A Big Brother backdoor elimination is one of the most powerful moves in the game, often blindsiding the evicted houseguest. The very first backdoor elimination, however, didn’t just shock the houseguests—it set a precedent that would shape every future season of Big Brother.
In many seasons of Big Brother, the Head of Household nominates two houseguests to be on the block and in danger of eviction. The two houseguests, along with the HOH and three other players, compete in the Veto Competition. If one of the HOH’s nominations is removed from the block, he or she names a replacement nominee.
A backdoor elimination occurs when the HOH nominates two “pawns” to avoid targeting the true threat directly. After the Veto competition, a pawn is removed, and the real target is named as the replacement nominee, leaving them vulnerable to eviction. Over the years, the Big Brother backdoor elimination has become expected at some point during each season, but no one saw that very first backdoor coming back in 2004.
Big Brother’s First Backdoor Elimination Happened In Season 5
The Veto competition in Big Brother hasn’t always been played the way it has been in recent seasons. Introduced in season 3, the Power of Veto was a game-changer, giving the HOH’s nominations a chance to save themselves before eviction night.
Prior to season 5, all houseguests were allowed to play in the Veto competition. Big Brother season 5 changed the format of the Veto competition by limiting it to only six players. This format included the HOH, the two nominees, and three additional houseguests selected by the HOH and each nominee. The most common format for Veto competitions now still limits it to six houseguests, but the three additional are now chosen in a random draw.
During 2004’s Big Brother 5, week five, viewers witnessed the very first backdoor elimination when Jase Wirey was eliminated after being blindsided as the replacement nominee following a Veto competition he did not get to play. Big Brother season 5 houseguests Marvin Latimer and Nakomis Dedmon are credited for devising that first backdoor strategic move in the game.
Nakomis became the Head of Household and realized her alliance had the numbers to carry out what she called the “Six Finger Plan.” She planned to put up two people from her own alliance on the block, and they would each pick a player from their alliance to play in the Veto competition.
“This ensured that all six players in the Veto competition were on Nakomis’ side .”
Nakomis and Marvin’s plan worked flawlessly. After one alliance member was removed from the block, Nakomis named Jase as the replacement nominee, and he was evicted in a six-to-one vote.
Big Brother’s Veto Was First Introduced As A Twist In Season 3
The Power of Veto and Veto competitions weren’t always a part of the Big Brother game. In fact, it wasn’t until season 3 that a form of the POV was introduced into the game. Before then, the nominated houseguests would remain on the block until eviction night, with no chance at removal during the week.
Big Brother season 3 first introduced the Silver Power of Veto. With this, the holder could remove one of the nominees, but he or she could not use the Veto on themselves. Season 3 brought in the Golden Power of Veto during the season’s final veto competition and it has been used in every season since.
During season 4, Big Brother’s twist included the Diamond Power of Veto, where the Veto holder could remove a nominee, including themself, and instead of the HOH naming a replacement, the Veto holder named the replacement. The Diamond Power of Veto reappeared in season 12 as a gift from Pandora’s Box.
America’s Veto was featured in Big Brother 26 as an upgrage power for Makensy Manbeck. With America’s veto, Makensy could remove herself from the block, and instead of the HOH naming the replacement, America voted for the replacement nominee.
Introducing the Power of Veto into Big Brother allowed houseguests to strategize even bigger moves in the game, like the backdoor elimination plan.
How Backdoor Eliminations Became A Major Part Of Big Brother
The backdoor elimination strategy is the perfect game move when targeting a strong houseguest who might likely win the POV and remove themself off the block. Leaving the intended target out of the Veto competition makes the chance they sit on the block during evicition night greater. After the first backdoor elimination, houseguests have used this strategic plan to remove some of the stronger players from the game.
While some viewers and fans of the game might view the backdoor plan as unfair, when rooting for the strong players, it remains a good game move that requires a great level of strategy to make it work. Some of the stronger houseguests are impossible to evict without using a backdoor plan.
Implementing the perfect backdoor plan is a difficult move and can be hard for houseguests to pull off. If the HOH has an alliance large enough to carry it out, though, it is not impossible.
Surviving a backdoor plan is challenging, but it has happened more than once. In season 8, America’s Player, Eric Stein notably survived the block after being the subject of a backdoor plan, and BB21’s Nicole Anthony survived the backdoor too.
Big Brother19’s Cody Nickson significant in being a houseguest who was backdoored twice in one season. First in week two, and then again in week seven after winning a Battle Back Competition during week four.
According to Big Brother Wiki, there has been at least one backdoor eliminiation per season since the first one in season 5. From Big Brother season 5 to Big Brother season 20, there were 30 backdoor eliminations. As of BB20, season 17 had the most backdoors in a single season with four houseguests facing the fate, and males are more often backdoored than female houseguests. It is important to note that even more backdoors have taken place since season 20.
One of the biggest backdoor blindsides happened during season 25, when Hisam Goueli was backdoored by his own alliance members after letting power get to his head the week prior to being eliminated.
After being eliminated, Hisam shared in an interview with Gold Derby on YouTube, “You know, I feel devastated and hurt. You know I had always feared a backdoor. It was the one thing that I realized before the game that I couldn’t prevent. Which is why I was playing the game so transparently and why I chose not to backdoor people, because I was hoping to set a precendece that someone would not backdoor me.”