The premiere of Big Brother Season 27 is mere hours away, and despite everyone working overtime behind the scenes to ensure its secrets are kept intact, former Houseguests are potentially sabotaging those efforts. I’ve been hoping that the 17th mystery Houseguest wouldn’t be a former player, but Season 24 vet Joseph Abdin may have dashed that desire, assuming he wasn’t trolling when seemingly revealing the player’s true identity by accident.
Ahead of the 90-minute premiere airing on CBS and streaming via Paramount+ subscription, Abdin linked up with his former Houseguests on Chat BCC. The app allows former players to create group chats to discuss Big Brother on a public forum, which fans can comment on and react to what’s being said. It seems Joseph didn’t get the “visibile to the masses” memo, because as soon as he joined he immediately referred to an alleged email from CBS indicating former Season 13 winner Rachel Reilly was the mystery Houseguest.
Here’s a screenshot of the convo:
Julie Chen Moonves noted in an interview with EW that the Houseguest was polarizing, which accurately describes how audiences felt about her between her appearances in Seasons 12 and 13.
As if all that weren’t enough, former Houseguest and BB legend Janelle Pierzina is best friends with Rachel Reilly and has not been able to successfully talk to her on the phone. She’s received text messages from her, but thinks she knows why Rachel won’t answer the phone:
She text me back saying she was at home. But I got to thinking. Rachel always calls me back…. And Brenden could be texting from a laptop responding to her texts. The B in the study is for Brechel the V is for Viagas her married name. The map was all her amazing race… https://t.co/ixW47TcK4NJuly 8, 2025
Is Rachel’s husband and former Houseguest, Brenden Villegas, posing as her via text? It does sound pretty suspicious, and like something a seasoned veteran would think to do!
It’s also worth noting that when CinemaBlend spoke to Rachel back in 2021, she was eager to play Big Brother again. Fans may remember she wanted to be a part of Season 22’s second All-Stars season, but was not able to play because she was pregnant at the time. Now, it would appear she’s playing the game again, but for how long is anyone’s guess.
There’s a theory floating around that Rachel is not actually going to stay in the house the full game, and will be “murdered” not long in as part of the “mystery” theme of Big Brother Season 27. This aligns with an incident that occurred last season, when the show promoted a 17th Houseguest named Ainsley, who was ultimately revealed to be a paid actress used to set up the A.I. Arena twist.
We’ll see if Joseph Abdin and the rest of the internet got it right when Big Brother Season 27 premieres on CBS on Thursday, July 10th at 8:00 p.m. ET. I’m so beyond excited for this season to finally get rolling, so here’s hoping for an electric premiere to get everyone talking!