[6] The nominee with the greatest number of votes will be evicted from the House on the weekly live broadcast, exiting to an adjacent studio to be interviewed by Chen,[8] after which the cycle begins again.

These "Jury Members" will be sequestered in a separate house and will not be allowed to watch the show except for competitions and ceremonies that include all of the remaining HouseGuests.

The jury members will not be shown any Diary Room interviews or any footage that may include strategy or details regarding nominations.

In a twist this season, one HouseGuest each week (ostensibly the one who is playing the "best game") is secretly chosen by the viewing public to be the "Big Brother M.V.P.".

Elissa Slater competed on The Amazing Race 31 alongside her sister (and former Big Brother winner) Rachel Reilly.

[19][20] Jeremy accepted a "temptation" to leave the Head of Household competition, winning a "Never-Not pass" that guarantees he will never be a "Have-Not" while in the game.

[36] Despite this, a plan was set in motion by Amanda, McCrae, Andy, Judd, Spencer, Helen, Nick, and Howard to keep Elissa in the game and evict David.

[52] McCrae, upset with the Moving Company alliance for attempting to turn him against Amanda, later agreed to keep Elissa in the house.

[68] They were then required to re-create the gallery on their own side of the wall, with the HouseGuest who finished in the quickest time winning the Power of Veto.

[84][85] Following this, GinaMarie, Howard, Judd, Kaitlin, and Spencer formed a new alliance in an attempt to go against Amanda, Elissa, Helen, and McCrae, who they felt were running the house.

[90] Helen, as a punishment, was required to be in bed early each night, while Judd had twenty-four hours in solitary confinement while being woken up by an alarm clock every nine minutes.

[98][99] Following her win, Amanda, Helen, and McCrae attempted to convince Aaryn to nominate Howard and Spencer for eviction due to a deal the four of them had made the previous week.

[100] Aaryn, Amanda, Andy, GinaMarie, Helen, Jessie, Judd, and McCrae formed an alliance to ensure the eviction of one of the two men.

[17] Poppy Montgomery hosted the competition, in which HouseGuests had to place evidence on a desk only to have to put it back in the same position minutes later.

[106] On Day 39, Spencer used the Power of Veto to remove himself from the block, with Candice being nominated in his place in an attempt to ensure Howard's eviction.

Later that day, Julie Chen revealed to the audience that one of the four jury members would be coming back on the next weeks eviction night.

Judd was the last juror left standing and returned to the game as a HouseGuest, and Elissa was the first to catch 10 balls and became Head of Household.

On Day 67, Amanda used the Power of Veto to save McCrae, causing Elissa to name Andy the replacement nominee.

[142][143] It was confirmed that Executive Producer Allison Grodner would return to the series,[144] as would Rich Meehan for Fly on the Wall Entertainment.

[160] It was later confirmed that the spin-off series Big Brother: After Dark would begin airing on TVGN, the first time since the show's debut.

[171] Included are nods to Charles and Ray Eames, Mary Blair, the 1964 World's Fair, Pan-Am, Catch Me If You Can, and Mad Men.

[176] Images of Los Angeles International Airport can be found in the hallway leading to the Head of Household bedroom.

[184] The decline in ratings, mainly when compared to previous seasons, was noted as being partly due to the racism controversy outside of the house.

[197][198] Big Brother 15 became highly controversial after a variety of bigoted remarks were made by several of the HouseGuests, both on the aired episodes and on the live feeds.

[252] The main source of the controversy was centered on Aaryn Gries, who made numerous offensive remarks directed at people who were minorities.

[253][254][255][256][257] Other contestants also received notable criticism for their similarly ignorant comments, including GinaMarie Zimmerman,[258][259][260] Spencer Clawson,[260] and Amanda Zuckerman.

The behavior exhibited this season led to a very negative reaction from viewers, with over 27,000 people signing a petition asking for CBS to expel Aaryn from the Big Brother house before she was evicted on Day 70.

[263] About the controversy, CBS stated: Big Brother is a reality show about watching a group of people who have no privacy 24/7 — and seeing every moment of their lives.

GinaMarie was also fired from her job as a pageant coordinator[267][268] and Spencer's employer later released a statement acknowledging his comments made on the live feeds.

[272] Leslie Moonves, the CEO and president of CBS at the time and husband of Julie Chen, spoke with reporters about the controversy during his network's Summer Press Tour.