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Allison Grodner and Rich Meehan talk about if the new system is here to stay. Big Brother producers reveal future of 3 nominee and BB Block Buster format (exclu

Allison Grodner and Rich Meehan talk about if the new system is here to stay.

*Big Brother *producers reveal future of 3 nominee and BB Block Buster format (exclusive)

Allison Grodner and Rich Meehan talk about if the new system is here to stay.

By Dalton Ross

Dalton Ross is a writer and editor with over 25 years experience covering TV and the entertainment industry. *Survivor* is kind of his thing.

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October 8, 2025 9:45 a.m. ET

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Vince Panaro, Keanu Soto and Zach Cornell on 'Big Brother' season 27. Credit:

While it may have gotten a bit lost in all the attention lavished on artificial entities like Ainsley and Jankie that took over the *Big Brother* house in the summer of 2024, producers also implemented a huge new twist to the game format that forced Head of Households to nominate three (as opposed to two) players for eviction. And then the three people still on the block during eviction night would battle it out in something called the "A.I. Arena."

The new three-nominee format and live eviction night competition were so popular with fans, each was brought back for the recently completed season 27, with the A.I. Arena rebranded as the BB Block Buster. And the change again proved to be a big success — forcing HOHs to get even more blood on their hands while also keeping eliminations in doubt right up to the actual voting.

So now that the twist has once again paid dramatic dividends, the question becomes: Is the move to three nominees with a BB Block Buster a permanent one? Has it now become part of the regular *Big Brother* weekly cycle, just like the Head of Household and Veto competitions? We asked executive producers Allison Grodner and Rich Meehan exactly that.

Vince Panaro, Ashley Hollis, and Mickey Lee on 'Big Brother' season 27.

"I think so," answers Meehan. "We'll meet with everybody once we have a little perspective from the season, but in our opinion, it makes the live shows so much more engaging and entertaining to watch."

And it's not just the live shows. "It's also more interesting for the live feeders too" Grodner adds. "Because there's that time between the Veto meeting and the eviction where things became very certain. And that period of time is much more active now."

Indeed, before the format change, *Big Brother* was plagued with season after season of unanimous group votes that were obvious days before the eviction even happened.

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"You remember that window of years where people would decide pretty quickly after the Veto meeting who they were going get rid of," Meehan recalls. "There was this groupthink where everyone would just kind of stop voting independently. And then you would get these big landslide votes, which, in our opinion, isn't the most fun thing to watch. So this was a great idea that at least for two seasons has really worked."

It's certainly made the vote-offs more unpredictable. "Our votes are better," says Meehan. "You never know who's going home. It's like there is a big live sporting event happening on our live show. So we think for those reasons it really works."

Of course, there is also the argument on the other side that it places too much importance on the competition element of the game as opposed to the social and strategic element. What say the producers to that?

Keanu Soto on 'Big Brother' season 27.

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"I think some of the criticism of it putting too much emphasis on challenges, I hear that," Meehan says. "But ultimately, look at who won the last two seasons — two social players. So, you know, yes and no. It's very hard for someone to win out on *Big Brother*. The Block Buster might save them and extend their life in the game, but it's very hard to win out. It's very hard to win every challenge. If you went back through the history of the show, there's not a lot of people that have been able to do that."

And there is, of course, the most recent example of that. "Look at Keanu," Groder points out. "He just couldn't do it."

Not only does it seem to be a foregone conclusion that the BB Block Buster will be back, but it will also keep its current name, not changing its title to match a particular theme (like with last year's moniker of A.I. Arena).

"That's the idea," confirms Grodner.

"Yeah, it's something that we can reuse," adds Meehan. "It's the HOH, it's the Veto. It's the Block Buster. It's something where, regardless of the twists, we can call it that."

And that is music to Keanu's ears… for whenever he makes his inevitable return.

Original Article on Source

Source: "AOL TV"

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