Big Brother 18 Spoilers: Battle of the Block Is Dead As New Competition Arrives

Best. Big. Brother. News. Yet. The Battle of the Block is dead and gone removing the risk of demolishing the start of our Big Brother 18 season. Show runners Allison Grodner and Rich Meehan have confirmed that “fan favorite” disaster has no home in the BB18 house as an early season spoiler.

Julie Chen gets ready for Big Brother
Julie Chen gets ready for Big Brother – Source: CBS

After dealing with that mess of a twist for the past two years we have assurances from the executive producers that the “Battle” won’t be touching our Block this summer. Instead “a new Sunday competition is coming in to play,” says Grodner.

Speaking with THR during a private house tour (new BB18 house pics here) the execs cryptically explained we’d be seeing something different this year with BotB gone and something new coming in it’s place to help spice up the Sunday episodes which typically have only delivered nominations, somethingthe Feeds reveal on Friday night.

Here’s what they had to say about the new Big Brother 18 twists:

Meehan: No battle of the block!

Grodner: A new, Sunday competition is coming into play that will —-

Meehan: Twist up the game! It’s going to be fun, something we’ve never done before.

Grodner: Who knows though maybe sometime in the future it will come back.

Meehan: We need to keep the stakes high in the Sunday show because we didn’t want to go back to Have Not competitions.

Grodner: You want competitions that have stakes, that really mean something. This new competition really does that. So the nominations falls somewhere in the middle and then this competition and then, you’ll see.

Meehan: A new ceremony at the end.

Grodner: A new ceremony!

So what could this new comp be? Well I’d guess it has to do with the four returning players. In Season 14 we had Coaches competitions on the Fridays before nominations, but that timeline would be disrupted by what Grodner mentioned above.

Grodner explained the Sunday shows would have nominations and then this competition. Normally we get nominations on Friday nights then Power of Veto on Saturdays. If they’re throwing in an extra comp between those two events, assuming PoV isn’t going anywhere in the game plan, then either noms will be moved up or the Veto will be delayed.

Who knows on this “new ceremony” that we’ll be watching at the end of Sunday’s show. I really have no idea on how to guess that. Something to disrupt the noms? But isn’t that was the Veto is intended to do? I dunno.

It’s also worth noting they don’t plan on having Have-Not competitions again which is a shame. Competing to decide who will sleep in misery and be starved of regular food for a week would typically be considered “high stakes,” but the execs disagree. We should expect the Head of Household to be naming those groups by decree rather than through battle and that likely means volunteers rather than true punishments. Ah well.

So what do you think about the demise of Battle of the Block for Big Brother 18? Glad to have it gone or were you hoping to see it back? And what about this new competition and ceremony? Start sharing your predictions!

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115 Comments

  1. super duper happy botb is gone. I’m not a fan opting out of trying in comps without “good” consequences. I loved have/have not comps and wished they’d bring that back. my favorite parts of bb are the comps. hope new comp isn’t lame and really hope it’s a good action packed, well played season and not a bore fest.

    • I hated the Have Not situation – for reasons I just stated to Rob above. But I’d like to still see comps, and the winners get good stuff while the others don’t – just like Survivor Reward comps.

      • I just made a comment about the reward comps–but said I thought the food options were cruel, but that having the HOH choosing who were the ‘have nots’ was much more cruel. Did you Google Frank, Margaret?

    • Please give penalties to anyone who talks about throwing a comp/suggesting to someone to throw a comp/ someone actually throwing a comp.

  2. “…we didn’t want to go back to Have Not competitions”

    Well then, maybe you just shouldn’t have Have Nots…

      • Have-nots are often weakened enough to compromise their ability to perform in comps. Corey and Victor have had a distinct (deliberate?) blow to their physicalities with squid and seaweed. Is this some sort of sabotage by production? All others have had really good extras.

    • I’ve always hated the Have Not situation! Everyone eventually complains of stomache/gut issues! I’m sure the slop has been vetted by medical personnel but 3 days in and people are complaining of tummy issues! Yeah, there were the 2 extra things like sardines and Brussels sprouts – which BTW, I like both and most other weird food items, but NOT for 7 days. And sometimes the 2nd item was candy! Awful! There’s no nutrition in candy if you’re doing slop for 7 days! And then the most uncomfortable bedrooms – never made sense to me other than to put a set of people at a disadvantage (food and sleep) for comps due to not being equally up to par physically.

    • I agree. I don’t see what it adds to the show, other than it being cruel and sadistic.

  3. Well, whatever the new twist is, I can’t wait for it! Come on Big Brother 18!

  4. Battle of the Block–gone? Yippee! Now, PLEASE bring back the individual keys for each house guest. Well, at least the BotB is gone. But seriously, the keys were such an integral part of the ritual. But, I won’t complain. Except, those keys, were so much better than the screens with the pictures. Oh sorry. Said I wasn’t going to complain. But…the keys…the keys!

    • We’ve got to find you a real man( not M.S., I said REAL man), Sharona. You have absolutely too much pent up energy.. Go out and ride a bike or something. :D LOL

      • K, have I told you lately that I love you? Even if your posts are long-winded…heck, I’m a drama queen, so I guess I can put up with your foibles. ;P Did I make that P.erfectly C.lear?

      • Ok, you won that round. LOL
        Hey, no more BotB, how ’bout that? I hope the hype for the new challenge will not be just that, because we surely did not get our twisty season last year that was promised.

      • LOL!!!
        I’m sooo glad that stupid ‘fan favorite’ comp is out. I hated that thing. I’d like to see the reward challenges back. Do you remember when Gina Marie opened her big ‘ol mouth and she sucked that soft serve ice cream down her racist gullet? Loved those ‘have not’ challenges. They DIDN’T have those the last two seasons, right?
        I didn’t like the lousy food options…thought those were way too cruel—but I thought it was MORE cruel to have the HOH decide who was a ‘have not.’

      • Gina Marie was truly one of a kind, I hope.
        I never thought that the lousy food or the uncomfortable sleeping conditions improved the entertainment factor of the show at all. We need energized people to watch, not ones who are deprived of food and sleep, don’t ya’ think!!!

      • Totally agree. The slop and uncomfortable rooms only put the HNs at a physical, emotional or psychologicall disadvantage. I suggested (somewhere else) to do comps like the Survivor rewards. The thing is, everyone in the house, unlike Survivor, is still eating and sleeping comfortably, but like Survivor, the comps put the winning HGs into an isolated situation to enjoy their reward and to talk strategy while everyone else outside the winner’s circle starts feeling a little envious … I mean it could help cause rifts in alliances or plans.

      • You know they have had a couple of occasions where some people went outside of the BB house for a reward won, for instance, during veto. They take them out through the Diary Room. In most any isolation scenario, something interesting occurs, so I’m all for those type of occasions.

      • Yes, forgot about that too. But maybe more out-of-the-house trips or isolated occasions! And the rewards need to be BIG! It could be money or trips, but (again like Survivor), while on reward, maybe one HG finds an extra advantage, extra power, extra something to change the game. No, I don’t want BB to be Survivor, but I think BB needs to take a few lessons from Survivor gamemenship.

      • I think they need to get back to the basics. No out trips, no movies, no music! This game used to be a social experiment about people living in a house together with supposedly no outside influence. The only book allowed was the bible or whatever book and material needed for other religions in the house. That’s it!

      • I hate the Have Nots but I do love the reward idea like survivor. And make sure they can’t share.

      • Yep! Forgot about that – no sharing: that’s what Survivor reward challenges do. (I’ve often wondered if I snuck something back to camp for a friend/ally, what would happen?? But I’m sure the players have been beaten over the knuckles -contract-wise – for such a consideration!)

      • It happens, one season Jeff Probst gave food to a woman he was smitten with. They dated a while after the game but it didn’t last. I can’t remember her name or the season.

    • Ugh the keys? Really? It was such a big time waster. And if you watched feeds, you already knew who got nominated. All it does is waste more time, and take away from our feeds time with fish. And I always hated the butt kissing of the HGs saying “Thank you [HOH]”

      • Oh, but it was such a huge part of the whole tradition! Those of us who never had the feeds DIDN’T know. Maybe it was a time waster to some, but to others of us, it was a lot of what made BB, BB.

      • You didnt need the feeds. You could aways look on wikipedia. And I always hated the butt kissing of the HGs saying “Thank you [HOH]”

      • Yeah…but it was still part of the tradition that I fell in love with when I first started watching back in the double aughts.

      • It does like seem like something you are really passionate about. But I hated it lol.

      • Lol! Yeah..I don’t know why I am…but I am stuck on those keys! Sorry—I won’t keep shoving them down your throat! Lol.

      • The, I’m speaking for myself. Up until Season 16, I never had a computer and I am still in baby step mode. I need a little slack from the computer savvy crew, and I do understand that is probably 99% of the posters here. I’m old-school, and the traditional BB is what I love most about the whole concept of the show.

      • I’d suggest you go buy him one and teach him the minimal skills to operate it….but…..my sister did that for my parents, who are both in their 80’s now, and she has had many, many regrets. The stories I could tell; they would make a great Seinfeld episode, maybe a whole new comedy.

      • In my case where it is totally ILLEGAL to watch a pirated BBUS/BBCAN livestream to people from overseas like me, I compensate by reading feed updates online, BBN being my number one source (courtesy to the valiant efforts of Matt and Braeden).

      • I didn’t realize that, James. You are always very well informed and a good source of information.

      • This website attracts quite a umber of visitors outside of the United States so this is our refuge. hehe

  5. The HGs will be very happy to know BOTB is dead in the water, as am I. I agree with you about the Have Nots, Matt. If they are going to do it, the volunteer thing ruins its efficacy, imo. I would rather them to altogether discontinue it also than to allow volunteers.

  6. Maybe the new comp is to Dethrone the HoH, thus the ceremony being a changed or remaining HoH.

  7. Assuming that the coaches are in play, maybe the HOH has to nominate one person from 2 of the coach’s players. Those 2 coaches then compete for the PoV to remove their player from the block, forcing the HOH to make a second replacement nominee, also assuming the regular veto is in play as well.

  8. “Glad to have it gone or were you hoping to see it back?” Um.. I think it’s safe to say BOTB was a flop and no true fan actually cared for it. When it was first introduced at the start of season 16, I’ll admit that I thought it was a cool idea. It was just executed poorly once the hgs realized they could throw and backdoor every week… it just took the surprise and mystery out of Big Brother and made it bland and boring.

  9. I know it’s an unpopular opinion and I am probably going to receive SO MUCH backlash and defensive replies almost immediately, but can I just say that I really think the old food and have not comps were so pointless? THIS is one of the RARE instances that I have to agree with production. I thought the Sunday shows were pointless; I already knew the pre-veto noms, so the entire episode didn’t matter to me. I’m glad they aren’t done anymore. Call me crazy all you’d like. I’m sticking by my opinion. :)))

    • Oh Sunday shows are totally pointless and I hate HN’s for the negative impact on already lifeless and tired HGs, but if they’re going to do HNs then it needs to be competed to decided rather than “whose turn is it this week?” An ideal solution is to simply eliminate HNs & move on to something else.

      • I hated HN because they just slept all day from no nutrition. Who wants to watch that?

    • I dont know if it’s sarcasm or not. Sarcasm doesnt work in text, unless you say it’s sarcasm. But botb is when there are 2 HOH, and they nominate 2 people each, and whoever wins, dethrones the HOH that nominated them.

  10. good hated BOB. I’d like to see an immunity from eviction bracelet of sorts to be played up to and including eviction nite. if used before evict nite, they get replaced, it used ON eviction nite and they were voted out, then the eviction would default to the other person on block with them. this would eliminate pawns completely and force the HOH to put up 2 actual targets!!

    • They were all good challenges. It’s just people abused the system by throwing them. BotB is good on paper. But its very faulty.

  11. I miss the weekly reward/food challenges from the early BB years. Bring some of those back.

  12. I bet this new thing is going to have people wishing for BotB to come back lol. I can guarantee that Grodner will stop at nothing to make sure there is a Tiffany win. She will rig this show as much as humanly possible.

      • I think Tiffany is going to be worse than Vanessa. I can feel it She didn’t even want to tell Jeff that she was Vanessa’s sister. Even though he already knew. It was like pulling teeth.

  13. So no one has the cojones to call Grodner out on her racism and prejudice? Instead they ask her things that we will find out in literally less than a week? I wish someone would have the guts to ask her about the deliberate lack of diversity on the show? Black men arent allowed to compete? I dont even understand how any of this is even legal.

  14. I never understood BB saying BoftB was a fan favorite! Hated it! I don’t see anyone else in this thread saying it was their favorite. I think Alice,et al, are living in Wonderland, sometimes!

      • I agree with both of you. Just like ‘He-who-shall-remain-nameless (but full of glitter)’ was supposedly a ‘fan favorite.’ WHICH fan?

      • And that’s another thing! They should make a rule that ONLY the HOH can sleep in the HOH room, to keep people like Skanky Frankie in their place.

      • OMGosh, right?! That drove me NUTS! I can’t for the life of me think of who it was, but someone commandeered the HOH room every single week last year, too. Who was it? UGH. Drives me crazy. And it ain’t that far a drive. lol…

      • No one expected to own the room last year like Frankie the year before, that I remember.

      • Doesn’t really matter. I’m taking off. I’m tired. Peace out, my lovely…

      • Now that’s a good idea – but there might be some “sensual?” frustrations?? I think BB likes showmances though.

      • I have never enjoyed showmances and think anyone who gets involved in one is signing their BB doom warrant. But yes, BB seems to like at least one a season.

  15. While I like the concept of Battle of the Block, one thing that made it a hated fan favorite is the one glaring flaw producers overlooked and failed to rectify.

    The housemates quickly discovered that they can rig BOB for their own benefit instead of the intended purpose of putting everyone at risk. It allowed big house-sized alliances like the Bomb Squad and the Sixth Sense to flourish and even be reincarnated into new ones such as the Hitmen, the Detonators and the Scamper Squad.

    Although to be fair, the closest to fully realizing BOB’s potential was last year’s BB17 when a good few potential game threats did get evicted, in complete contrast to BB16’s weak and safe pickings.

    • I don’t mind if BoB favors the majority alliance from time to time, as long as that’s not what happens every week like it was in bb16. The intention of BoB was to pit the HOHs against each other, not make them work together.
      A twist that I personally liked but is largely forgotten by the BB community is the MVP twist. The reason why is because for the MVP twist, it had a different impact to the game every week and created so much drama in the bb15 house, unlike BoB, which works the same way every single week and has reduced drama in the house.

  16. DON’t let Chen tell the end vote. Stop the stupid voting as a house. PLEASE>

    • No offense but… which show are you watching? The house will vote as a house 90% of the time…

  17. Grodner and Meehan need to go. They both have little to no input on BB Canada and it shines in comparison to the lame BB USA we have now compared to what BB USA was like pre-BB15.

    There is nothing wrong with the Have Not comps if they are done correctly. BB Canada still has them and they are entertaining, fun to watch and actually impact the game.

    • Tbh, I think have/have not comps are boring. I don’t care about who’s on slop, i care about what the hoh wants to do and what the nominees will do to stay in the house…

    • They have little to no output on BBCAN because they’re not involved with that show at all.

      • That’s because they voluntarily stepped back from BB CAN and they let the other producers (who also work on BB USA by the way) ‘get their feet wet’ with it and in turn the lower producers put out a much better show.

        Robin Kass is only allowed to cast down to the final 50 in BB USA and then Grodner gets final call whereas on BB CAN Kass gets to cast all the way down to who walks in the door. The proof is in the pudding…

      • Les Moonves has final approval on the cast in BBUSA.

        BBCAN is executive produced with the guys from Insight Productions and they work closely with Endemol Shine so they could make the format right for Canadian audiences.

      • Les Moonves has final approval over everything in BB USA but basically lets Grodner have her way on just about everything.

      • And BB CAN is exactly the same game as BB USA, just with a better cast and more twists.

      • Many twists imported from overseas BB’s, from tasks to challenges to secret rooms to hidden powers.

      • Oh no James. Moonves doesn’t bother making any decision about BB. OTOH his wife Julie Chen probably has a lot of weight in the decision making.

      • If that was the case, Fly on the Wall/Endemol Shine should have hired her into their team as a producer by now.

        I don’t think Julie has any say on any decision production makes other than just being the show’s presenter her job is only having to appear once a week to interview an evictee since she’s busy enough with her talk show and being a mom. She doesn’t have the time to monitor these crazy people 24/7 without blinking an eye like Grodner and Meehan has. hehe

  18. There’s really no point to the whole “Have Not” thing anymore if it’s going to continue to be nominations/volunteering. Just seems lame at this point if there’s no competition of SOME sort for it.

  19. New Sunday comp & ceremony guess: the Battle of Noms, the Noms pick a partner, winning Nom & partner is safe & makes the replacement Nom at ceremony #bb18 This will give Noms more strategic options & the house can’t dismiss them so easily.

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