The Truth About The Big Brother Winner Curse

Throughout the history of Big Brother, the beloved reality show has featured many fantastic seasons and popular stars. For example, Janelle Pierzina is an outspoken and legendary player and Jessie Godderz left his mark on his fellow houseguests and fans alike. Since Julie Chen Moonves has always been Big Brother’s host, she has starred in the show for years and seen the show’s worst production mishaps.

In many cases, it is the Big Brother winners who get talked about the most, including the iconic Dr. Will Kirby and the show’s first female winner. Unfortunately, some Big Brother champions have struggled, and that has nothing to do with the worst winners ever. Instead, some Big Brother winners have struggled so much that some people have wondered if there is a curse.

Several Big Brother Winners Have Been Arrested After The Show

Since Big Brother is widely regarded as one of the best reality shows, there are millions of people who dream of winning the show someday. However, based on the serious legal trouble that several former Big Brother winners have gone on to deal with, prevailing on the show arguably might be a curse of sorts.

Unfortunately, there have been three former Big Brother winners who’ve gotten in legal trouble since leaving the show. As of the time of this writing, the most obvious example of that is Mike Malin Breitner, since he got arrested for shoplifting in March 2025.

For any Big Brother fans wondering why this article is referring to Boogie having a new last name, it appears the former winner has legally changed his name. After Mike was arrested in Burbank in March 2025, the police log published on MyBurbank.com refers to Boogie as Mike Malin Breitner.

In March 2025, TMZ reported on the reasons for Mike’s shoplifting arrest. According to that report, Mike was accused of trying to steal items from a CVS pharmacy. Mike was allegedly confronted by a store employee and told he had to pay for the items. However, according to the report, Mike instead walked back into the store, put the items on the ground and left.

After the first incident was reported, police were sent to a second location where Mike was found. According to TMZ’s report, the police found and arrested Mike at the second CVS Pharmacy. Furthermore, a witness claimed that Mike exited the second CVS Pharmacy with two bottles of alcohol and energy drinks he didn’t pay for. The outlet reported that, according to the police, Mike was then arrested and booked for misdemeanor theft.

Sadly for all involved, the 2025 incident wasn’t the first time Mike got into serious legal trouble.

Most memorably, Mike was arrested in August 2019 for harassing his former Chilltown alliance member Dr. Will Kirby and uttering threats to him and his family. As a June 2021 Us Weekly article revealed, Mike initially pleaded not guilty. However, Mike changed his plea to no contest and he was found guilty felony stalking without a court trial. The report also stated the harassment began when Dr. Will refused to compete on The Amazing Race with Mike and Boogie missed the opportunity to go on the show.

In June 2021, a Screen Rant article revealed that the Big Brother legend Janelle Pierzina accused Mike Malin Breitner of harassing her too. Janelle posted on X/Twitter that she was forced to block Mike’s phone number after he wouldn’t stop messaging her.

After pleading no contest, Mike was sentenced to two years’ probation, 30 days in a residential treatment program, and a $70 fine. Mike was then instructed to complete 160 hours of community service, to submit his DNA, and to refrain from owning a firearm. Mike was also ordered to pay $23,219 plus 10% interest to Dr. Will. Finally, Mike had to pay Dr. Will’s attorney $20,745.

The two years probation Mike was sentenced to due to the Dr. Will incident later became a major problem. In September 2022, TMZ reported that Mike’s probation had been revoked and a bench warrant for his arrest was issued.

The aforementioned June 2021 Us Weekly article about the Dr. Will case reported that Mike Malin Breitner’s legal troubles began earlier. In 2011, Mike was sued for embezzlement and ordered to pay $800,000 to a former business partner.

The reason Mike had his probation revoked at that time was that he failed to appear for a court date. As a part of the aforementioned Us Weekly report about the Dr. Will case, they reported that Mike was also arrested in November 2021 for DUI.

The first former Big Brother winner who was arrested is Adam Jasinski. In January 2011, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that Adam was arrested after trying to sell 2,000 oxycodone pills to a Drug Enforcement Administration witness. Furthermore, the outlet reported that Adam confessed that he used his Big Brother winnings to begin a career selling illegal substances. However, Adam later retracted that statement.

The Hollywood Reporter‘s article revealed that in January 2011, Adam was sentenced to four years in prison. In addition to the charges related to the pills, Adam’s sentence also related to him not paying his taxes.

The final Big Brother winner who has been arrested is the former Big Brother 5 winner, Drew Daniel. As a July 2012 TMZ article reveals, Drew was arrested following a domestic violence incident.

TMZ’s article states that Drew was arrested following a domestic dispute with another man. Furthermore, the article states that Drew was tased during the arrest because he was being difficult with the police.

A Big Brother Winner Was Diagnosed With HIV

After winning Big Brother 8, “Evel Dick” Donato was brought back for Big Brother 13 with a huge reputation in tow. Unfortunately, fans didn’t get to see what “Evel Dick” could have done that season as he quit during the first week for “personal reasons.” Despite keeping the reason for his departure secret at first, an August 2015 People article reports that “Evel Dick” later revealed he quit after learning that he’d been diagnosed with HIV.

Fortunately for humanity as a whole, there are now medications that allow people with HIV to remain healthy. As a result, there are many people like “Evel Dick” who can live for many decades after having contracted the virus. That said, it must be noted that there are still far, far too many people in the world who have to battle and die from HIV as a result of not having access to that medication.

Even for people like “Evel Dick” there is no denying that contracting HIV is a life-changing moment that people certainly want to avoid. As a result, it makes sense to mention “Evel Dick” being diagnosed with HIV here.

Why There Is No Big Brother Winner Curse

There are several reasons why there clearly isn’t any such thing as a Big Brother winner curse. The most obvious example of that is the fact that there is no such thing as a curse. On top of that, many Big Brother winners have been very successful after the show, including Dr. Will Kirby, who became the Chief Medical Officer at LaserAway.

While those are strong logical arguments, there is another fact that is more compelling. At least two of the people who would be listed as victims of the curse, if that was a real thing, have become winners once again.

After being diagnosed with HIV, “Evel Dick” Donato went public with the news. The once-notorious reality show villain revealed his health status to the world so he could be an example. Now “Evel Dick” is proof positive that it is a wonderful thing that people can lead full lives after being diagnosed with HIV. In fact, the aforementioned People article about “Evel Dick” revealed that he was still dating at the time and that he was greeted with support after he first revealed his status.

Going public was one of the best decisions I ever made in my life. Everyone has been fantastic; they really have.

After Adam Jasinski was sentenced to prison, he went through some really tough times. However, an August 2024 TheThings article revealed that Adam went on to turn his life around. After his release from prison and becoming sober, Adam went on to help others overcome their addictions.

Unlike Adam and “Evel Dick,” it is unclear if Drew Daniel improved his situation following his arrest. However, there is no indication that Drew ever got in legal trouble again.

Tragically, as this article earlier outlined, Mike Malin Breitner clearly got himself in serious legal trouble in March 2025. Still, there is always hope that Mike can turn his life around. Whether that happens or not, it seems silly to try to blame Mike’s problems on something like a curse.