The Big Picture
- Survivor sppears harder than Big Brother because castaways must fend for themselves on an island with limited resources,
- In Big Brother, houseguests compete for Head of Household, nominate two people for eviction, and have a chance to change nominations through a veto competition.
- Cirie Fields, a former Survivor castaway, believes Big Brother is harder because houseguests are confined to the house, have no privacy, and are constantly playing the game without breaks. The length of the game is also a factor.
Big Brother and Survivor have similar social aspects to their games with very different mechanics. Survivor seems harder since the cast has to completely fend for themselves on an island. They might get food or tools in a reward challenge, but that’s it. Then there is the immunity challenge where a person or a tribe wins safety. The rest who aren’t immune go to the Tribal Council and vote someone out. This repeats until the finale where a jury votes for the season’s winner who gets $1 million.
Big Brother usually starts with every houseguest playing for themselves. They compete for Head of Household (HoH) where they can nominate two people on the block. There is a veto competition to give houseguests a chance to change nominations. Then there is a live eviction where everyone besides the HoH votes to evict someone on the block. This repeats until the jury votes for someone to win.
The prize for Season 25 is $750,000. Cirie Fields became the first former castaway to enter the Big Brother house. The game started with her constantly changing her target, which is unusual. But former Survivor castaways explained this is a typical strategy before a Tribal Council. It looked like anything that Cirie wanted she was getting with the help of her son, Jared Fields, and her many alliances. She also told houseguests in the first week that living in a house with access to food is preferable to eating snails and sleeping in a tough shelter. So why is Cirie saying Big Brother is harder over a month later?
Cirie Fields Says ‘Big Brother’ Is Much Harder Than ‘Survivor’
Cirie, Cory Wurtenberger, America Lopez, Cameron Hardin, and Bowie Jane hung out in the backyard on the September 17 stream. The Survivor alum answered their questions about her time competing on separate shows. She said the merge feasts are just as fun as they seemed on TV. “Because everybody is relaxed,” she said. “It’s not like game on.” The merge feasts are a celebration where all the castaways from different tribes eat together. The rest of the game is played with just one tribe going to Tribal Council. “You wanna make the merge,” she told them.
Cory said his brother, Zach Wurtenberger revealed you form opinions about other people based on the tiniest interactions. “And they’re all wrong,” Cirie replied. Cory said the Survivor 42 cast was shocked when Zach was voted out because winner Marianne Oketch talked about him three days straight. “Where does this fall on the intensity?” Cory asked Cirie. “Way! Like 1000 and that was the scale of one to 10” Cirie answered. “It’s not like that. I keep telling people. I don’t think they believe me but it’s nowhere near. I don’t know if it’s because you can’t get away.”
Cirie explained the Survivor producers don’t care what the cast does. So castaways can sleep all day, go to the other side of the island, or not game at all. That risk is for them to take. But houseguests are woken up every day to music. They’re confined to the house, and sometimes they don’t have access to the backyard because a competition is being set up.
The length of the game is also a factor. “We’ve already burned through like two seasons right?” Cameron asked. “With the new format three,” Cirie answered. Big Brother 25 is longer than normal seasons with 100 days. Survivor has shortened after the COVID-19 pandemic to 26 days. Cory noted the schedule on Survivor is fast with multiple three-day cycles for the immunity challenges, reward challenge, and Tribal Council, then two days, then one. “You can make it to day 15, and you’re still like the final 11 in Survivor,” he claimed. Cory said the season ends with three people. Cirie corrected him with sometimes.
Cirie Considered Purposely Getting Nominated on ‘Big Brother 25’
The stress of the game is showing. Cirie lost her second-closest ally in week six with Izzy Gleicher going home. Jared also hurt their game by getting caught in a lie the same day as the eviction. Cory tried to make it clear to everyone that Jared and Cirie were at the center of multiple real and fake alliances. The live feeds showed Cirie happy her son won HoH, but she was ready to fall on her sword for him.
She gave the idea that Jared could nominate her for the block. That way other houseguests could think they’re not that close. The mother also thought Jared might have a better chance in the game without her. However, there are more houseguests willing to work with Cirie over Jared. Losing her might only make his target bigger. Cirie also told her son that she missed Izzy. It made fans wonder if Cirie wanted to quit.
“I think it’s completely understandable why a grown adult with an actual career might want to gracefully exit their 6th reality show that still has 50+ days to go,” Rob Cesternino from Survivor: The Amazon and Survivor: All Stars tweeted. “If she can help her son too in the process, even better,” he added in another tweet. Many Big Brother fans were still upset at the thought of Cirie leaving.
The good thing is that after Jared considered the idea then decided to nominate America and Cory instead. He’s hoping the veto will be used to backdoor Cameron. After all, Cameron previously told him he wanted to backdoor Cirie. Cirie has moved on from talking about going on the block. But this might not be the last time she mentions it. It’s clear that Cirie wants Jared to win more than herself. She had a final three deal with Izzy and when Izzy talked about who she would choose to sit with her in the final two chairs, Cirie refused to hear it. That’s because Izzy would want to Cirie, but knows the mother wants her son to go farther. There is still so much more game to be played. It looks like if Jared ever finds himself in hot water again, then Cirie plans to take the fall one way or another.
