Boca Raton resident “Pooch” moves into Big Brother house
By: Matthew Lutey
Big Brother is getting a taste of Boca Raton this summer.
Joe “Pooch” Pucciarelli is one of 16 contestants that moved into the Big Brother house Wednesday night for the CBS reality show’s 24th season.
Pooch is from Staten Island, N.Y., but resides in Boca Raton. The Florida Atlantic University football website states that he has been with the team since 2018 and was elevated to a defensive graduate assistant in August 2020.
The objective of Big Brother is to be the last houseguest remaining, which results in a $750,000 prize. Houseguests are cut off from the outside world, followed by cameras and vie for power to be the Head of Household and nominate players they would like to see eliminated. A weekly vote is conducted – usually on Thursdays – to evict one of the nominated houseguests.
In his introduction segment Pooch, who just turned 24 on July 1st, said “people stereotype me as that younger male just here to have fun, but I’m actually getting ready to finish my master’s degree, my MBA for sports management being my second degree.”
Pooch also mentioned being a big fan of the show, and bonding with his mom by watching previous seasons together.
In Wednesday’s premiere, host Julie Chen Moonves announced this season’s theme of “BB Fest,” meaning events in the house will be designed around different types of festivals.
The battle for power began with the season’s first Head of Household competition, and Pooch was immediately put in the spotlight. He drew a ticket at random to be the “backstage boss” of the competition. Pooch was not immediately told the meaning of this designation other than he wouldn’t be competing, and instead took in the sights from a gold chair in the backyard.
After Daniel Durston, a 35-year-old Vegas performer, became the season’s first HOH, Chen Moonves explained what being the backstage boss meant for Pooch. He will be safe for the first vote, and also will not vote or participate in any competitions the first week, in essence operating backstage.
However, Pooch also had to choose three people to join him backstage, but unlike him they will not be safe from the first vote. Since they will not be able to vote or compete for the first week but can still be evicted, Pooch was essentially asked to punish three houseguests with little to no information on who they are since Wednesday’s episode was live. He was able to watch short clips about the houseguests and was given a commercial break to make his decision.
Pooch went about his selections in a diplomatic way, picking people that did poorly in the competition. They were Paloma Aguilar, a 22-year old interior designer; Alyssa Snider, a 24-year old marketing rep; and Brittany Hoopes, a 32-year-old hypnotherapist.
Big Brother next airs Sunday, and while Pooch will be safe from nominations, it will be interesting to see what kind of backlash his choices yield, and if the houseguests approve of how he made his decisions.
