DJing. But what she was known for, and famous for within the circuit was as a professional poker player. It’s no surprise Vanessa did not want others in the house to know that she was a professional at showing a poker face.
Vanessa remains one of the best players to never win Big Brother but should have. She was highly emotional but also led her alliance, made or influenced every decision, and called the shots. It was a final HoH loss that cost her the game: Steve chose to evict her, knowing full well she would beat him if he didn’t. That resulted in her coming in third place.
Danielle Reyes (Season 3)
Danielle didn’t pretend to be a kindergarten teacher to imply that those who hold that occupation aren’t smart. She did it because working with kids all day makes a person sound far less threatening than someone who is used to working in high-pressure situations and saving lives. That’s exactly what she did as a nurse. But Danielle made sure not to let most others in the house know this.
It might also have been for financial reasons: knowing she was a nurse might have made the houseguests believe Danielle was not in as much of a financial need of the winnings as others. Teachers, on the other hand, are considered to be one of the most underpaid and important jobs. Danielle indeed made it to the end of the game thanks to her crafty gameplay. However, a bitter jury during a season when jury sequestering hadn't yet started led to her coming in second.
Monte Taylor (Season 24)
Season 24 was full of players lying about their occupations, which makes sense since it was also a season full of superfans. Monte didn’t technically lie about his job: he said he was a personal trainer, and indeed, he is one. However, he didn’t want to reveal to the houseguests that he also studied mechanical engineering. Automatically, this would scream a high level of intelligence and problem-solving skills. Combined with his obvious physical prowess, Monte would instantly have been pegged as not only an endurance and physical competition threat but also a mental competition threat. Thus, he left this detail out.
Monte did well in the game, ranking second in of competition wins on Big Brother 24 as well as second in the game, overall. He was part of one of the biggest alliances, The Leftovers, along with several other sub- and short-lived alliances. However, he underestimated how strong a competitor Taylor was and was voted runner-up.
Kevin Martin (Big Brother Canada 5)
A professional poker player, Kevin felt that if others in the house knew his true occupation, it would hurt his game. He did reveal that he worked in sales but did not clarify that he worked as a sales engineer, with a big part of his job involving working on contract negotiations.
Kevin ultimately placed ninth after others in the house found him too difficult to read and untrustworthy. Like Michael Bruner in season 24 of Big Brother U.S., Kevin was the victim of a triple eviction.
Brittany Hoopes (Season 24)
Both Brittany's real job and her fake one go down as the most interesting of any lies. She told everyone in the house that she was a toy tester, leveraging her previous experience in market research in case she was asked any pressing questions. In actuality, Brittany was a hypnotherapist who practiced hypnosis on her clients. Naturally, if others knew that she could put them in a trance, had methods to calm people, alleviate stress, and effectively manipulate them for her gain, they might have evicted her much sooner for fear of the power she would wield.
Brittany never actually used any of her techniques of hypnosis in the house, other than to help Alyssa with some back pain, without revealing what she was doing. Nonetheless, Brittany managed to work her way to the end, making it to the final four.