Big Brother: Ranking Every Version Of Hide & Go Veto So Far

Hide & Go Veto is by far one of the favorite competitions on the reality series Big Brother. Players compete to be able to either take themselves off the block or veto one of the Head of Household nominations by playing the ultimate game of hide and go seek. The idea is to hide one’s card somewhere – anywhere – in the house. Players enter the house one-by-one for a specified amount of time where they have to frantically search for one. The person who hides theirs the best and thus it isn’t found by anyone wins.

Naturally, it’s a lot of fun to watch as players frantically search inches away from where a veto card is hidden and they miss it because it’s inside a zippered mattress or inside a box of cereal on top of the fridge. Over the seasons, players have come up with some really clever hiding places. Every player has their own strategy, whether it’s to hide the card in plain sight in hopes it will be missed or to tuck it away somewhere they hope is clever enough that no one will look.

So far, the competition has been played eight times, starting in season eight. Here’s how those eight times rank.

8 Big Brother 8

The first time the competition appeared, Daniele Donato – who recently returned to play in the All-Stars season 22 – won. She went on to become a competition beast though this was her first Power of Veto win that season. She ended up placing second in the overall game to her estranged father, Dick Donato.

Back then, it was called “Hide and Seek Veto.” Given it was the first go-around of this competition, no one was really creative with their hiding places. But Daniele did have the best idea by hiding her veto inside the bucket of slop in the fridge. Considering no one liked the slop, it was a great idea, as no one even thought to dig their hand into the ooey, gooey mess to check.

7 Big Brother 12

This is one of a few seasons where the game wasn’t actually played for the veto. Rather, it was a luxury competition. Britney Haynes – a fan-favorite character that viewers would love to see come back as an All-Star – won it during the ninth week of the season. The competition was just called “Hide and Seek.”

The prize was $10,000 and players had to hide coins instead of cards. Since the coin was smaller, it added another level to the competition. But because it wasn’t for a Veto win, the stakes weren’t as high as they were in other seasons.

6 Big Brother 18

Paulie Calafiore, older brother of Cody Calafiore, who played twice including in the most recent All-Stars season (where he emerged the winner), took home the top prize in this competition on season 18. It was his third Power of Veto win.

While there was some strategy used, like Nicole putting her card in the popcorn machine because it has the same colors, in hopes it would blend in, Paulie’s had the best idea when he hid his inside the propellor table in the kitchen.

5 Big Brother 19

Jason Dent was the winner of the competition that season, which was his third Power of Veto win for the season. The competition adopted the “Hide and Go Veto” name by that time.

Played on Day 67, Dent faced off against Matt, Raven, Josh, Paul, and Kevin. Despite winning the Veto, though, Jason didn’t use it. Matt was later evicted. Dent turned out to be one of the least liked players that season, mainly due to comments he made that were overheard on live feeds.

4 Big Brother 21

Tommy Bracco won this competition, which marked his second Power of Veto win during the season. But Jackson Michie followed in James’ season 17 footsteps and decided to ransack the house, presumably to make it more difficult for others to find cards. The act, however, wasn’t quite as endearing as when James did it.

Unlike previous seasons where the hidden item was a card, players had to hide a life preserver. Tommy ended up using his Power of Veto to save his friend Christie, after which Michie nominated Cliff in her place.

3 Big Brother 20

It was Brett Robinson’s first Power of Veto win, but also the first time he had the chance to play in a competition that season. The game appeared during week 8, in conjunction with the Zingbot Competition.

Brett was inspired by James’ strategy but instead of just making a mess of the entire house, he made a mess concentrated to the area where he hid his veto, including overturning a mattress to cover it. That way, anyone who came in looking to search would think that area was already thoroughly searched and move on. It was a simple yet genius plan by one of the least liked players of the season.

2 Big Brother 17

James Huling won this competition, marking his second Power of Veto win that season. But this was one of the top two versions of the game because Huling started a new trend of ransacking the house. Sure, it was first done by returning jury members in the previous season. But Huling did it while he was still competing, knowing full well that his housemates would have to clean up the mess. As he ran through the rooms of the home to find a card, he made a ridiculous mess, tossing over chairs, spilling food all over the kitchen floor, ransacking peoples’ suitcases – all while laughing hysterically at what he was doing. He was known as the house prankster, after all.

It was obvious to those who entered after that it wasn’t necessary to make that big a mess. Seeing the horror on their face as they slid around in spilled milk and realized they’d have to clean it all up after, was hilarious.

1 Big Brother 16

Hayden Voss was the winner of the game this season, where it was played as a luxury competition called “Jury Fury.” It was hilarious because it was jury members who were playing in an effort to get back into the game. But what made it even better was that the remaining players got to watch from a TV screen as the evicted houseguests got their revenge and made a complete and utter mess.

It was like parents sitting back and watching their teenagers throw an epic party with no power to stop it, and knowing that mom and dad will have to clean up the mess after. The jury members made the most of the experience, taunting the remaining players they knew were watching from a separate room.

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