Jun Song
Jun Song (born July 19, 1975 in Seoul, South Korea) is a former investment manager from New York City, New York and the winner of the CBS reality show Big Brother 4.[1][2]
Big Brother
Song entered the Big Brother house in 2003 for the 4th season of the show. She was one of the five houseguests to have an ex, Jee Choe, enter the house as an antagonist. Throughout the game, Song used her relationship with Choe to further herself in the game. Midway through the game, Song formed an alliance with her rival Alison Irwin. Jun Song recognized, reacted, and responded well to the challenges of the Big Brother game. Although by no means liked by her housemates, Jun was complimented for having acute strategy and subtly commanding control over the game.[3] She is often credited as the houseguest to have invented the "floater" strategy.[4]
On day 1, Song was one of the first eight people to enter the house. After being informed of the twist, Song and her housemates formed the Elite Eight alliance and vowed to play against the other five houseguests, labeled "the exes".
On day 27, Head of Household Alison Irwin nominated Song for eviction for the first time. She was nominated alongside Dana Varela, Jun's closest ally and friend, to prevent the possibility of her winning the veto and then using it on Varela. On day 33, Song survived eviction and Varela was unanimously evicted.
On day 43, Song won the Power of Veto and did not use it, securing Head of Household Erika Landin's plan to evict Justin Giovinco, the houseguest they viewed as the biggest threat in the game.
In week 7, Song and Irwin formed an alliance to go to the final two together. Their first decision as an alliance was to vote to evict Jack Owens and take Landin to the final three with them.
In week 8, Song became Head of Household for the first time. As HOH, Song won a special trip outside of the Big Brother house to attend the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards. Her disappearance from the house played a part in the Veto competition, which was held before nominations for a second time that season, as the houseguests had to guess where Song was. At her return, Song nominated her ex, Jee Choe, and strategically put up her ally and POV holder, Irwin, alongside Choe to prevent Irwin from potentially using the POV to save either nominee, as well as to hide their alliance. On day 61, Irwin Vetoed herself and Robert Roman was named the replacement nominee. By a 2-0 vote, Choe was unanimously evicted from the house.
In week 9, Song was nominated for eviction for a second time by Head of Household Robert Roman. She was initially nominated alongside Irwin, however Irwin saved herself by winning the Diamond Power of Veto. Landin then automatically became the replacement nominee and, as DPOV holder, Irwin cast the sole eviction vote that week and evicted Landin.
In week 10, Song competed against Roman in the second part of the final HOH competition and won, advancing to the third part of the competition in which she faced off against Irwin. The challenge came down to a tiebreaker, which Song purposely threw so that Irwin could become the last HOH and be the one to evict Roman and at the same time lose his jury vote.
On day 82, during the live finale, Song was declared the winner of the show in a 6-1 jury vote. Song's votes came from Dana Varela, Justin Giovinco, Jack Owens, Erika Landin, Robert Roman, and her ex-boyfriend Jee Choe.
Post-Big Brother, Song appeared in an episode of the CBS sitcom Yes, Dear as herself in a special Big Brother themed episode.[5][6]
Personal life
Prior to the show, Song worked in product development at an investment bank in New York, NY. Jun took a personal leave of absence to enter the Big Brother 4 house. After winning Big Brother, Song found out her father was in a coma. He died shortly thereafter.
While vacationing in the Dominican Republic she met Belgian Davy Goethals. Goethals is a longshoreman at the Port Of Ghent. By the end of their trip their talks were so passionate that they began dating long distance. Just six months later, on December 21, 2010, the couple married in New York City. The couple lived in Ghent, Belgium. Song has one child, a boy, Noah.
On May 1, 2014, she opened a Korean eatery called Rice House in her town of Evergem in East Flanders, Belgium. In 2017, she left her husband but has yet to go public as to the reason for their divorce. She then closed her restaurant shortly thereafter and picked up her writing career. Since April, 2018, she’s been working at a software startup.
Song occasionally watches Big Brother (U.S.) and continues to comment about the show on her own blog, JunDishes.com. In 2013, she wrote a scathing letter to Julie Chen, host of the show, criticizing Chen for her approach to the issues of racism in Big Brother 15.[7][8]
References
- "Jun Wins Big Brother 4". CBS. Retrieved 2011-09-06.
- "Asian Reality Stars Shine Bright". Retrieved 2011-09-06.
- "Jun Song wins $500,000, but no one's respect, in CBS's 'Big Brother 4' finale". Retrieved 2011-09-06.
- "Big Brother 4: Why Jun Won". Archived from the original on 2011-10-13. Retrieved 2011-09-06.
- "Former 'Big Brother' contestants to appear on CBS's 'Yes, Dear'". Retrieved 2011-09-06.
- "Eleven former 'Big Brother' houseguests to guest star on CBS's 'Yes, Dear,' on Monday, October 20". Retrieved 2011-09-06.
- "Big Brother 11: Jun Song's Take On It". Retrieved 2011-09-06.
- Song, Jun (2013-08-08). "Dear Julie Chen". Jun Dishes. Retrieved 2017-08-29.
Preceded by Lisa Donahue |
Big Brother U.S. winner Season 4 (2003) |
Succeeded by Drew Daniel |