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Big Brother winner calls out disadvantage for LGBTQ+ contestants after Rome and Lyric romance

He makes a really good point

ByOreoluwa Adeyoola

15th July 2026, 12:22
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A new season of Big Brother is on air, but past winner Andy Herem is calling out a major problem for LGBTQ+ contestants that still has yet to be addressed.

Big Brother 28 is on, introducing 17 new cast members to our screens, including three reality TV veterans. As any Big Brother fan will know, one of the most heavily focused on aspects of each season is the possible showmances that develop between houseguests.

Last season, we had the controversial romance between Rylie and Katherine, and the most iconic showmance of them all, Jeff and Jordan from season 11, who are now married with children.

The new season might have only been on for a week, but it’s already developing its own showmance. Lyric and Rome have gotten extremely close in a short amount of time, cuddling, spending lots of one-on-one time together, and even kissing on footage that wasn’t aired on TV. This has caused a bit of backlash as some viewers think it’s too soon, and are comparing the competition show to Love Island.

Previous Big Brother winner Andy Heren has called out the casting choices this season, as there’s only one confirmed out gay contestant, Jason De Puy.

“Time for my annual comment about how annoying it is for the show to focus so much on showmances and only cast one gay person,” the season 15 winner said in an online comment “It’s an immediate huge disadvantage in terms of screen time/getting fleshed out. Wish this would change, but it looks like it never will.”

via Reddit

Lots of viewers agreed with him, as it’s a common thread that on-screen romances get a lot of screen time, however queer contestants are way less likely to get that chance because of tokenism.

“What gets me is they’ll often ask the gay houseguest in pre-interviews if they’re open to showmances. And it’s like, why even ask that if you know all the other houseguests are straight?” one commenter added.

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