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Janelle Pierzina

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File:Janie.jpg
Janelle, in the back-yard of the Big Brother house, Season 7.

Janelle Marie Pierzina (born January 10, 1980) was a contestant on the sixth and All-Star seasons of the American version of the CBS reality show Big Brother.

Finishing in third place on Big Brother 6, Janelle became wildly popular and won most of the "America's Choice" rewards, in which viewers would choose prize winnings for their favorite houseguest. Pierzina ended up becoming arguably the most popular female contestant in Big Brother USA history and took the fan-bestowed name of America's Choice, receiving a popularity rating of 97% in the final week of Big Brother 6 on the CBS website, though due to the extensive use of vote placing software and the ability of fans to vote more than once, this statistic is not scientific. [1]

Her home is in Miami Beach, Florida. She was born and raised in Grand Rapids, Minnesota.


Early career

Prior to Big Brother, Janelle was an actress and model, with most of her screen credits under the spelling "Perzina" not "Pierzina".

She modeled and did an extended interview for Xposed magazine, and was named as a SBK World Superbike Calendar Girl by FastDates.com.

Before Big Brother, she filmed a pilot episode for a travel series called Nautical Angels, but the series was not picked up for broadcast. The show featured three women ("angels"), who traveled to various tourist destinations, examining the history, culture, and activities of each location. Janelle was the "action angel", trying out different activities of the area. In the pilot, the girls traveled to Southeast Asia. The only video of the pilot appears on the production company's web site.

She also had a bit part in the movie Bruce Almighty, which was cut significantly, but not entirely. She also appeared briefly as a non-speaking extra on Friends and Charmed.

Early in her career, Pierzina ran afoul of the law with two minor offenses, misdemeanor theft and a DWI infraction; Pierzina eventually pleaded guilty to both offenses. [2] [3]

Pierzina has had her share of legal problems. In August 2000, she was arrested for drunk driving in Duluth, Minnesota. She failed to appear for her February 2001 arraignment, resulting in a bench warrant for her arrest. In June 2002, she pled guilty to a misdemeanor Driving While Intoxicated count and received a 60 day suspended jail sentence, one year's probation, a $1000 fine, and was directed to enroll in an alcohol education program.

When Pierzina failed to complete the education program, a violation of probation hearing was scheduled for June 2003. When she failed to appear at the hearing, another bench warrant was issued for her arrest. In June 2004 the warrant was vacated when Pierzina showed up in court. Her probation was extended six months, and she was again ordered to attend an alcohol education program.

In December 2001, she was charged with stealing merchandise from the Macy's department store. When she didn't show up for her initial court appearance, a bench warrant was issued for her arrest. A second bench warrant followed six months later. In April 2004, a third warrant was issued with the bond increasing from its initial $2500 to $30,000. On June 24, 2005, two weeks before the premiere of Big Brother 6, Pierzina pled guilty to petty theft and was fined $982 and ordered to stay 100 yards from the retailer.[4]

Big Brother 6

In 2005, Janelle was one of fourteen contestants on Big Brother 6, who were confined in a house together, with the objective of outlasting one another. At the beginning of each week, there was a new Head of Household (HoH) determined, who was able to nominate other members for removal at the end of the week. After each nomination, a vote was held amongst contestants to select one nominee to remove. In this, the sixth season of the show, known as the Summer of Secrets, each contestant had a secret partner, that they knew before the show, who would work together on the show. Janelle's secret partner was Ashlea Evans. If two partners had made it to the end, the prize money would have been $1,000,000. However Janelle's partner was the first contestant evicted.

After her partner Ashlea and showmance Michael left, Janelle became part of the Sovereign alliance, along with Kaysar, Sarah, Rachel, Howie, and James. Together they battled the Friendship alliance for power in one of the most exciting seasons yet on Big Brother. CBS polls show that the Friendship Alliance had the lowest popularity scores in the history of Big Brother.

Janelle was "Head of Household" during weeks 7 and 10 and veto-holder in weeks 7 and 9. She also won the second and third "America's Choice" votes, which were a phone call from a loved one (prior contestant and love interest Michael) and a visit to the set of Two and a Half Men, respectively. She also won a "PB&J Pass" which gave her the ability to exempt one houseguest (including herself) from having to eat peanut butter and jelly for the week if they lost the food competition, a trip to the Bahamas with one person of her choosing, as well as a 42" plasma television, a DVD player and a lifetime membership with Netflix. Janelle and her alliance "The Sovereign Six", battled with the opposing alliance "The Friendship Alliance" throughout the season. Janelle was often criticized by The Friendship Alliance, most notably by arguably her biggest rival, Ivette Corredero. They accused her of having no morals in the game and talked behind her back on numerous occasions, even though they rarely spoke to her.

Janelle came in third, being eliminated on Day 76. She then became a member of the seven contestant jury who would decide between the final two. Maggie Ausburn and Ivette remained after Janelle. Finally, Maggie was selected as the winner of the $500,000 prize, despite the fact Janelle had voted for Ivette to win.

Janelle's name often gets mentioned when the subject of the best player in Big Brother history comes up. Since she has never finished better than third in her two attempts, this claim has been noted to be suspicious. A less charitable observer might note that she lost two seperate HOH competitions that would have guaranteed her a spot in the finals, and thus describe her as the biggest choker in BB history.

However, Janelle, in the past two years, has made Big Brother history as the houseguest who won the most HoH's, Vetos, and America's Choice in both a single and double season. Janelle won 4 Hoh's, 5 Veto's, and 2 America's Choice, in season 7 alone, and 3 HoH's, 2 vetos, and 2 America's Choice in season 6. In season six, Janelle won a total of 7 competitions (including 2 America's Choice) and in season seven, she won a total of 11 competitions (including 2 America's choice). On September 7, 2006 Julie Chen announced that Janelle's 11 wins this season were the most wins a Big Brother houseguest has ever won in a single season in the history of Big Brother. Janelle won 18 competitions in total from season 6 and 7, which is the most wins a Big Brother houseguest has ever won in a double season.

Also, since Janelle has won the hearts of America, she won the America's Choice prize of $25,000.00 in season 7.

None of which can compare to actually winning the game, or even finishing second. Pierzina has had two chances at finishing in the money and failed both times. Also, since the America's choice prize was not announced to the public until after the final two had been determined, there is speculation that it, and many competitions this season, was created for her benefit

Big Brother 7

In the summer of 2006, it was announced that Janelle was one of the 20 Houseguests eligible to participate in Big Brother: All-Stars. After a vigorous few weeks of campaigning by these twenty, it was announced that Janelle was among the 14 to enter. Janelle was chosen by America to become a contestant, not by the producers as several were, and was the first picked to enter into the house (most likely because of her extreme popularity with the US Big Brother viewers).

The first Head-of-Household competition introduced an interesting twist - instead of the normal one Head of Household, this week there would be two sharing the privileges of Head of Household - one woman and one man. Janelle was the female winner, along with Jase Wirey. The rules stated that the two would have to agree on their nominations, or they would be nominated instead. One contestant, Danielle Reyes, saw a benefit in this rule - and proposed to contestant Alison Irwin that Jase should choose not to agree, thus putting Janelle on the block. The house would have enough numbers to eliminate Janelle, who was seen as a very big threat. Alison took the idea and ran with it, telling many Houseguests of the plan - and Janelle caught wind of it. In a surprise decision, Jase and Janelle chose to nominate Danielle and Alison. Janelle went on to win the Power of Veto, and she chose to let the nominations stand. Alison was evicted by a vote of 8-2, becoming the first contestant voted off Big Brother 7, with only Nakomis and Diane opting to vote for Danielle.

Janelle went on to win HoH on Week 4. Because the "Chill Town" alliance - composed of Dr. Will Kirby and Mike Boogie - had yet to be disposed of, fellow housemate from Season 6 James Rhine pressured Janelle to nominate the two. Janelle worried more about the "floaters" of the house, as they were more numerous. In an attempt to compromise, she nominated Erika Landin, a floater, and Mike "Boogie" for eviction. She helped Mike win the Veto competition, however, allowing him to take himself off the block. Janelle then, in turn, decided to put floater Diane Henry up in his place. James was outraged by this, having seen Diane as a potential ally. At this moment in time, he chose to detach from the rest of the Big Brother 6 alliance. Three days later, Diane was evicted in a 7-1 vote, with housemate Will being the only one to vote for Erika to leave.

The fallout from Diane's removal swiftly moved through the house. Her close friend Marcellas Reynolds used it as reason to turn against her, and in Week 5, Danielle used Janelle's decisions the previous round as grounds to nominate her alongside James, with the eviction target on Janelle. She managed to win the Power of Veto, however, and saved herself from eviction. Unfortunately, her close friend and Season 6 ally Kaysar Ridha was put up in her place, and was evicted.

The following week, when the original Head of Household competition was run, Erika was crowned the winner. Throughout the competition, however, were several notable technical errors, much to the dismay of the losing Houseguests, so the competition was re-run. This time, Janelle won, becoming the only contestant in Big Brother USA history to be Head of Household three times within the first six weeks. Janelle continued with her strategy of nominating floaters, choosing to nominate Danielle and Erika. When Danielle won the Veto, Janelle hoped to nominate George in her place, ensuring Erika's departure, but was pressured to nominate fellow Houseguest Marcellas. Because Marcellas and Janelle had been very close in the first few weeks of the game, she was hesitant, but she found solace in the decision when she learned of some of the things he had said about her. She nominated him, still under the impression that Erika would be leaving, but in the end, he was evicted unanimously.

Immediately following Marcellas' eviction, she won America's Choice as Prom Queen, in which she gets an advantage of being HOH, but since she was already HOH, the "advantage" was rendered useless. Chicken George managed to win the HOH competition and chose to nominate Erika and James, but James won the Veto. Chicken George wanted to nominate Danielle in James' place, but after pleading with him, Danielle escaped being nominated. Chicken George had intented to put up Doctor Will, who had offered to be put up. However, before the nominations, Mike "Boogie", who had secretly won the "coup d'etat" power (the ability to switch around the nominations at the last minute), threated Chicken George that if he put Will up, power would be used. Instead, Chicken George chose to nominate Howie. On Day 47, Howie, another very close ally of Janelle's, left the house from a vote of 3-2. Janelle was visibly upset by his surprise departure, as well as the angry manner in which Howie left. She broke down later, beginning to cry. She later explained that she wanted the other Houseguests to believe her spirit had been broken.

After Howie's eviction, Mike "Boogie" defeated Janelle in the HoH competition, and he chose to nominate James and Janelle. With some persuasion by Will, who seemed to take Janelle under his wing in this phase of the game, Mike agreed to help her win the Power of Veto. It's interesting to note that Janelle also formulated a bond with Chicken George during this time, both agreeing to have the other's back. Janelle went on to win the Power of Veto, much to the dismay of fellow nominee James. A former ally of Janelle's, James was outraged at her victory over him, claiming that she had cheated. The producers found no evidence of cheating on her part, so the competition was not re-run. Janelle did, of course, use the Veto to save herself, and Mike put Chicken George up in her place as a pawn. On Day 53, James was evicted by a vote of 3-1, leaving Janelle as the sole remaining All-Star from Big Brother 6.

After James' eviction, Erika won the HoH. As expected, she chose to nominate Chicken George and Janelle, with the intention of evicting Janelle. However, on Day 55, Janelle won the Power of Veto, again, and removed herself from the chopping block. Danielle Reyes was put up as a replacement. Danielle was evicted by a vote of 3-0 on day 60. Janelle went on to win the HoH again, but only had this for a short while. Right after winning, she put up Erika and George. Directly after that, the veto competition took place, in which Erika won. About 5 minutes after, Erika took herself off the block and Janelle replaced her with Mike "Boogie". After that, the houseguests had to vote live and by a vote of 2-0, Chicken George was evicted from the Big Brother: All Stars house. Mike "Boogie" won the HoH on day 60, and nominated Janelle and Erika with the intentions to evict Erika. Then again on day 61, Janelle won her fifth power of veto this season. On Day 65, she used this veto to take herself off the block. Then, Mike "Boogie" put up the only person he could- Will. Janelle, as the only person who could vote, evicted Will. The final three were Janelle, Erika, and Mike "Boogie".

One of the main storylines during the season was the relationship between Janelle and Will. Both have said in diary rooms that the whole relationship was based on strategy to further themselves in the game, however many fans believe that each developed real feelings for the other. In fact, this belief has spawned more than 50 Janelle and Will tributes on the site Youtube.com. With Mike winning the final HoH competition, Janelle, on Day 67, was the last person evicted from the Big Brother: All Stars house.

Julie Chen announced (on Janelle's eviction night) that Janelle had won the most competitions in a single and double season of any Big Brother series. She won a total of 4 Head of Household competitions, 5 Power of Veto competitions and 2 America's choice, in this season alone, earning her the record for most Head of Household wins, Veto wins, and America's choice wins in one season. In season 6 she had won 2 Head of Households, 2 vetos and 2 America's Choice. In total (from both seasons), she had won 18 competitions.

In this season, Janelle again made a number of memorable quotes, both in the televised episodes and on the live feeds. 1. "I broke a nail!" during Dollygate competition 2. "Will said he was the fox and I was the bunny. Who's the bunny now, b*tch!" said after Janelle evicted Will after she won the Golden Power of Veto 3. "I'm ready to win the power of veto, shove it up their a**es, I don't care." before a veto competition. 4. "I plan to win the power of veto and make a spectacle of it." Again, before a veto competition.

On September 12, 2006, the final day of Big Brother: All-Stars, Janelle was named the winner of the final America's Choice vote, a 25,000 dollar prize to a jury member.

Filmography

The following includes TV and film appearance of Janelle. Appearances prior to Big Brother 6 were generally not officially credited to her originally, but have since been documented by imdb and other sources. Her increased notoriety has been used in marketing some of her past work, especially the TV pilot Nautical Angels.

Title Type Date Role Description
The View TV series September 13, 2006 Herself Interviewed
House Calls: The Big Brother Talk Show Internet Talk Show September 8, 2006 Herself Interviewed
The Early Show TV series September 8, 2006 Herself Interviewed
Big Brother 7 TV series 2006 Herself Finished 3rd of 14, earning a prize of $25,000.00 in addition to an undisclosed stipend
Reality Chat TV series November 28, 2005 Herself Interviewed
Live with Regis and Kelly TV series September 22, 2005 Herself Interviewed
House Calls: The Big Brother Talk Show Internet Talk Show September 21, 2005 Herself Interviewed
The Early Show TV series September 16, 2005 Herself Interviewed
Entertainment Tonight TV series July 9, 2005 Herself
Big Brother 6 TV series 2005 Herself Finished 3rd of 14
Nautical Angels TV pilot 2005 Action Angel After production this TV pilot was never picked up by a broadcaster. It featured three "Nautical Angels", who visited various tourist destinations. Janelle would try out various physical activities for tourists, such as diving. Her fellow "angels" were Sarah Backhouse and Miss Thailand World Cindy Burbridge.
Las Vegas TV series February 9, 2004 Jean Claude Van Damme Girl Friend Appeared in episode #1.15, "Die Fast, Die Furious"
Bruce Almighty Film 2003 Walking in the background Uncredited
Like Mike Film 2002 Cheerleader Uncredited
Street Smarts TV series May 20, 2003 Herself A game show which involved asking ordinary people on the street trivia questions.
Charmed TV series April 25, 2002 Sitting on wizard's lap Episode #4.19: "We're Off to See the Wizard"
Friends TV series December 6, 2001 Girl sitting in coffee shop. Episode #8.10
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