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Every year we have some super fans enter the house and tell us (preseason) all the reasons why this makes them the best player coming in. Each one has a recipe for using their BB knowledge and they always have declarations about mistakes or things they’ve seen on past seasons they will or won’t do based on being a BB historian. This season is no different in that respect. Now that the feeds have gone live and the HG’s have had 12 days in the house we already see the same rookie mistakes we see year after year after year. There is so much to catch up on since the HG’s were together for a week before we see them in the house I think it’s best to split my analysis into the ‘teams’. Team yoga has officially named themselves Team Foute and this is where I will begin. The last RealiTea I spilled over the ended with Veto having played out. As I reported last time Faysal wins. Tyler has made it abundantly clear if another nominee has to be put OTB it will be Bayleigh. So Faysal has no plans to use the veto. Soon after everyone is back in the house Faysal and JC have a private convo in the HOH. He tells JC that he doesn’t want JC to be a renom so he won’t use the veto as long as JC keeps 100 with Faysal they are cool. He also warns JC the only thing that can change that is if JC tells anyone Faysal isn’t going to use it. I laughed as I listened. I even considered a betting pool on how long it would take him to spill that to someone but then I realized by the time I set it up JC would have already told someone. The idea Faysal has is a good one. Buying some favor from those that could be a renom. His other goal is to let the nominees and potential replacements sweat it out. His hope is that will have those HG talking and worried and he can use this to gain some intel and identity targets moving forward. Great strategy and seems Faysal can take some initiative to play his own game without Soggy C handing out direct marching orders. Don’t get me wrong, Faysal is not a mastermind strategist. He is bro’d up with Soggy and following Haleigh around like a rescue puppy that desperately needs a home. However, in this specific situation I think his path of choice regarding how to use his veto win to his advantage (especially knowing he won’t use it) is the right play here. If he were able to do it, this would be a great move. This is Big Brother! There are very few secrets that remain a secret. Even worse, JC has a condition that prevents him from ever being quiet. He leaks it within an hour and Faysal reads him for it. JC has a tendency to write checks he can cover and if he doesn’t settle down and take a step back this could expedite his exit. For now Level 6 needs him for a vote and there are much bigger targets drawing aim so they are aware he talks too much and are more careful about what they talk about with him. I would hate to see JC or Sam say something that switches the attention on to them. JC may be little but he gets around! While he appears most loyal to Tyler, team Foute sees him a easily manipulated. To his credit despite his boisterous personality JC seems to have created a social connection with nearly all the HG. At the very least some people from each side that genuinely like him and see his value in voting numbers but Tyler is the only one that appears to really see a real potential asset in JC. Soggy C does tell us that pound for pound JC is the strongest guy in the house as he continues to marvel at his abilities when lifting weights and working out. That being said we see JC pitch a trio team to Tyler and Haleigh who both in the moment agree. The big picture goal is to slowly pull her over to their side as the Yoga alliance crumbles. I like the idea but there’s a key problem. Haleigh. I think Haleigh sees JC’s trio idea as an out to jump ship as much as a way to gain acceptance and have some influence over members of Level 6 who are in fact the opposing team. Technically this isn’t a bad strategy. But, like Scottie, Haleigh is already seen as a floater that is trying to influence several guys in the house with her flirting and she fails to do so covertly and it’s already causing problems in all corners of the house. Flirting and using social is a legitimate strategy players have used but it’s all about the execution and Haleigh’s no sly at all. It’s hurting her game more than helping it because Faysal and Kaitlin aren’t liking it at all! Faysal, as the first Veto winner, has provided some great entertainment on the feeds. Listen it doesn’t always have to be ‘good things’ happening to be entertained. Faysal and Soggy C spend the entire weekend slapping each other on the back and burrowing deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole. All they do is talk about being the BEST competitors in the house and how they are guaranteed to plow through all these people. They feed each other’s egos and constantly go all in on some ridiculous point of view they’ve completely accepted as fact when it’s all fiction. It gets annoying after a while but that is so much better than watching two players lay in bed secluded all day making victim or other noises. I’m here for it. Trust me I would much rather be amused by Faysal wearing or carrying around his Veto all day every day even sleeping with it! LOL If he wasn’t THAT GUY then Kaitlin’s prank last night wouldn’t have happened. Kaitlin is thirsty for Faysal’s attention. She decides to hide the veto and while Faysal is looking and concerned about where it went they egg him on with conspiracy theories convincing him that perhaps it was taken and now he no longer holds the power. This makes him paranoid and he buys what they are selling. Yes, that must be it! There’s a saboteur in the house and now that they hold the physical Veto THEY have the power. This kid is so easily manipulated it’s kinda sad but entertaining none the less. Speaking of Kaitlin and Faysal. Where there is smoke there is fire. There’s troubling brewing already over both Haleigh’s strategy to flirt with all the guys and Faysal is not here for that. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look much like he or Kaitlin are here for BB either. Faysal is crushing HARD on Haleigh and it’s somewhat reminiscent of Beast Mode (Caleb) and the Amber situation. If that weren’t bad enough while Faysal is jealous Haleigh openly flirts with Brett and Tyler right under his nose Kaitlin makes it clear to Haleigh she is just as jealous that Haleigh and Faysal are flirting at all. In Kaitlin’s mind Haleigh, being her best friend of all of 11 days should ceased any flirtmance with Faysal because she has BF and can’t go for Faysal. No you didn’t read that incorrectly. The old ‘if I can’t have him you can’t either’. This stirs up a kind of dust from the new construction of the Foute team. I would say someone needs to nip this in the bud real quick but....this team was never going to last so why not enjoy the insanity to pass the time. The funny thing is Haleigh doesn’t find Faysal appealing at all but his obsession with her has sparked some concerns throughout their alliance. Angie and Haleigh discuss concerns they have with the staying power of the alliance. In the end they agree to keep their options open and let it play out for now but if Bay/Soggy end up being a showmance (they already are) then that’s the deal breaker and the two of them will jump ship and form a new group. Angie sees that there is a storm brewing between Kaitlin and Haleigh and that Faysal is obsessed and everything he’s focused on is Haleigh related. Last night Haleigh and Faysal has another chat and to her credit she made it clear she has no interest in him like that while he went all in on a bad hand and declared his feelings for her. Guess it’s good Faysal didn’t have the chat with Kaitlin that Soggy suggested to tell her he sees her like a sister. Yeah Soggy cause that’s working so well for you! Soggy had a plan for Faysal and others to tell the house that Bay/Soggy are like Brother/sister that’s why they spend so much time together and there’s nothing gong on. Delusional Soggy once again believes his own lies and thinks he has the whole house believing this and eating out of his hand. Wrong! Everyone except maybe Sam knows or believes they are a couple and it’s week 2 and anyone associated closely to Soggy (Bay/Faysal) are targets because of him. Soggy shares with Haleigh that when he was in school he bounced back and forth between two states changing schools 16 times. Wow. That actually explains a lot about his personality. You would think having gone through that he would be a little more considerate towards Sam. What we all have to remember and the players should too is in this house perception is fact. The only reason Sam may not know is she’s been absent or in robot form 85% of the time so she still has no idea really who is with whom still. Tyler fills her in when they do actually have a few Moments alone. The hardest part of this punishment for Sam is this is not a considerate kumbaya cast. We saw this briefly on last night’s episode with Kaycee. These people are out of sight out of mind and even when Sam is in the house they blow past her and she does have a legitimate right to feel alienated. Tyler and JC have made the most efforts towards her and that’s great to see. Not just from the human perspective (compassion/empathy) but from a game one too. Tyler and JC have created a bond so when she does stay she will be loyal to them the entire game. It’s how she’s built and good or bad I see that being the case. Everyone else believes in all likelihood Sam is leaving so they have not invested any energy in her no wonder she’s having mini meltdowns all the time. I know. I know. Look I agree you have to play the hand you’re dealt in the game. Just like in life my advice is be sad have a good cry then keep it moving. Experiencing your emotions is a place to visit don’t take up residence there. Sam got this awful punishment which was one of the biggest disadvantages BB has ever dished out. That’s bad enough being a robot most the time and it drastically limiting your ability to move around the house freely. But then realize while she’s a robot she’s likely isolated locked away by herself in a literal sequester type environment for 2 whole weeks! I don’t expect her to be a Dan and invent this elaborate plan on how to guarantee she makes it to the end. I’m willing to cut her some slack and wait and see how she does next week and moving forward. Even the best BB player would be shook. Are you wondering why I haven’t mentioned Bayleigh very much? Well I’m watching her and while she’s wrapped her game up on Soggy I have seen her attempt to fall back and blend it a bit more after having a major meltdown at the possibility of being nominated before the Veto comp played out. The best thing that’s happened for her is Faysal winning veto. Now she’s confident she’s safe (she should be be) so she’s made a conscious effort to chill. She pisses Tyler off early into the game with her rankings and attitude. She freaked out when she was told to her face that if someone uses Veto Tyler planned to replace whichever HG comes down with her. Beyond that we see her kissing Soggy whenever she’s alone with him and not letting her dominant side run her game understanding that her connections to Soggy make her a viable target. The Foute team is confident Sam is going and they see Steve as a puppet so they’ve really stopped paying attention to her at all. Even on the rare occasions we see her trying to socialize or insert herself into a group convo they see it as an annoyance. Faysal for example will stand in the kitchen listening to her as a robot but shows little interest and then as she leaves will use hand gestures to show her yapping and roll his eyes. That really sums up how Foute sees Sam. Rachel and Tyler encourage Sam to talk to them throughout the next few days and made it clear they are working behind the scenes trying to send Steve home. Rachel suggests Sam start with Kaitlin and Angie because those are the two that have personal beef with her. Sam makes the effort and while Kaitlin is impossible in the end I felt like she at least managed to apologize for upsetting them. Kaitlin thinks the smart approach with Sam is to lay all the blame on her likely eviction on Tyler. Kaitlin goes all in on this approach telling Sam they want her to stay. They all would love for both Steve and Sam to stay but Tyler is the one that clearly wants her gone. They wanted Faysal to use the veto. Faysal wants to use the veto! But Tyler won’t agree to put up a big target. If he would just agree to put up Angela then Sam would stay and so would Steve and that’s what they all want. Two things here. First Kaitlin is oblivious to the closeness of Sam/Tyler. Im this game knowledge is power. Two Kaitlin pushed it even further trying to sell this that she says a that Tyler is afraid of the secret power and that’s why Sam will go home and he won’t target Angela because he believes Angela has the advantage. Ding! Ding! Ding! Tyler is the only one that knows Sam has it. He has not told anyone. Sam knows Kaitlin is full of it and seems the personality type that won’t soon forget that Kaitlin both lied and will vote against her as a team. What Kaitlin should have done was listen, empathize, and maybe walk the line of saying, “I’m working hard for you to stay. I’m hoping Tyler can be persuaded to put up a bigger target so both you and Steve can stay. Kaitlin is the least Zen person in the house. Miss namaste is also the most negative person in the game so it’s not a surprise she takes the negative approach possible. Kaitlin/Faysal/Soggy C are the front of this team. They have set themselves up to be the big targets on that side and by extension of Soggy Bayleigh is a path to cripple Soggy if they can’t get to him. Soggy, to his credit, makes a point to talk to the LF’s and tell us how wonderful he is and why we should love him and give him a power to F things up in the house. While LF love both of these things what they don’t love is a clear and blatant attempt to scheme them. I don’t see this helping him. However, yesterday’s LF chat was a bit confusing with regards to his true allegiances. He tells us about his ‘team’. He goes on to say that Bay is his first priority. Then his second is Tyler, Scottie, and Soggy. Those are his boys and after that alliance then he is loyal to the big team. Hmmm. We’ve all been watching feeds and there’s been zero indications of these 3 having any kind of deal. Not only that. Hg everything he plans and says relies on the team backing him with their numbers. He’s in for a rude awakening on Thursday if Sam comes right back into the game after eviction. It’s possible this trio happened before feeds went live but neither Scottie or Tyler seem to have any loyalty to Soggy. I will make a mental note but my impressions are this is another delusional idea that only exists in his own mind. Maybe Angie can use her Piegan witch powers to cast a spell on the others in her squad to bring them back to cohesive group she originally created them to be? At least she is close to her character she sold us preseason. Angie is the quietest in her group and from what I’ve seen the most logical. Unlike Kaitlin who uses her whole meditation, yoga, crystals, oils, and as a gimmick Angie has found her center and will likely be the first to jump ship which is smart on her part. You never want to be the head or the tail of an alliance. Those are the players that go first! There you have it! A 360 degree view of Foute team and all of their team members from my point of view! They are great for entertaining live feeds but neither the team as a whole or as individuals have staying power except maybe Angie and Haleigh if she can avoid any further attention for her flirting as a strategy because she has created some personal connections all over the house. I hope you’re not too invested in this team because the minute Level 6 takes the power again I see them turning on each other and the whole thing falling apart like these big groups the first week usually does. Want to know about Level 6 players/team? Are you cheering on one of the floaters? Don’t worry, I will be back with more RealiTea Bites on them soon!

Feeds went live after last night’s part 2 of BB20 premier! We learn a lot very quickly and all at once. Conversely this leaves some huge questions that have taken a bit longer to find out. I will be back with a complete summary of players and events but this game moves quickly so there are some facts I want to share so you are up to date on the actual state of the ‘game’. HOH: Tyler Nominees: Sam and Steve We have an almost complete divide down the middle much like season 6 and BBOTT as soon as the feeds are live the house is divided both by ‘teams’ and physical proximity. Team Bros (for now) Winston Brett Angela Kaycee Rachel Tyler Team Yoga (for now) Chris Bayleigh Kaitlin Angie Faysal Haleigh There are no ‘official’ team names yet and I expect there to be some serious shifts a couple weeks into the season. That being said, for now I labeled them based on what the majority of fans are going to easily associate them to. We have four HG’s Floating to varying degrees: Sam -who is currently following Tyler but be robot punishment has put her at a huge disadvantage. It’s painful as a fan to watch and this has really limited her ability to make serious social connections with anyone other than Tyler. Steve-currently infiltrating Team Yoga relying on them for his safety in his mind. For being the eldest player and on the block the fact he found an ‘in’ with the large alliance is impressive but by no means a concrete assimilation into that group. It’s all about the numbers! Notable is that both Steve as well as Team Yoga seem to be miscalculating to a small degree the size of the other alliance thanks to Tyler. Team Yoga believes they have the ‘numbers’ advantage with 8 or 9 because they are including Tyler, Steve, and Scottie which is not the case. JC has a lot going on all by himself but he appears to be walking a tight rope between the two sides well enough for now. Despite this it seems to me he is leaning a bit more toward Tyler based on all of conversations. The good news for him is that he socializes with everyone but has a propensity for both Sam and Tyler. Scottie is completely playing both sides. He is openly ‘ spying’ on both teams and running intel back to both in varying degrees (Team Bros sweat he’s with them). What we do know is that Steve and Scottie have a close bond and appear to be a duo for now. Kaitlin has blabbed to Tyler (this morning) that Scottie is team Yoga’s secret team member infiltrating the other side to bring them all the details from team Bros. Scottie needs to slow his roll before this in his name being thrown into the hat a replacement nominee. We have some pairs mixed in between the separate alliances of course. Chris and Bayleigh clearly kissing their way into the BB20 Showmance board. Worse thing possible for both these dominant personalities already drawing a lot of attention individually. Kaitlin and Haleigh want you to know they are BFF’s and have a final 2. Tyler and Kaycee have a final 2. Steve and Scottie are a duo. Brett and Winston are a duo and let me tease that of these two I NEVER would have expected Brett to be the more calm level headed cautious player but that’s the way it appears for now. Based on what I have seen the last 18 hours Brett would be the HG that surprises me most in comparison to my preseason analysis. The most interesting observation I’ve made with this house already split is we have pretty even teams! Both have strong competitors. Both have more brainy strategic minds, and both have even numbers unbeknownst to team Yoga who believe Tyler is more on their team or in the middle than he actually is. These are very evenly distributed teams and I love that aspect! Tyler has been a wonderful surprise for me which I will share more the next blog! Haleigh and Tyler have a ‘flirt’ mance where both are on opposite sides of the house trying to sway the other. Lol. Neither is getting any where. There’s some serious tension between the two sides. and I’ve already seen a lot of road blocks and attempted infiltrations. Beyond that there is really no socializing over the lines drawn between the two big alliances except for Tyler. I will tell you that IMO, Tyler is managing this first (typically most difficult) HOH. We have another week to go until the first eviction but this first week so far actually is shaping up to be one of the best (least explosive) first HOH BB has seen in many years. The first have nots of the season are: Brett Winston Kaitlin Scottie From the sound of things Winston and Brett volunteered but no confirmation of all 4 volunteered or just the Bros. Veto Players were drawn this morning. Two of the 3 already playing (Steve and Tyler) drew HG choice. So Veto players are: Tyler Sam Steve Faysal Scottie Chris It sounds like Steve chose Scottie. Tyler tells JC he chose Chris Tyler says he chose Chris because he swore he would do what Tyler wanted as HOH if he picked him to play. It’s Chris of course so as soon as Veto players were drawn Chris flipped the script and Tyler isn’t feeling that at all but he’s played it cool thus far. Let me say the convo in the HOH that followed was painful to endure. JC will host veto which is happening now! I really hope Sam wins, saves herself! The BB App Store rewards and punishment was released into the game prior to feeds going live. Faysal was the ‘least trending’ and chose the Hamazon Punishment. That requires he eats and entire Vegan Ham every time there is a Hamazon delivery and he’s already losing it over having to eat it so often by today. It was crazy trying to navigate all of the speculation and paranoia about which HG received a ‘power’ for the most trending HG. Chris is using this to continue trying to push Tyler to put Angela up swearing he’s positive Angela has it. Team Yoga all following Chris’ lead. While the ladies on Team Bros were convinced by JC that he had the power (by their interpretation). Meanwhile after alcohol was delivered last night JC goes to Tyler and says Brett has it for sure and JC is the only one that knows so don’t say anything! Not sure if it’s what JC is certain based on observation or if he’s intentionally lying (although I am doubtful of that). It could just be he’s drunk and escalating his own ideas at this point. It wasn’t until around lunch time today that we realize during a 1-1 with Tyler and Sam (offline for a while finally) that Sam is “safe” no mater what Tyler decides so do what is in his heart and not what these 14 other people are trying to get him to do. I was ecstatic to hear this! We also have a leak from a credible source that in fact Sam did win the first power (thank you America you finally got one right!) Her power is safety! She can save herself anytime in the next 4 weeks/evictions. I seriously would love to see her win Veto for her own safety and to rebuild her confidence a bit. This would mean that advantage stays with her a couple more weeks. Sam was the target by default but Tyler seems relieved she won’t be the one going home on his HOH. Tyler knows Steve is malleable so his current mindset is if someone uses veto (or safety) Bayleigh will be the replacement nominee which I am completely in support of. No tears would be shed on my part it eliminates an annoyance, delivers a blow to Chris (whose ego rivals Paul and Paulie at this point and he doesn’t even have any power). There you have it! Noms, alliances, duos, showmance, conflict, Veto players, HN’s and the first week of advantages and disadvantages all in about 14 hours. The feeds only have me more excited about BB20 and there is plenty more RealiTea to sip but for now you are up to speed on the key points and current status of the game!

It’s finally here! Tonight is the premier of BB20 and I hope you are as excited as I am. What’s there to be excited about this season? Who are the new houseguests and how will they fair in the longest season in BB history, 99 days? What’s happening on the live feeds? These are all details you can find here each week as the season progresses. Join me here a few times a week to get all the RealiTea all season long. I will give you the facts along with my own personal assessments and analysis of everything BB20. We have 16 new faces. 8 men and 8 women are already forming alliances and enemies as they have been in the house for about a week by the time the veil is lifted for us tonight. All new players in a new house for the first in several seasons. If your a long time fan like myself that should be reason enough to be excited about BB20. This year’s theme in the house is technology and you will see symbols from apps and games throughout the house. Social media already plays a huge role in this game (outside of the house) so producers have taken that and morphed the BB house into a virtual cyberspace. One detail shared by production is that we will see a nod of some sort to each of the previous seasons of BB. I noticed the first one most of us are celebrating already. No returnees this season. The next one I observed was in the reveal of the BB house. In season 2 only glass separates the main bedrooms and this season the pink and blue rooms have a wall that can be moved to create a clear view between the two rooms. I love that! We will see how often the HG actually utilize it. CBB also seems to have left its mark because production included a fuse ball table upstairs inside the house and there is even a giant jingo in addition to the fun rock climbing wall. This is a great addition to BB proper. The lockdowns can last for days between HOH, Veto, twists, etc...so having more things to gather people together and create social environments inside the house is a welcome change. The audience on tonight’s premier (previously recorded) will be stacked with players from past seasons. Expect a lot of guest appearances by past players even if there are no vets cast this season from the premier night on I anticipate viewers being innondated with throw backs and guest spots all season long. After all this is the 20th season. We should also see some competitions and rewards brought into this season’s rotation as a nod to all the seasons that led up to the 20th. There will be some version of audience voting. From what I’ve heard so far one will include a twist on traditional voting and the ‘popular vote’ will come from how HGs are trending on social media. Here’s the down side, from my POV, CBS has a tendency to leave these types of twists in a very vague context which can frustrate us LF (live feeders). I expect greater detail on how that will work, there is said to be a reward and punishment handed out based on who is trending the highest and lowest. However, we have no idea is a player is trending the highest because they are disliked or involved in a controversy this would result in a reward? The way production likes to troll fans at times throughout the season it wouldn’t surprise me. This season is shaping up to be a fun stroll down memory lane for long time fans. It should also create some unique opportunities for an entire cast of newbies to navigate the game in new ways. One thing is certain for the next 99 days we will all enjoy the same crazy ride! Regardless of what happens in the house check back here and we can sip some RealiTea about all things BB20. Update: POV played out and Faysal won based on conversations and surprised tones this was a new comp no one was prepared for. Paint Balls, snakes, and electric shocks involved.