Big Brother Season 24 is just around the corner, and many fans are excited for any and all details regarding the start of a new game. That said, Season 14 winner and Season 22 HouseGuest Ian Terry doesn’t sound like he’ll tune in for Season 24, especially after admitting that he doesn’t enjoy watching it anymore.
Ian Terry, whose Season 14 win over former champion Dan Gheesling is one of the more memorable twists of Big Brother, spoke to EW about a wide variety of topics concerning the game. When asked about filming sessions in the Diary Room, Terry revealed his distaste for the modern style of the game, and noted that the Diary Room plays a big factor in that:
I'll be honest: I'm not a fan of modern Big Brother, and a lot of that has to do with the Diary Room sessions. Nothing beats that organic feeling of the Diary Room sessions from the earliest of seasons. Personally, I am very long-winded, so capturing my thoughts in a quick, easy-to-digest soundbite is never going to result in anything getting explained fully. This leaves viewers to connect the dots on their own, often incorrectly. That being said, I am probably in the minority here given the attention span of the typical viewer. The Diary Room production team is very professional and puts together a good show for their audience.
Diary Room sessions have long been a topic in Big Brother online discussions and are noted as a major difference between the older and newer seasons of the series. In the past, diary room sessions were more to capture a HouseGuest’s train of thought, and give them a chance to talk out their strategy to the television audience. In more recent seasons, the sessions act more as supplemental information to service the scenes in the episodes, move things along, and aren’t nearly as in-depth.
Ian Terry isn’t a fan of modern Big Brother, which is kind of funny considering he returned to compete just two seasons ago. When asked if he still watches the show, even if he dislikes it, Terry gave an honest response and talked about his last experiences of trying to stay with the game:
I don't. Too different from the show I grew up enjoying. BB19 was the final straw for me — I pulled the plug a few weeks in, watched the finale, and never watched another episode. I didn't intend to watch the following Celebrity season but did when I got invited to be interviewed on stage with a handful of other winners. I figured maybe I'd give BB20 a chance, but read up on it, and it didn't excite me much, so I passed on it. I even gave up on Survivor after the surprise final four fire-making twist was introduced (no issue with the fire-making, issue that it was a surprise). I guess I just grew out of the genre altogether.
Ian Terry isn’t the first Big Brother HouseGuest to say that he won’t watch the show anymore, but he’s certainly one of the few winners to openly voice that he feels the show isn’t like it used to be. I’m not sure he’ll be using a Paramount+ subscription to check up on the live feeds or be tweeting his opinions of the HouseGuests unless something about the current season drastically changes his opinion on tuning in.
Right now there’s not a ton of information about what to expect from Season 24, so there’s a chance that whatever is planned will be just what he needs to return. With that said, it seems like Ian Terry might just be burnt out on reality television altogether, which could explain his performance in Season 22. Terry certainly didn’t have the fire or spirit that fans saw in Season 14, and ended up on the jury rather unceremoniously despite having a chance to impact the game.
Big Brother premieres on CBS on Wednesday, July 6 at 8:00 p.m. ET. Get ready to expect the unexpected, and see some new HouseGuests navigate their way to a big payday.
