Big Brother 6: where are they now? One of them never really quit the game

Big Brother 6 — the "Summer of Secrets," the season of secret pairs, the Sovereign Six versus the Friendship, the summer of 2005 when Maggie Ausburn beat Ivette Corredero for the money and absolutely nobody outside the jury cared, because the entire fandom had already pledged eternal allegiance to a blonde cocktail waitress from Minnesota.

Twenty-one years later, here's where everyone washed up.

The winner logged off

Maggie won the $500,000 and then did the most unhinged thing a reality winner can do: she went home. Per The Cinemaholic, the nurse settled in Las Vegas, reportedly married, had twins, and chose a quiet life over showbiz entirely. A winner who never came back for All-Stars redemption arcs? In this economy?

The rest of the house, speed-round

• Ivette Corredero (runner-up) runs Eventology Miami, a full-service event planning company, and does charity work around kids and education.
• Kaysar Ridha became the fandom's eternal martyr — voted back into the house by America, evicted again, returned for All-Stars and BB22, evicted honorably every single time.
• James Rhine and Sarah Hrejsa, the season's secret couple, did not make it to a golden anniversary, but James stayed a beloved messy legend of the era.
• Howie Gordon, the self-proclaimed Jedi, remains the reason the phrase "busto" exists in your brain.

And then there's Janelle

Janelle Pierzina finished third on BB6, which is technically a loss and spiritually the biggest win in franchise history. Then she came back for All-Stars (third again, set a competition-wins record). Then BB14. Then BB22. Then The Amazing Race. Then Snake in the Grass, which she co-won. Then The Traitors Season 2, where she was banished for the crime of being visibly good at reality TV.

Julie Chen calls her the Queen of Big Brother, per Parade. The woman has spent roughly 200 days of her one wild and precious life inside that house.

Janelle has now announced her retirement from Big Brother more times than some houseguests have played it.

After The Traitors, she told Entertainment Weekly, via Screen Rant: "Definitely not. No. I really don't want to play Big Brother anymore."

Iconic. Definitive. And yet — as recently as this summer, she was publicly confirming she won't be on Big Brother 28, citing scheduling and a Greece vacation. Beloveds: retired people do not have to keep announcing their retirement. The fact that the question still gets asked — and still gets answered — tells you everything. The game never really let her go, and honestly? Same.