Hall of Shame Moment: Ivette’s Doomed Decision in ‘Big Brother 6’

Big Brother 6 was played with emotion throughout the season. Unfortunately, too often those emotions overrode good game strategy. But one case in particular went too far and thus must be recognized as a Reality TV Hall of Shame Moment (actually, two cases – Howie’s horrible choice has already been recognized).

The Friendship alliance vowed to take each other to the end – which makes sense. After all, most alliances make such promises, though few keep them. However, as the finale approached, it became clear that anybody who faced Maggie in the final two was doomed. This was not just my opinion or the opinion of most people on the message boards – this was the opinion of most people remaining in the house.

Janelle did her best to explain this to Ivette, but to no avail. When it came down to the end, Ivette won the final HOH competition and chose to keep Maggie. Even as she did it, she knew she was accepting second place and giving up $450,000 – but she did it anyway.

Some have said that Ivette would have lost no matter what – even if she took Janelle to the end. I dealt with this argument in detail in Why Ivette Lost, but let’s do a quick summary. For starters, we know that Janelle would have received the votes from Rachel and Howie. Ivette would have received a vote from Beau. Some of the Friendship members said that anybody in their ranks who brought a non-Friendship member to the end would lose their votes – but we’ve seen people say that so many times before and then change their minds that it’s difficult to believe it. I mean, does anybody really think Jennifer would have ever voted for Janelle? No. Same with Maggie, etc. So Ivette would have likely received the votes from April, Jennifer, and Maggie. And, frankly, she probably would have gotten James’ vote too.

But if there was any doubt in Ivette’s mind that she would get these votes if she took Janelle to the end, she had another way out. Ivette faced Janelle in the final HOH competition. It was so close that it came down to a double-tie-breaker. It would have been oh-so-simple for Ivette to throw the competition and nobody would have been the wiser. She already knew that Janelle was going to take her to the final two, so throwing HOH would have gotten her exactly where she needed to be – in the finals facing Janelle, and without even a chance that anybody in her alliance would vote against her.

But Ivette didn’t do that either.

Ivette made the conscious decision to go into the finals against an opponent she knew she couldn’t beat. When she did that, she gave us here at the Hall of Shame little choice.

After all, there is precedent going back years for this type of decision – the Hall of Shame Moment recognizing Colby’s final decision on Survivor 2. For those who don’t remember, Colby was in a similar position as Ivette at the end of his show. He was in the final three with Keith and Tina and had won immunity. Taking Keith to the end would have guaranteed him a win. Taking Tina did not, but it meant keeping a promise to a friend he had made on the game. He took Tina and he lost.

There are other similarities. Colby had been saying throughout his season that he was in it to win. Ivette said throughout her season that she was there to win the money for her family. Both made final decisions that obliterated what they had previously said. What makes Ivette’s decision even worse is that she knew she would come in second to Maggie whereas Colby likely believed he still could beat Tina.

Some may argue – as they did when we recognized Colby – that Ivette made the right decision as a person. Maybe she did, though even some of the players noted that she chose a friend she made in the house over her family. But that’s not what this Moment is about – it’s about what she did as a player. And as a player, Ivette made absolutely the worst possible strategic decision. It cost her $450,000 and the win. And it simply must be recognized as a Reality TV Hall of Shame Moment.

David Bloomberg is the Editor of the Reality TV Hall of Shame, and can be reached at RNO@pobox.com.

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