Big Brother is a game with a multitude of factors. After a series of houseguests voting to evict each other, there is a jury of evicted players who then listen to the finalist’s speeches and ask them questions in the finale. The jurors then vote for the winner of $750,000 on the CBS show. However, fans haven’t always agreed with whom the jury crowns and have labeled some as “bitter.” America Lopez is a superfan of the show and revealed her feelings about “bitter” jurors have changed.
Jag Bains Blindsided America Lopez on Big Brother 25
America has a showmance with Cory Wurtenberger and pushed for him to make a big move in the double eviction. Jared Fields was targeting her so after his Head of Household (HoH), she pushed the house to turn on him. Cory used his knowledge of Jared’s multiple alliances and lies to turn his former allies like Matt Klotz and Jag Bains against him. Cory won HoH during the double eviction, put Jared and Blue Kim on the block and Jared was evicted.
It looked like Cory and America could replace Jared in the power position. But they spent more time together in the following weeks than their allies. This was upsetting to people like Cirie Fields and Blue who were hurt over losing Jared. Blue worked hard to turn Matt and Jag against the couple because of this. The couple also still wanted to throw competitions at the final eight, which upset Matt and Jag who continued to win to ensure their safety in the game and get blood on their hands targeting people.
Week 11 is Comic-verse week and the HoH gets to be invisible. Cory had Jag agree that if any of them win they would tell each other to feel safe. Jag won and didn’t immediately tell Cory. He nominated Felicia Cannon and Blue first, then won a veto. Blue won the other one. The live feeds revealed the vetos were used and America and Cory were nominated. Cory said he was mentally prepared for this, but America was blindsided. She felt so safe that she admitted to throwing the veto competition in the episode.
America Understands Bitter Jurors
Many superfans fantasize about being the perfect houseguest making all the right moves. They also imagine that if they lost, they wouldn’t let their emotions get involved in their vote. The last jury fans labeled as “bitter” was in Big Brother 19. Paul Abrahamian returned hot after Big Brother 18. The alum ran circles around the new cast by getting most of them on his side and targeting houseguests who were against him. In the end, he sat next to Josh Martinez who got into multiple fights with other houseguests and annoyed them by clapping pots and pans as he taunted them. Sometimes Josh did this at Paul’s request. So it seemed like an obvious win for Paul, but he lost three to five votes. Fans thought this was unfair and blamed the jurors instead of Paul for his loss.
Back to Big Brother 25, Jag offered America to talk about him nominating her after the veto ceremony. “F-ck off,” she replied then left the bathroom. Jag later told other houseguests he found this disrespectful. She spent the rest of the day crying and Cirie comforted her. “I just feel like Jag wants to talk about being disrespectful like he didn’t have to do a blindside,” America told her. “He could have just come and talked to me about whatever it was that he was bothered by. She admitted she and Cory planned to target them soon.
This shows Jag made the right game move, but he left a former ally who could vote on his fate feeling bad. This is the delicate balance of the end game. Jag could’ve told America after the veto competitions that he’d make this move because they’re huge threats. Houseguests usually take being a “threat” as a compliment to their game. He could’ve also noted America had to sit next to his target, Cory because he wanted to make sure Cory would go home. Instead, America will stay in the house for at least another week, and he possibly made a new enemy.
America vented to Cory about the situation. She felt guilty and like she played a part in the downfall of his game. But she revealed this situation made her look at the game differently. “I still think that the blindside was stupid,” she said. “What was the point of that? To be dramatic and like hurtful?” Cory said it was possibly to be theatrical. “It’s gonna be real theatrical when I don’t vote for either of them to win in the end,” she said. “I get bitter jurors now. I’m going to hold onto this for the next 21 days.” Cory chuckled at this.
Could Jag Turn Things Around With America?
Jag has 21 days to try to change America’s tune on him and his game. On October 18, Jag and America finally talked. She explained that she was happy when Jag won the veto and felt “comfortable.” She apologized for telling him to “f-ck off” and he told her she’s good. They both agreed they were being “dramatic.”
“Obviously at first, I was like, ‘That’s so disrespectful because I would never say that to one of my friends,'” Jag said. “But also was like I just put them on the block so.” They both admitted to being sad and Jag said he didn’t want her to take it personally. America said it was personal for her. “For me, it’s not personal. It’s not that at all,” he said. “It’s purely the game move and what had to be done.” Jag said he wanted to be friends. America admitted that’s hard for her. They started joking about targeting each other next week. “This is just the way it is,” he told her.
This was a good opportunity for jury management for America and Jag. But it didn’t feel like it was done well. Jag was in the power position and was talking about feeling betrayed by America first for talking about him to Blue. He should’ve been more focused on apologizing for the blindside. America did a good job of apologizing for cursing at him and owning that she talked about Jag with Blue. She said they could pretend to still be on opposing sides and not target each other. Jag perked up at this idea, but he shouldn’t go through with it.
When the season gets to the jury every houseguest needs to make the person they’re evicting feel like it’s solely a game decision and not embarrass them. “Bitter jurors” don’t come out of thin air, they’re created based on how the finalists make them feel. We’ve seen great jury management with houseguests giving jurors full information about what led to their eviction in their goodbye messages. Taylor Hale gifted some of her clothes to jurors in Big Brother 24 who then wore them at the finale. Players should always remember they’re playing with human beings with feelings, and they want to feel included in the game and special, even if they’re in the jury house.