It’s been over 10 years since Dan Gheesling played Big Brother, but his presence is still felt on the show and within the fandom. Many viewers consider him one of the best Big Brother players ever. As a result, former and new houseguests constantly try to emulate Dan’s game. But now that the CBS reality competition series is (seemingly) a thing of the past for Dan, what has he been doing with his life?
Dan won ‘Big Brother 10’ and was the runner-up in ‘Big Brother 14’
CBS introduced fans to the legend Dan Gheesling when Big Brother 10 premiered in 2008. He was one of 13 new houseguests to enter the game. And sadly for Dan, he didn’t get off to a great start inside the house. Dan’s closest ally, Brian Hart, was the first person evicted from the game on Day 9. And during the second week, Dan sat next to his other ally, Steven Daigle, on the block, but Steven went home.
Following the first two evictions, Dan managed to downplay his threat level, mainly by throwing competitions. And in Week 5, he formed a final two alliance with Memphis Garrett called the Renegades. As the game neared its end, Dan started winning competitions and manipulating his fellow houseguests. Dan and Memphis eventually made it to the final two, where the jury unanimously voted for Dan as the winner.
CBS brought Dan back for Big Brother 14 as one of four coaches. He, Janelle Pierzina, Britney Haynes, and Mike “Boogie” Malin chose their teams on Day 1, and if any of their players won the game, the coaches would win $100,000. However, the returnees weren’t actively playing the game (at first).
Dan’s team consisted of Jodi Rollins, Kara Monaco, and Danielle Murphree. Like in season 10, Dan’s game got off to a bad start. His team lost the first competition, meaning he had to evict one of his players. Dan chose Jodi, and Kara was the next person evicted, so Dan’s only teammate left after 13 days was Danielle.
The duo managed to survive the next two exits, but that’s when the game took an “unexpected” turn. Host Julie Chen Moonves told the contestants on Day 27 that the four coaches could choose to enter the game as players. If none of them agreed, then they would continue as coaches. But if even only one of them said yes, they would become houseguests. Ultimately, Dan, Janelle, and Britney voted yes, while Boogie voted no.
Once Dan was a full-fledged houseguest, he turned his game up tenfold. He joined the Quack Pack alliance, came up with the best move in Big Brother history (Dan’s funeral), convinced Danielle to use the POV on him during the final four and voted out her showmance, and so much more.
Dan later found himself in the final two beside Ian, but Dan had burned too many bridges in the jury with his cutthroat game. In a 6-1 vote, Ian won Big Brother 14, making Dan the runner-up.
Dan is focusing on his family after season 14
Entertainment Weekly conducted interviews with past Big Brother winners, including Dan Gheesling, leading up to season 24 in 2022. And during their talk with the Big Brother 10 champion, he gave an update on his life.
“I am 100% a family man now,” Dan explained. “I have a five-year-old boy, four-year-old boy, and then a six-month-old girl. And so, any free time I have, I try to free up to spend with them. Me and my wife are just enjoying raising a house full of young kids. Outside of that, I’m back into coaching football and then still running my Twitch show five days a week.”
Dan makes gaming content on Twitch and has over 120,000 followers. But as he said, outside of the gaming community, Dan’s focused on raising his kids with his wife and coaching football in Michigan.
Will Dan ever play ‘Big Brother’ again?
Whenever rumors about an All-Stars season start spreading among Big Brother fans, one of the names that constantly pops up is Dan’s. And it’s not surprising — he’s one of the best players of all time and the mastermind behind what is arguably the best move in the show’s history. So, of course, fans want to see Dan play again. But that doesn’t mean that he wants to.
“For me, [playing Big Brother again is] a non-option for a couple of reasons,” Dan told Entertainment Weekly. “The number one reason is my family. I’m starting to realize when people say it goes by fast; I can already feel that. And to be gone from my three kids for three months, I couldn’t do that. At the same time, when I say I couldn’t, there’s a price tag on everything. So I just don’t see that happening ever. Maybe when they’re older, if they’re in college or something, but that’s so far away.”
He continued, “If we were to boil it down to like two points, one is my family. And two is, to play the game, at least how I play the game, I have to have this intense drive. Both times, I was willing to do whatever it took. I was like training before the season. I was there. I was ready. And I can tell you right now; I don’t have that passion to play right now. I don’t really have an incentive to play. I don’t have that drive to play the game. I just don’t. I like to compete in other things, but Big Brother, I just don’t have that. I feel like I’m done.”
It sounds like Dan has shut the door on Big Brother. However, never say never. We’re still holding out hope for a shortened all-winners season.
Big Brother is available to stream on Paramount+.
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