'Big Brother 10' Brings Back Diversity

http://www.zap2it.com/tv/news/zap-bigbrother10cast,0,1654630.story

'Big Brother 10' Brings Back Diversity
Contestants range in age from 22 to 75

By Andrea Reiher, Zap2it
July 8, 2008



Gerry MacDonald, 'Big Brother 10'
Gerry MacDonald of 'Big Brother 10'
The 10th Season of Big Brother is upon us!

I hear the casting folks decided to get back to their roots, which means casting an interesting, diverse group of people who did not know each other prior to the show. Maybe this season we'll have our next Toothbrush Incident or Evil Dr. Will (muhahahaha). If you prefer to be surprised on the debut night of the show, please do not read after the jump. This morning The Early Show on CBS revealed the 13 houseguests to us, and this article is going to be a rundown of the contestants. So come with me after the jump to see which 13 crazies Julie the Robot will be interacting with this summer.

Allison Grodner tells us the houseguests range from a 22 year-old bodybuilder to Jerry, a 75 year-old great-grandfather whose wife was just diagnosed with Parkinson's. Aww, geez. Nobody can top that story. That's like musically-talented blind orphan territory. Jerry might want to keep that aspect of his personality to himself. In order of youngest to oldest, the contestants are:

# Photo Gallery: 'Big Brother 10'
Jessie, a 22 year-old bodybuilder from California, originally Iowa (Iowa, wooo). They describe him as "eye candy" for the women watching the show but... I disagree. Sorry, Jessie. He says he has a good relationship with his mom, which is kind of cute but also kind of worrisome that he's been ruined for every girl he will ever date. I think the fact that the youngest female in the house is SIX years older than him will be interesting.

Dan, a 24 year-old high school teacher from Michigan. He's a real charmer who doesn't see women as "equals" and finds tattoos "trashy." He's very religious, as he teaches at an all-boys Catholic high school. This oughta be fun.

Robert or "Memphis," a 25 year-old mixologist/party planner from Los Angeles. Memphis says that a "mixologist" should not be confused with a "bartender." Hmm. He'll either be really funny or really annoying. He's better eye-candy than the first two guys, though. He also has a live-in girlfriend, which means I'm sure we'll see him proposing to a girl whose last name he doesn't know during the finale episode.

Brian, a 27 year-old telecommunications account manager from California. Brian is the cutest male contestant yet. He was an Air Force crew chief for six years and likes sports, Maxim, and Led Zeppelin and the Beatles. Woo hoo.

Ollie, a 27 year-old marketing sales representative from Minneapolis, via Des Moines (MORE IOWA!) In his picture on the CBS website, he looks like Rerun from What's Happening. Awesome. He's the son of a Pentecostal preacher and describes his family as "The Black Brady Bunch." This guy rules.

Michelle, a 28 year-old real estate agent from Rhode Island. She seems to be a fiery Portuguese lady who speaks her mind, including jumping up to object at her brother's wedding. Excellent. Now that is the type of girl who would clean the toilet with someone's toothbrush!

Keesha, a 29 year-old Hooters waitress from California. Keesha works at Hooters and has a lot of big, blonde hair. She's an avid member of PETA and aspires to work on the Hooters management team. She is supposed to be the "eye candy" for the guys watching the show, but I feel like she and Jessie got the same treatment -- they have to be listed as "eye candy" because they are a bodybuilder and a Hooters waitress, but there are actually better-looking people in the house. (That is just my opinion based on the "eye candy" comments by The Early Show. I am reserving judgment on their personalities until the show starts, and we find out they are round-the-bend crazy.)


Angie, a 29 year-old pharmaceutical sales representative from Florida. She is a Korean-American tomboy who is fiercly protective of her developmentally disabled brother. She is also the women's Guiness-chugging champion at a bar in her home town. Awesome.

April, a 30 year-old finance manager from Arizona. She works at a car dealership and is OCD. She also says in her bio on the CBS website that she enjoys "watching sports, grilling outside, bowling and having sex." She doesn't pull any punches, does she? She is the other "eye candy" contestant, but I think CBS only thinks bleached-blonde women can be the "eye candy," because I think Angie, Libra and Michelle are all better-looking than the blondies.

Libra, a 31 year-old human resources representative from Texas. She is our resident liberal, a staunch Obama supporter. I hope she and Dan get in an argument and she chews him up and spits him out. She played college volleyball and has 3 children. I love her already. Plus her name is Libra and I'm a Libra! BFFs.

Steven, a 35 year-old geographic consultant from Texas. He is our resident gay housemate, but he is also a rodeo cowboy. Let's just get the Brokeback reference out of the way now because I shall not be resorting to that crutch. "Big Brother, I wish I could quit you." Okay, now no more of those.

Renny, a 53 year-old hair salon owner from Louisiana. She is a New Orleans socialist who loves showing off her Elvis, Judy Garland and Marilyn Monroe impersonations at parties. She's also a gorgeous sassy redhead. This is the cougar that Sheila from last season wishes she was, but Renny is happily married for 27 years and has two grown children. I like her.

Jerry, a 75 year-old retired marketing executive from Texas. He is a huge Big Brother fan, never missed an episode and watches the live feeds. We should hang out when you're done in the house, Jerry! He stays physically fit so that he is able to take care of his wife with Parkinson's and has 2 children, 5 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren.

I have to say, I can't remember the last time I was this excited about a Big Brother cast. The show appears to be going back to the formula that worked so well in seasons 2-4. The breakdown is that eight contestants in their 20s, five are 30+. There are two African-American contestants, one Asian contestant and the fiery Portuguese woman (from what I know of Portugal, they do consider themselves different from the typical Western European grouping). There is one homosexual. The biggest diversity, though, is going to stem from their different backgrounds and beliefs, which always makes for interesting relationships, rather than having a facially-diverse group of people who all just want to be famous. Tune in Sunday, July 13th to meet the houseguests for yourselves.