Deaf swimming world record and former LSU Tiger Matt Klotz is thriving in the Big Brother house six weeks into the competition.
Klotz entered the American reality show in August and has become a fan favorite for viewers on the outside and a likable player to his fellow contestants on the inside, both of which have contributed to him being in a strong position thus far in the game.
Early on, the 27-year-old was a member of multiple large alliances, most notably Family Style, which, to a certain extent, featured the majority of the younger houseguests, while an opposing group called The Professors formed with some of the older members. Klotz was also in a sub-alliance, The Handful, which included five members of Family Style.
Klotz’s closest ally early on, Reilly, was evicted during Week 3, and since then he’s joined another alliance with six others named the Seven Deadly Sins.
Although the day-to-day drama and chaos in the game make it hard to project just where Klotz lies as we currently stand, by all accounts he’s liked by everyone and hasn’t been anyone’s direct target.
He’s only won one competition, but it was a big one. (Players, especially those viewed as “physical threats” often punt on competitions to position themselves as less of a “threat” or “target” in the house.)
Big Brother will sometimes let fans vote for certain players to gain advantages, and in this case, an online vote would see the top four vote-getters earn the opportunity to play in a competition to win a secret power that would nullify an eviction (within the two weeks afterward).
Klotz was one of the four selected by America, indicating he’s become a favorite amongst viewers, and he proceeded to win the competition, earning the “Power of Invincibility.”
After two members of his alliance were nominated for eviction and one of his allies, Jag, was evicted by a unanimous vote, Klotz activated the power to nullify the vote, keeping Jag in the house.
After that, Klotz formed a “final two” alliance with Jag called The Minutemen, indicating the two will have each other’s backs for the rest of the game.
🚨🚨 #BB25 Alliance Alert 🚨🚨
Jag and Matt
The Minutemen pic.twitter.com/xznUaWecEY
— Dolffica Johnson #BB25 (@Dolffica) September 9, 2023
In the most recent episode, Klotz was the winner of a competition but chose not to select the top prize in the game (Power of Veto) or $5,000 cash, and instead chose what was actually a punishment, which was the opportunity to hang out with actor Josh Duhamel in the house.
Klotz apparently thought it was a reward, but in reality, he just has to carry around a cardboard cutout of Duhamel all week.
PHOTO: BB25 Houseguest, Matt Klotz, got Josh Duhamel cardboard after rejecting $5k #BB25https://t.co/vkJsyBMaMT
— Ent News (@entnews606) September 10, 2023
Klotz has won numerous gold medals at the Deaflympics and currently holds LCM deaf world records in the men’s 50 free, 50 back, 100 back, and 200 back.
Prior to heading to the Big Brother house, he competed at the U.S. National Championships in Indianapolis, placing 17th in the 50 back (25.52) and 46th in the 100 back (56.51). He also logged a PB of 25.45 in a 50 back time trial.
A native of Cameron Park, Calif., Klotz competed for LSU in the NCAA from 2016 until 2020, with his last collegiate competition coming at the 2020 SEC Championships less than a month prior to the pandemic. He has continued to train out of Baton Rouge since his career concluded, representing Tiger Aquatics in competition.
During the show, he told houseguests he wanted to try and qualify for the Hungarian Olympic team despite representing the U.S. in international competitions in the past. He is a dual citizen of the U.S. and Hungary.
Big Brother episodes air Wednesdays, Thursday and Sundays weekly on CBS.