CBS has announced 12 of the houseguests for Big Brother 11 and revealed that, as rumored, the theme this season is all about high school cliques.  The contestants will play in one of four groups: the popular kids, the athletes, the brainiacs, and the off-beats.  Based on their short bios, it's pretty easy to figure out where each houseguest will be.

However, there will be a 13th houseguest, but that person's identity is a mystery until the premiere on Thursday, July 9 at 8pm.  The fact that the houseguest is a mystery strongly implies that it's someone we already know, otherwise there's no point to the mystery.  Will it be a former Big Brother houseguest?  A celebrity?  The unborn child of Julie Chen?
Right now for the 13th houseguest, I have three strong possibilities.

Janelle: Big Brother producers love this girl, bringing her back time and time again.  She's beautiful, smart and a great player, plus someone at Wikipedia has already added her to the cast list for Big Brother 11.  But honestly, as much as I love her, I'm a little sick and tired of her.

Neil Patrick Harris: We know he's a huge fan because he's already appeared on the show before.  Today's news that he's in talks to host the Emmys could be problematic, but maybe CBS wants to do a huge tie in where Neil goes from the Big Brother house straight to the Emmys.

Judd Nelson: Given the theme of high school cliques, my mind instantly turns to The Breakfast Club, and while Emilio Estevez is too successful and Molly Ringwald is too pregnant, I'm sure Judd Nelson has nothing better to do than relive his glory days as a celebrity houseguest on Big Brother.  If not, there's always Ally Sheedy.


Now for the cliques, here's how I see it breaking down:

Popular: Braden, Jordan, Laura
Popular in high school is synonymous with being attractive, so the male model/actor Braden and the bikini model Laura are obvious choices.  Jordan is a small town girl, but she was probably the prettiest and most popular girl in her school.

Athletes: Jeff, Natalie, Russell
This is probably the easiest clique to identify.  Jeff played college football, Russell is an MMA fighter, and Natalie is a Tae Kwon Do world champion.

Brainiac: Michele, Chima, Casey
Obviously Michele, the neuroscientist with the Ph.D. is here, as should the fifth grade school teacher Casey (though his part-time DJing could put him with the Off-Beats, swapping places with Ronnie).  Chima is a bit of a wild card, but as a freelance journalist, she probably has to be pretty smart.

Off-Beat: Kevin, Lydia, Ronnie
Obviously the gay graphic designer/former Jehovah's Witness falls in this category, as does the tattooed former celebrity nanny.  Ronnie could be in the Brainiac category given the fact that he's a huge Star Wars nerd, but that and his six hours per day of video games makes me think of hi as more off-beat than smart.



-John Kubicek, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image courtesy of CBS)