Which ‘Big Brother’ Players Have Won the Most Money From the CBS Franchise?
Rick Devens made Big Brother history this month, topping the list of highest-grossing players from the CBS reality show with his Season 28 victory and his $810,000 payday and becoming the first Survivor alum to win the show.
“I’m feeling really good,” he told TV Insider afterward. “Both of those feel really good because I always want to represent Survivor Nation and all my Survivor brothers and sisters, and being the highest-earning winner of all time? Can’t complain about that.”
But Devens only edged out the previous record-holder by $10,000. According to our calculations, here’s the current leaderboard of houseguests with the most Big Brother winnings.
Big Brother, Season 28, Now Streaming, Paramount+
10. Cody Calafiore: $550,000
Calafiore claimed the $50,000 runner-up prize in Season 16 and then the $500,000 grand prize in Season 22, becoming the last Big Brother not to win $750,000 for winning the whole shebang.
9. Dan Gheesling: $570,000
After winning Big Brother 10 and $500,000, Gheesling claimed the $50,000 second-place prize in Season 14 and also got $20,000 for being America’s player for one week that season.
8. Derrick Levasseur: $575,000
Lavasseur not only won Big Brother 16 but earned an additional $50,000 for winning as a Team America member, $20,000 for his Team America tasks, and $5,000 for the “Sloppy the Snowman” Head of Household competition.
7. Nicole Franzel: $613,250
Franzel won $500,000 for winning Big Brother 18 and another $3,250 in cash rewards that season, $10,000 during Big Brother 22’s “Clash of the Comics” luxury competition, and $100,000 for finishing first in Big Brother: Reindeer Games.
4. Xavier Prather, Chelsie Baham, and Ashley Hollis: $750,000 (tie)
Prather won Big Brother 23, Baham was triumphant in Big Brother 26, and Hollis took on the grand prize of Big Brother 27. And all three land on this list by virtue of the show raising the grand prize from $500,000 to $750,000 after Season 22.
3. Jag Bains: $758,500
On his way to winning Big Brother 25, Bains racked up another $8,500 in cash prizes. He and brother Jas then won $1 million as the first-place finishers in The Amazing Race 38.
2. Taylor Hale: $800,000
Hale won Big Brother 24 and was also voted America’s Favorite Houseguest, scoring her another $50,000. She narrowly lost to Jag in The Amazing Race 38, and the two will face off for another big payday as contestants of The Traitors Season 5.
1. Rick Devens: $810,000
In Season 28, Devens broke Hale’s record by winning not just the grand prize and the America’s Favorite Houseguest award but also his season’s “Pharaoh’s Curse” temptation competition. So how he is going to spend his windfall? “I got kids, and they ain’t cheap,” he told TV Insider.
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