‘Big Brother 22’: Julie Chen Says Bayleigh Dayton Was Like a ‘Brand-New Houseguest’ This Season

Though Bayleigh Dayton didn't make it to the Big Brother 22 jury, she was in a much better position in the house before she was controversially put on the block for eviction. In a recent interview, Julie Chen talked about the differences in Dayton's gameplay on this season in contrast with Big Brother 20.

by Trey Mangum

Published on September 13, 2020

3 min read

Bayleigh Dayton on ‘Big Brother 20’ vs. ‘Big Brother 22’

Dayton was first on the 20th season of Big Brother, where she soon got into a showmance with Chris “Swaggy C” Williams. They were a popular couple duo even though Williams was voted off early in the competition. The two were subject to racism and microaggressions in the house and also received a lot of racist attacks online and on social media from people who viewed the show. Once Williams was evicted, Dayton was able to stay for several more weeks. She won the Head of Household competition one week and went on to become the first jury member.

During this season, she played a muchh different game, making key relationships all over the house. Her biggest ally was Da’Vonne Rogers in their Black Girl Magic alliance. She also officially patched things up with Tyler Crispen and also befriended Janelle Pierzina and Kaysar Ridha.

Dayton and Rogers chose to ally primarily with The Slick Six alliance. Even though this was an alliance, no one really took it seriously and used it as a backup. When Christmas Abbott became Head of Household, their alliance members essentially had no issue with Rogers and Dayton being nominated. Abbott ended up putting them up, but Crispen said that he wanted to be evicted because he felt guilty and also wanted to help them in their goal of having a Black person go far in the competition. This didn’t end up happening, as Abbott didn’t want to put Crispen up and Crispen also say production told him that would of against the rules. Dayton ended up being evicted by the week’s end.

Julie Chen gives her two cents

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Chen talked about last week’s eviction and what she made of Dayton going home.

Though fans and other houseguests have been divided on if Crispen was genuinely wanting to go home to help Dayton and Rogers’ game, Chen thinks that he was being truthful and really wanted to go home, as well as help their cause and the Black Lives Matter movement.

“It felt totally genuine to me, she said. “Based on what I have seen in the house, Tyler is a good person. I think he was missing Angela while asking himself… why am I here and can I look at myself in the mirror at the end of the day? He’s young, but he’s not tone-deaf to what’s happening in our country.”

The host said Dayton was ‘almost too honest’

Dayton played a much different game than she did the last one, mostly because she isn’t in a showmance this time. She also was more trusting than she was last time, especially with houseguests like Crispen and Abbott.

“She was almost too honest,” explained Chen. “Honest to a fault. By that I mean she was SO trusting of Christmas — because she likes/liked her personally — that she told Christmas too much. Bayleigh cost herself the game by telling someone who was about to win power crucial information that ended up hurting [Bayleigh’s] game. I love that she found the love of her life in Swaggy the first time in the house and that this time around we got to see who she is as a player with no distractions. It was like watching a brand-new houseguest experience the game as it’s meant to be played.”