Big Brother season 27 premiere recap: Vince wins HOH as the Mastermind twist shakes up the game with a secret Accomplice

Big Brother season 27 premiered on July 10, 2025, with the return of Julie Chen Moonves as host and 16 new houseguests ready to compete for the $750,000 prize. The episode kicked off the season’s theme — “Summer of Mystery” — and introduced a new twist involving a character called the Mastermind, who is watching over the house from behind the scenes.

The house, styled as Hotel Mystère, became the setting for the first competition and a countdown that led to the disappearance of Julie, launching a search mission split between two teams.

Zach Cornell found Julie and won $10,000, while Jimmy Heagerty identified the correct Head of Household relic and earned the power to choose four players for the first HOH competition.

Vince Panaro ultimately won that competition, gaining safety and power in the game’s first week. But just as the players began adjusting to the season’s layout, the Mastermind revealed an added twist — one of the 16 houseguests is actually their Accomplice.

If the others guess their identity correctly, the Accomplice goes home. If not, the Accomplice officially joins the Big Brother game.

Vince secures HOH after twist-filled challenge in Big Brother

 

 

 

 

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After Jimmy earned the power to choose the first four competitors for the HOH challenge, he selected himself, Adrian, Ashley, and Vince.

The challenge involved balancing six cores on a BB Blaster to destroy the Mastermind’s lair.

Jimmy entered the comp saying, that he was going into it with "guns blazing,” showing his intent to take the power.

But in the end, it was Vince who managed to keep all the cores balanced for 10 seconds and push the plunger successfully. This victory gave Vince the first HOH title of the season.

However, it also came with an added responsibility. Julie announced that Vince would have to nominate three houseguests, not two, because of a returning element called the BB Blockbuster — a revamped version of last season’s AI Arena.

Vince said he was worried, adding that nominating three people meant “double the amount of people" that would be mad at him.

Earlier, Zach had won $10,000 during the search challenge, while Jimmy had earned the right to pick the HOH participants.

Jimmy considered switching rewards with Zach but decided to keep his power and use it to evaluate players’ willingness to compete.

By the end of the challenge in Big Brother, Vince emerged as both the winner and the player with the biggest early-game target, having to make strategic nominations in the next episode.

Mastermind introduces secret Accomplice twist in Big Brother

Just when the houseguests thought they had a handle on the game, the Mastermind character interrupted the final moments of the episode with a major twist.

While the players believed that Rachel Reilly was entering as the 17th houseguest, the Mastermind corrected that — saying Rachel is actually the 16th houseguest, and someone already in the game is the Accomplice.

This means one of the original 16 cast members is not a real contestant but part of the twist in Big Brother. The Mastermind announced that if the other houseguests correctly identify who the Accomplice is, that person will go home immediately.

However, if they don’t figure it out, the Accomplice will officially become a player and continue in the game.

The players were visibly surprised. Others quickly began speculating about who might be the Accomplice.

Some houseguests had already held back information about themselves — including Keanu and Lauren, who didn’t tell others they were superfans — which could make them seem suspicious.

Julie warned that the mystery would only deepen and that the hunt for the Accomplice would begin in the next episode of Big Brother. The game has officially started with layers of secrecy, and the house is already on edge about trust, alliances, and hidden agendas.

Stay tuned for more updates.