‘Big Brother 18′ May Not Be Jozea Flores’ Only Reality Show Gig
Each season Big Brother producers cast a mix of personalities drawn from a variety of sources. Some are past houseguests, many apply through open casting, and several are recruited — with little or no knowledge of the Big Brother game.
Jozea Flores is best known so far as the self-proclaimed “messiah” of the newbies on Big Brother 18, a declaration that prompted veteran Da’Vonne Rogers to put a target on his back. He found himself up for eviction this week, with Nicole Franzel doing the deed.
If Jozea doesn’t know a lot about the strategy of Big Brother — his official CBS bio said he plans to get into other people’s heads and use his “love and caring” to win — that might be because he very recently had another reality show in mind. The celebrity make up artist is also a model who tapped famed designer Marc Jacobs to promote him for a spot on America’s Next Top Model.
As Variety reported, America’s Next Top Model was revived by VH1 after its cancellation by the CW. Nyle DiMarco, who also went on to win Dancing With the Stars, was widely touted to have been the “last” winner of ANTM before it was revealed that the show wasn’t quite done yet. The new season of ANTM will debut in the fall, but the cast has yet to be announced. Tyra Banks, the show’s long-running host, is executive producer for Cycle 23, but won’t appear in front of the camera.
If Jozea was recruited, or applied to be on Big Brother 18 just for the reality show exposure, he wouldn’t be the first. Last season former wrestler Austin Matelson was open about his desire to restart his career, and third-place finisher Vanessa Rousso — whose nearly identical sister Tiffany is in this year’s cast — recounted in a post-season interview that she and CBS had been looking for a show to do together. For CBS and Rousso, Big Brother fit the bill.
In its pre-season spotlight of Jozea Flores, Carter Matt mocked the model for not knowing much about the Big Brother game and predicted he would be quickly evicted. The site assumed production was behind him because of his obvious ignorance about what makes Big Brother tick — strategy, competitions and a social game.
“Probably the most surprising thing is that he actually comes off a little closed-off, and some of his answers feel rehearsed. He’s not making a huge effort to connect, and we almost feel like he is overly cognizant of the presence of the cameras and it will inhibit how he comes across as a human being.”
His apparent arrogance came across in his bio, as he seemed to underrate the potential for the Big Brother house to be a stressful environment, where everyone is on-camera 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for several months.
“Nothing will really be difficult about living in the ‘Big Brother’ house. I’ve had roommates before and I’m accustomed to living with roommates; the only thing that’ll be difficult is sharing the bathroom because I like to take a shower every morning and not wait.”
It is true that Jozea seems to have made himself an early target, specifically of Da’Vonne and her current alliance members: Head of Household Nicole and fellow veterans Frank Eudy and James Huling. Ironically, as Buddy TV pointed out, the one person Jozea might have the most in common with is Paulie Calafiore — who, like Tiffany is the sibling of a former houseguest and allied with the veterans — as both are underwear models.
Although it may be unlikely that Jozea will be on America’s Next Top Model at this point, it is possible he will be on the hunt for another on-camera gig that doesn’t involve posing for still shots.
Big Brother 18 airs Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday on CBS.
[Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images]