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'Big Brother' Winners Talk Strategy, Shomances, & Bitter Juries

Tonight marks the big premiere of Big Brother 19.

We caught up with five former winners – Dan Gheesling, Derrick Levasseur, Andy Herren, Will Kirby, and Rachel Reilly – to talk about what it takes to make it to the end and walk away with $500K.

We covered everything from strategy and alliances, to twists, showmances, and yes, even another potential All-Stars season.

Big Brother premieres tonight, June 28 at 8 p.m. on CBS.

If you were coaching a new player going into the game, what would be the single best piece of advice you’d give them?

Derrick: Whenever you feel like speaking up or saying something that might hurt your game – take a second, remember why you’re there and who you’re playing for. Most of the time you’ll decide it’s better to stay quiet. People who know how to keep their mouth shut usually go far in the game.

Dan: I would say talk as little as possible and listen way more than you think you should. In the house, people do the exact opposite. It’s a house full of Type-A personalities. People will just run their mouths for days. If you can be quiet and listen…it doesn’t make for good TV, but if you want to win the show, you’re going to do well. Just chill out the first three to four weeks. Listen, make friends, don’t do anything out of line, don’t get into fights, and you’ll do fine. You’ll be in a position where you’ll have a shot to win.

Dr. Will: Milli Vanilli stills sells albums but true fans know. They always know. And worse? I’ll know. And you’ll know. And it will always haunt you.

Rachel: I always tell newbies to give it their all, play with their hearts, be themselves, don’t put on a show, and compete like every competition you could go home!

Andy: Listen to people. Don’t try to take control of the game right away. Sit back, gauge who you like and who you can trust, and work with those people. If you’re a good social player, those players will also gravitate toward you, even if they’re in an alliance that formed immediately. It is dumb to form an alliance right away, because chances are some people in that alliance will annoy others. If you form an alliance with your favorite people a week in, it has a good shot at being effective…This will get you through a good 2/3 of the game, and then you need to work on getting some of these people out during the final third.

Click inside to read the rest of our interviews…More Here! »