the host Julie Chen. In the event of a tie, the Head of Household would break the tie and reveal their vote in front of the other HouseGuests. Unlike other versions of Big Brother, the HouseGuests could discuss the nomination and eviction process open and freely. The nominee with the most votes from the other HouseGuests was evicted from the House on Thursday and interviewed by Julie Chen. HouseGuests could voluntarily leave the House at any time and those who broke the rules were expelled by Big Brother. The last seven evictees of the season, known as the jury members, voted for the winner on the season finale. The jury members were sequestered in a separate house and were not allowed to watch the show except for segments that included all of the HouseGuests. The jury members were not shown any Diary Room interviews or any footage that included strategy or details regarding nominations. Aside from the usual format, various changes were made for Big Brother 6. The main change was that each HouseGuest had a secret partner in the game. Unlike in Big Brother 9, the partners each competed as individuals, were nominated as individuals, and were evicted as individuals. The partners in the game had pre-existing relationships. April and Jennifer were sorority sisters, Ashlea and Janelle were former roommates, Beau and Ivette were former co-workers, Eric and Maggie are friends, as are Howie and Rachel, and Kaysar and Michael are neighbors. James was originally supposed to bring his friend Mike into the house as his secret partner, but Mike dropped out last minute without even telling James. James then picked his girlfriend, Sarah, to be his secret partner. Initially, each secret pair thought that they were the only secret pair. If both members of a secret pair reached the final two, the game's winner would receive a prize of $1 million, while the runner-up would receive $250,000. Despite this, the HouseGuests quickly figured it out, and host Julie Chen officially confirmed the twist minutes after the third live eviction. HouseGuests Future appearances Janelle Pierzina, James Rhine, Howie Gordon, and Kaysar Ridha returned to compete on Big Brother: All-Stars in 2006. Ivette Corredero was a candidate to return for that season, but ultimately was not selected. April Lewis and Eric Littman also made appearances that season during competitions. Janelle went on to make brief appearances in seasons eight, ten,