In 2003, the US public witnessed one of the most entertaining seasons of Big Brother ever. The Big Brother Season 4: X-Factor lasted for 83 days, from July 8 to September 24, when the Finale took place. The winner of the season was $500,000 grand prize, who was awarded the Grand Prize of half a million dollars.
Viewers loved the season for a number of interesting twists the contestants had to deal with. There were also many intriguing alliances among the HouseGuests. Still, none of this would matter much if the contestants were exceptional people. Each of them had an eccentric character, so the audience either loved or hated them.
Big Brother HouseGuests
Same as any other season of Big Brother, this one too saw the house being occupied by interesting characters. At first, only 8 contestants entered the Big Brother house. They came from all parts of the United States and had different professional backgrounds. The most importantly none of them knew each other before they entered the house.
But, then another 5 people entered the house and some of them were recognized as familiar faces by the initial HouseGuests! The new contestants were the exes of some of the initial HouseGuests, thus justifying the full title of the series – Big Brother 4: The X-Factor.
The X-Factor
The X-factor was the major twist of the Big Brother season 4. At first, 8 contestants entered the house and were followed by 5 people, who had previous relationships with some of them, hence the name of the twist the X-factor (Ex-factor). The couples of exes were the following:
• JeeChoe & Jun Song
• Erika Landin & Robert Roman
• David Lane & Michelle Maradie
• Amanda Craig & Scott Weintraub
• Alison Irwin & Justin Giovinco
Unfortunately, although the twist brought a lot of conflicts among the exes, some of them were too violent. Scott Weintraub and Scott Weintraub had a violent argument early on in the series, which led to the disqualification of Scott. On the positive note, other ex-couples behaved well, either reconciling or embarking on other romantic adventures.
The Golden Power of Veto Returns
In Big Brother season 3, we saw the introduction of a new twist, the Power of Veto. We then saw as the Golden Power of Veto returns twist in the following season, after which it has been one of the key twists so far. What the Power of Veto means is that the owner of this power is enabled to remove one of the nominated HouseGuests from the Nomination Block. This includes themselves, which means that having such a power is something each HouseGuest would desire.
But, how were the contestants in the Big Brother season 4 meant to get the Golden Power of Veto? Each week, there was a competition among 6 HouseGuests for this power. The competing HouseGuests were the Head of Household, together with 2 nominees and three HouseGuests chosen by the guaranteed players.
Once the Golden Power of Veto was used and a HouseGuest was saved from being nominated, his or hers place would be taken by another contestant, chosen by that week’s Head of Household. Obviously, this twist added a lot of excitement to the show, making all the HouseGuests eagerly participating in the weekly contests for the Golden Power of Veto.
The Diamond Power of Veto is Introduced
Big Brother producers made the right choice for deciding to keep up with the Golden Power of Veto, but this wasn’t the only Veto Power we saw in the series 4. The final Veto power in this season was called the Diamond Power of Veto and was used in the final 4!
So, you’re probably wondering what happens once the Diamond Power of Veto is introduced! The power enables its holder to prevent one of the nominees from getting evicted and choosing the replacement, which is basically the same power as the Golden Power of Veto. Still, because of its significance (being the last Veto power of the season), Big Brother producers decided to make it stand out by giving it a different name.
In the Big Brother season 4, the Diamond Power of Veto was used by Alison Irwin. She used it to save herself from eviction by canceling her nomination. Erika Landinwas was chosen as the replacement nominee. This wasn’t the choice of Alison, but there simply wasn’t anyone else to fill in that spot – Jun Song was already nominated, while Robert Roman was that week’s Head of Household.
Sequestered Jury
The season 4 of Big Brother saw the introduction of the sequestered jury, whose role was to choose the winner in the finale. The producers came up with this idea after a rather negative public reaction in the finale of the season 3, in which the evicted HouseGuests voted against Danielle Reyes, after learning about her sessions in the diary room. So, in order to keep the game fair, the people behind Big Brother decided to keep the jury sequestered this time.
The sequestered jury was made of 7 previously evicted HouseGuests, namely Dana, Nathan, Justin, Jack, Jee, Erika, and Robert. The role of the Jury was to decide who was going to take the grand prize, comprising of half a million dollars – Jun Song or Alison Irwin!
Most Memorable Alliances
Big Brother season 4 was one of the most thrilling seasons of this game show at that point. The show really took off in the third season, gaining millions of loyal followers. Still, Big Brother probably wouldn’t become what it is today if the season 4 wasn’t so entertaining. One of the reasons why people loved this season was the drama in the house, which was happening all the time.
We saw people forming alliances against each other, in order to stay free from nominations. But, that wasn’t the only point of alliances – they also served as a way to create a stronger bond among the contestants. One of the most significant alliances in the Big Brother 4 was the Elite Eight alliance. Basically, this was a group of initial HouseGuests, who decided to stick together after hearing that some of their exes were going to enter the house.
Another important alliance was the Three Stooges, which was made of Jee, Justin and Robert. The alliance did really well up until the Week 5, when it transformed into the Dream Team alliance with three more members. There was also the Girl Power group, which was formed near the end of the season. Its members were the remaining female contestants – Erika, Jun, and Alison.
Moments That Marked the Big Brother Season 4
The Big Brother season 4 had really set up a standard for the future reality TV shows. It was entertaining, yet very educational, teaching us a lot about the relationships between people. The season was marked by many thrilling events, some of which got stuck in our memories forever.
One of those was sex between two HouseGuests, something that had never happened before in the US version of Big Brother. This was also the first season to feature HouseGuests who knew each other before entering the house. Another bit of trivia is that as of this moment, the seasons 1 and 4 are the only ones that didn’t feature an openly gay HouseGuest.
When it comes to the drama happening in the Big Brother house, we saw the eviction of Scott early on in the season. He was expelled after having an argument with his ex, Amanda Craig. Amanda was also unlucky that week, becoming the first evicted HouseGuests in the season 4. In the following weeks, we saw the formation of many alliances, as well as some betrayals. Still, the last couple of weeks were those that made the adrenaline rushing through our veins.
The Last Few Weeks in the House
There were only 5 contestants left in the Week 8. The things were starting to heat up. In order to stay free from nominations, the HouseGuests needed to get ahold of the HOH title or win the Power of Veto. This is the week when we saw the true meaning of the alliance.
Jun, who was the Head of Household for that week had an ongoing alliance with Allison, who won the Power of Veto. Knowing this, Jun decided to nominate Jun and Allison, who simply decided to use the Veto power and make Robert a new nominee. The Girl Power alliance thus managed to stay free for nominations and earn the way to the next week.
In the Week 8, Jee was unanimously evicted from the house, leaving Robert, Jun, Erika, and Allison competing for the 500,000 dollars prize. The following week saw the introduction of the Diamond Power of Veto, the final Veto power of the series. It was won by Alison, meaning that she had the power to evict one of the remaining HouseGuests. As Robert was HOH that week, Alison needed to make the decision between Jun and Erika. Her choice was to stay loyal to her alliance with Jun, which meant that Erika had to leave the house.
Grand Finale
The Week 10 was the final week in the house of Big Brother. Everything was revolving around who’s going to be the HOH for that week, as it would mean a ticket for the finale. In order to decide the Head of Household, the contestants needed to compete in three games – whoever was to finish on top would become the HOH with the power to evict one of the remaining HouseGuests.
Allison won the HOH challenge and this time she decided to return the favor to Jun. Allison evicted Robert, which meant that the finale was going to be between the two members of Girl Power alliance! But, in the finale, the two HouseGuests had absolutely no power in deciding the winner – all was in the hands of the sequestered jury!
Who Won Big Brother 4?
At the Day 82, the seven members of the Jury had to make the decision and choose the winner of Big Brother season 4. A total of six votes went to Jun, while Nathan was the only one who voted for Amanda. What this meant is that Jun became the one who won Big Brother 4, as well as the 500k dollar prize.Her best ally in the house, Allison, got a 50-thousand dollar runner-up prize.
After winning the season 4, Jun remained a passionate fan of the game show. She has also made a couple of guest appearances in subsequent seasons of Big Brother, namely Big Brother: All Stars and Big Brother 10. In both cases, her role was to judge in food competitions. The reason is that in the post-Big Brother era, Jun is the owner of a Korean restaurant.
Why we’ll always remember Big Brother Season 4?
There are lots of reasons why watching the season 4 once again is a good idea. You are guaranteed to have a few laughs, as well as to remind yourself of some of the most entertaining moments in the reality TV history.
Remember, this season was one of the most crucial Big Brother seasons – it helped push the game show into the mainstream! That sole reason makes it worth watching all over again. If you’re up for it, you can check out the most thrilling moments of the season on YouTube or watch full episodes on the official site of CBS.