The Big Brother franchise isn’t done with Jankie just yet! The theme of Big Brother Season 26 was Artificial Intelligence. In addition to the show’s BB AI system, the audience was introduced to another A.I. entity in week 9 named Jankie, which stood for Junior Artificial Neuro-Kinetic Intelligence Entity. And while Big Brother Season 26 was supposed to be the end of Jankie, the production team decided to bring him back.
Jankie locked the contestants in the backyard and made them live through a never-ending carnival called Jankie World. The contestants were forced to eat only ice cream and pizza while singing and dancing at its commands. While the ordeal was brutal for the contestants, it made for a pretty entertaining twist on the show. While speaking to Entertainment Tonight, executive producer Rich Meehan opened up about how much the fans loved Jankie. “We’ve never had so many texts and people wanting Jankie merch,” revealed Meehan.
Jankie Has Been Brought Back to Life
Image from CBS
Considering how popular the Jankie twist was, the producers decided against killing him off. Jankie was brought back to life during the finale while Chelsie Baham was being crowned as the winner. While there are no concrete plans as to what Jankie will do in Big Brother Season 27, executive producer Allison Grodner believes that he will be used differently going forward. The exact words to look forward to are: “Expect the unexpected.”
While Jankie’s future on the show has been confirmed, Big Brother Reindeer Games are not coming back for 2024. The holiday-themed spinoff of the reality show debuted back in 2023 and featured six episodes. The first edition of Big Brother Reindeer Games starred nine former Big Brother contestants going up against each other in a series of holiday-themed challenges. Big Brother Season 18 winner Nicole Franzel-Arroyo emerged as the victor of the Big Brother Reindeer Games in 2023.
‘Big Brother Reindeer Games’ Are Not Returning in 2024
Despite the spinoff’s success, Big Brother executive producers have had to cancel its production in 2024 due to scheduling challenges. While speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Meehan confessed that the delays with Big Brother Season 26 and CBS’s overall fall schedule led to the unexpected hiatus. He shared his two cents on the situation while stating that “if there’s no airtime, there’s not much you can do about it.”
However, the producers are sure that this is not the end of the Reindeer Games . Grodner claims that the Big Brother Reindeer Games hold a special place for her and Meehan. She praised the spinoff’s unique format and the fact that it’s a great way to bring back former contestants. Grodner is hopeful that they can work through the scheduling troubles in 2025 and Reindeer Games can make a comeback.
All episodes of Big Brother Season 26 are available to stream on-demand on Paramount+. A premiere date for Big Brother Season 27 has not been announced yet.
Watch on Paramount+
