‘Big Brother Reindeer Games’ crowns a champion, but the real winner was the show itself

Christmas came early for one contestant on the first ever Big Brother Reindeer Games after a winner was crowned and given $100,000 in prize money during Thursday’s finale.

The spinoff reality series ran for six episodes across two weeks on CBS, featuring nine Big Brother veterans competing in holiday-themed challenges. And taking that theme one step further, the house was named Santa’s Lodge and the goal of the season was to “save Christmas.”

The show — which has been a huge hit with fans of the franchise — was hosted by former Big Brother houseguests Derek Xiao, Tiffany Mitchell and Jordan Lloyd, and the cast included Xavier Prather, Taylor Hale, Nicole Franzel, Frankie Grande, Cameron Hardin, Cody Calafiore, Danielle Reyes, Josh Martinez and Brittany Haynes.

In the end, it was Hale and Franzel facing off to determine a winner, so here’s what happened and what viewers had to say about it.

Reindeer riches

For the finals, Franzel and former Miss Michigan Hale had to climb a pile of foam pieces, go through a maze and build a tower out of snowflakes to attain merry objects like Magic Mistletoe, Ancient Antlers and the Sacred Snowflake.

In the end, it was the stacking of the snowflakes, which was a difficult and precise challenge, that determined the winner. And that winner is, Franzel. This marks her third Big Brother appearance and her second victory after winning season 18 of the show.

After earning the show’s $100,000 grand prize, Franzel admitted that she had “doubted” herself but was ultimately very happy with the outcome.

“This really is the merriest time of year,” she said.

The real winner: Reindeer Games

Franzel will walk away from this spinoff experiment $100,000 richer and with another BB title to her name, but judging by viewer reactions on social media Thursday, the real winner was the show itself. It was trending with many people all agreeing that given the pace and the competition, this could be the best version of Big Brother.

Big Brother Reindeer Games aired on CBS, and is available for streaming on Paramount+.