Did ‘Big Brother’ Edit Their Live Eviction?

During the live eviction episode on Thursday, September 7, a number of Big Brother viewers thought that Cory Wurtenberger’s vote indicated something was amiss. “I vote to evict Red [Utley],” Cory, 21, appeared to say during the episode. Fans, however, pointed out that the audio did not match up with Cory’s lips’ movements. “I knew it wasn’t a damn lag, his lips said Jag [Bains] but voiceover said Red,” a viewer tweeted alongside a video of Cory’s vote. Red, 38, and Jag, 25, were the two housemates on the nomination block.

A fair amount of viewers began to speculate that the reality show’s producers edited the audio to change Cory’s vote. “@CBSBigBrother #BB25 what’s this cheating all about ??!!! Cory 100% says Jag but the voiceover says red. I thought #BigBrother wasn’t scripted ?” another user commented. On the other hand, some fans believed that all the theories were a bit far-fetched. “i’m losing brain cells at anybody who’s convinced themselves somehow and for no reason on live television the big brother producers would voice over cory saying jag with him saying red.. y’all always want there to be some kind of conspiracy,” one viewer wrote via Twitter.

View on X

As it turns out, Cory’s brother, Zach Wurtenberger, who had competed on the 42nd season of Survivor in 2022, might have some answers as to why Cory was mouthing “Jag.” On the Friday, September 8, episode of the reality TV recap podcast Rob Has a Podcast, host Rob Cesternino noted that Zach had made a comment in the show’s chat room claiming that Cory has had a speech impediment since he was a child, and as a result, is “bad at saying ‘R’s.’” If Cory had been actually planning to vote for Jag, it wouldn’t have made a significant difference in the outcome of Thursday’s episode. Red was evicted by an 8-2 margin, with Cameron Harding and Bowie Jane voting to send Jag home.

There has been no shortage of frustration expressed by Big Brother fans this season. It became evident to some live feed viewers that Jared Fields would not be punished when he used the R-word to describe fellow houseguest America Lopez on September 1, despite Luke Valentine being expelled for using the N-word last month. The show has not addressed Jared’s use of the offensive remark, however, in a conversation captured on the live feeds of the show, he expressed regret for the comments he made. “I don’t think she’s the R-word. I slipped up,” he told Cory. “Obviously, I was angry about it [and] I’m willing to admit that.”