Big Brother, like most reality TV shows, is ableist in format. That shouldn’t be controversial to say since the cast is usually full of able-body people, and that only changes if someone is injured. CBS made a pledge to increase diversity on its reality shows and Season 25 is the first time we see a deaf houseguest navigate the game with Deaflympics swimmer Matt Klotz. He was born deaf, so he uses a hearing aid and reads lips. It was obvious the show wasn’t fully prepared for what it meant to have a deaf cast member and made adjustments along the way, but Big Brother’s whispering culture has stayed the same.
Matt Klotz previously explained that he felt his Big Brother 25 houseguests used his disability to their advantage.