Fans are still eagerly awaiting the premiere of Big Brother Season 27, but the wait is nearly over. Soon, a fresh group of Houseguests will enter the game and compete for the grand prize. Before they appear on the live feeds via Paramount+, however, they’ll first head into sequester—a brief but crucial isolation period before the season kicks off. To help them prepare, Season 26 alums Quinn Martin and Matt Hardeman have shared some advice on how to pass the time. And honestly? Their tips were not what I expected.
During sequester, Houseguests are confined to a hotel room with no access to the outside world. It’s a way for CBS to keep twists, themes, and fellow cast members under wraps until the season begins. The only outside contact they’re allowed is with production handlers, who deliver meals and provide DVDs to help kill time. But according to Quinn Martin on TikTok, even those DVDs might not offer much entertainment—he couldn’t even get one to play.
“I just wanted to let you know that the live action Scooby Doo movie, the first one not the second one. That DVD is scratched as hell, and you’re not going to be able to watch it, so don’t waste your time.”
It’s not exactly shocking that Quinn, of all people, would be excited to watch Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed—the same film that once made Matthew Lillard question his entire career. This is the guy who geeked out over meeting Jerry O’Connell purely because he’s a huge Kangaroo Jack fan. Clearly, he has a soft spot for those underappreciated early-2000s kids’ movies. Still, I didn’t expect his big piece of advice for sequester to involve a scratched DVD.
Matt Hardeman—who’s now dating fellow Season 26 alum Makensy Manbeck—faced some unexpected challenges during the pregame phase. Maybe his early eviction wasn’t just about that explosive clash with Angela Murray, but also because he was a little too preoccupied with unanswered Game of Thrones questions.
“Also would like to add—Don’t binge Game of Thrones for the first time because you’ll find several important episodes will be missing, and you’ll be left hanging.”
Honestly, watching Game of Thrones in isolation before entering the Big Brother house feels like a terrible idea. It’d probably give me a completely false sense of confidence. I’d start believing I could scheme like Tyrion Lannister, only to overplay my hand and get evicted in Week 1.
Read More: A Look Back at Every Big Brother Winner (Seasons 1–26)
I’ve heard former Houseguests casually mention what it’s like to live in sequester, but nothing really captures how tough it is to kill time alone in a hotel room. As someone who writes about entertainment for a living, the thought of going a week—or even two—with nothing but a short list of DVDs sounds borderline unbearable. No wonder so many of these players are desperate to start talking the moment they step into the Big Brother house.
Season 27 is just around the corner, and there’s plenty to be excited about. With 90-minute episodes and a theme that seems to revolve heavily around secrets, this season is shaping up to be a wild one. We’ll likely get even more clues once the Houseguests are officially cut off from the outside world.
Don’t miss the premiere of Big Brother Season 27 on CBS, airing Thursday, July 10th. You can bet I’ll be glued to the screen—and the moment those live feeds drop on Paramount+, I’ll be diving in headfirst.
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