Janelle Marie Pierzina (born January 10, 1980) was a contestant on the sixth season of the American version of the CBS reality show Big Brother and is currently appearing on the seventh, all-star season.
Finishing in third place on Big Brother 6, Janelle became wildly popular and won many "America's Choice" rewards, in which viewers would choose prize winnings for their favorite houseguest. Pierzina ended up becoming the most popular female contestant in Big Brother USA history, receiving a popularity rating of 93% in the final week of Big Brother 6 on the CBS website. [1]
Her home is in Miami Beach, Florida. She was born and raised in Grand Rapids, Minnesota.
Big Brother 7
Template:In-progress tvshow 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. Unlike some other houseguests, Janelle was chosen by America to become a contestant, not by the producers, and was the first 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. By the rules, 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 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. However, she let Mike win that week's veto competition, allowing him to take himself off the block. Janelle in turn decided to put floater Diane Henry up in his place. 3 days later, Diane was evicted in a 7-1 vote, with housemate Will being the only one to vote for Erika to leave.
However, 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 reason to nominate her alongside James, with the eviction target on Janelle. She manged 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 once been very close, she was hesitant, but she found solace in the decision when she learned of some of the things he had said. She nominated him, still under the impression that Erika would be leaving, and he was evicted unanimously.
Immediately following Marcellas' eviction there was an HoH competition that was won by Chicken George. He chose to nominate Erika and James, but James won the Veto. Chicken George wanted to nominate Danielle, but after pleading and crying to him, Danielle escaped being nominated and Chicken George chose to put Howie up in James's place. On Day 47, Howie, another very close ally of Janelle's, left the house from a vote of 3-2. Janelle was very upset and began crying.
After the eviction, Mike "Boogie" went on to win the HoH for the second part of Week 7. On day 48, "Boogie" nominated James and Janelle, and he lost his coup d'état because he was disscussing its power with Will. Mike's new stragedy is to help Janelle win the veto, then put Danielle up in her place. Then, on eviction night, vote out Danielle. It has been said "Boogie" wants his new alliance to be Will, James, Janelle and himself. Also, Janelle and Chicken George have made an alliance.
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.
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, as well as a trip to the Bahamas with one person of her choosing. Janelle and her alliance "The Sovereign Six", battled with the opposing alliance "The Friendship" throughout the season. Janelle was often criticized by The Friendship, most notably by arguably her biggest rival, Ivette Corredero.
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.
Early career
Prior to Big Brother Janelle was an actress and model, with most credits under the spelling "Perzina" not "Pierzina" (with the extra "i").
She modeled and did an extended interview for Xposed magazine. As well, she was named as a SBK World Superbike Calendar Girl by FastDates.com. The most famous publisher of her photos was Playboy, who shot Pierzina under the name Elle Brenna (the second half of her first name and her mother's maiden name) for their April/May 2005 Lingerie Special Edition.[1]
Also prior to Big Brother, she was a part of a travel series called Nautical Angels. She was in the pilot for the show. But the pilot and series were never picked up by a broadcaster. The show featured three women ("angels"), who travelled 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 travelled Southeast Asia. Although she did appear in the pilot, so far, the only video of it, appears on the production company's web site, not on TV.
She also had a bit part in the movie Bruce Almighty, which was cut significantly, but not entirely. As well she appeared briefly as a non-speaking extra in Friends and Charmed.
Past Troubles
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big Brother 7 | TV series | 2006 | Herself | One of 14 contestants to make it back into the house. |
| Reality Chat | TV series | November 28, 2005 | Herself | Interviewed |
| Live with Regis and Kelly | TV series | September 22, 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 third out of fourteen |
| 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 | Walking. | Episode #4.19: "We're Off to See the Wizard" |
| Friends | TV series | December 6, 2001 | Girl sitting in coffee shop. | Episode #8.10 |
External links
- Official site of Janelle Pierzina
- Official Forum - Janelle's official forum
- Profile of Janelle Pierzina by CBS for Big Brother 6
- Profile of Janelle Pierzina by CBS for Big Brother 7
- Janelle Pierzina at IMDb
- Template:Tvtome person
- Reality TV Magazine (July 04, 2005) - Profile of Janelle.
- Xposed Magazine - Interview with Janelle.
- FastDates.com - Profile of Janelle. Also, there is a brief mention of the Big Brother connection.
- Nautical Angels