Big Brother Hookups Fans Won't Ever Forget

When George Orwell introduced the world to his frightening, dystopian take on the future in 1948, he probably didn’t realize that reality TV would market that vision as fear for fun and profit. Quicker than you could say "thoughtcrime," the phenomenon known as "Big Brother" would dominate the airwaves, as viewers eagerly eavesdropped on contestants who abandoned their privacy rights and took on their roomies for a huge cash prize. Well, over two decades later, "Big Brother" still draws audiences peering into the lives of candidates hoping to reap the rewards of taking a shortcut to achieve the American Dream, as long as they can survive the obligatory thinning of the herd.

And what does it take to win "Big Brother?" It’s simple. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Lie, backstab, or create conflict if it’s to your advantage to do so. Or, as some of the randier competitors have done, sleep with a contestant to solidify a relationship, whether it be strategically or romantically. Unfortunately, it’s a strategy that seldom works, but to the show’s network, CBS, that doesn’t matter. Turns beneath the sheets often generate great ratings numbers and make for interesting water cooler conversations the day after, not only for the titillation factor, but also in how such couplings elevate the drama among the rest of the residents sequestered in the guest house. Here’s a look at some of the most scandalous hookups in the show’s history.

Alyssa and Kyle (Season 24)

Season 24 of "Big Brother" had its share of OMG moments, but nothing could get viewers gaping wider than the time when contestants Kyle Capener and Alyssa Snider decided against getting it on in more surreptitious confines than, say, one of the guest house beds. Nope, these enterprising amours opted for the bottom of a drained swimming pool, on top of a butterfly-shaped float with a few blankets and pillows to obscure the "Big Brother" lenses from transmitting more graphic details. As far as quickies go, it was like a blink-and-miss event. "I want to say we just had sexual intercourse for 10 seconds," Capener said to Snider on a "Big Brother" feed. "Sorry I didn’t last very long like regular sex, but I like you and I like having sex with you and if you want to stop, we can."

Despite that brief, physical connection, Capener and Snider carried on. And while the pool tryst didn’t seem to generate much animosity among the contestants, Capener’s idea for a white-players-only alliance was deemed racist enough to get him evicted from the guesthouse later during the series. "I made some generalized thoughts early in the game, and mid-game, that definitely had no grounds and no place in the game, which are unfortunate," said Capener after he was turfed (per ET). After the season ended, Capener and Snider continued as a couple, even vacationing together in Europe, until they split in January 2023.

Holly and Jackson (Season 21)

Jackson Michie and Holly Allen got physical in the "Big Brother" guest house, which morphed into one barn-burner of a romance. Against all odds of a couple making it to the season's dramatic conclusion, the two managed to reach the finals of the reality TV show's 21st season. Michie won the competition that year, edging his other half, and seemed philosophical about walking away with both a title and a girlfriend. "Whatever happens, happens," Michie said to ET during the night of his victory, "and if her life and my life are able to coincide synergistically and do our thing together, then great. But regardless, she will always be in my life."

On the other hand, Allen was upset that the show focused more on what happened between her and Michie on the mattress instead of her own strategy for trying to win the game. "As a woman, I wasn’t shown as the strong one," Allen later lamented on Instagram. "My relationship was shown more than my character. There’s so much that defines me that I thought I was showing the world. But hey, that’s reality TV. I knew a lot would be out of my control." But what reality TV had joined together, real life had torn asunder a year later, when Michie announced their split in 2020. "Life has continued to work in ways neither of [us] expected," he posted on Instagram, "and sadly life will be taking us in different directions."

Raven and Matt (Season 19)

During Season 19, you didn’t need to be a forensics expert checking out headboard indentations to discover that "Big Brother" contestants Matt Clines and Raven Walton were doing the nasty throughout the series. No sooner did the cameras start rolling to launch the first episode than the two felt fireworks about to detonate between them and it didn’t take long for the two to christen their corner of the guest house. "We were together in the house for 72 days," said Walton to Us Weekly about the relationship. "We couldn’t get enough of each other! We looked at each other like we were cake."

If anyone needed more convincing evidence about that hookup, competitor Kevin Schlehuber unwittingly discovered it while taking part in Hide-and-go-Veto, a name-card treasure hunt granting immunity to the lucky seeker. "I lifted up a mattress and there were condoms," recalled Schlehuber on an episode of the "Dirty Reality" podcast (per Soap Dirt). "And I was like, they can hide the veto thing but they can’t hide the condoms?" Adding to the ick factor was that he found some of those prophylactics had already been used; apparently, the randy twosome felt that trying to dispose of the items might have aroused suspicion. While that controversial cache is now immortalized in reality TV history, the same couldn’t be said for Clines and Raven after the season ended. The two split up a year later, with Clines marrying someone else in 2022.

Jessica and Cody (Season 19)

In 2017, Cody Nickson and Jessica Graf didn’t waste any time giving the bed springs in the "Big Brother" guest house a real workout. Amidst all the friction taking place throughout the household, Nickson and Graf were rubbing each other in far more amorous ways. "I am just extremely happy to be with her," said Nickson to ET about his cozy relationship with Graf while still in the competition. "I haven’t been around somebody I trusted for who knows how long. So, I’m just happy to be around somebody I can trust." Graf stuck by her man, even when Nickson was at odds with pretty much every competitor during the season. "Everyone in there is such a damn clown," said Nickson to Us Weekly after he was evicted from the guest house. "So, I don’t know if that’s what people want. It’s not me, I’m just not like them."

Graf also failed to grab the "Big Brother" title, but stayed with Nickson after the season ended. Together, they were far more fortunate when they won a far more physical reality TV competition, "The Amazing Race," in 2018, splitting a $1-million purse between them. And with that sense of adventure still top of mind, Nickson shortly after created a video of himself running up a mountainside outside Los Angeles, where he proposed to Graf on a hiking trail. Obviously, she accepted, as the couple married and have since brought three children into the fold.

Zakiyah and Paul (Season 18)

Season 18 of "Big Brother" raised an interesting debate about whether a "showmance" is legit if caught on camera or if innuendo is enough to pass the smell test. Such was the case with Paul Calafiore and Zakiyah Everette, who paired up and entertained audiences with plenty of hugs, kisses, massages, and cuddles, but apparently nothing explicit. Interestingly, after Everette was evicted, Calafiore bragged to others that the two had at one point reached the hookup stage. He probably wouldn’t have been as fortunate with other female contestants like Da’Vonne Rogers. "When we all weren’t charmed by him and all his words, I think that scared him a little," she said to BuzzFeed about calling him out for sexist behavior. "I’m glad I scared him, to be honest."

Everette claimed that she used Calafiore to stay in the game as long as possible. "I don’t know how it looked, but I feel like I used him to my advantage, and it