The Glass House is an American reality game show that premiered on June 18, 2012, on ABC, and aired for one season. Fourteen contestants live in the house and compete for $250,000. Voting by viewers helped decide which contestants got sent home.
Format The Glass House featured 14 strangers living in a house made of glass, with cameras recording their every move. At selected days and times, viewers can watch a live feed into the house. There are weekly eliminations, in which the public decides which of the contestants are eliminated from the game. Aside from choosing who is eliminated, viewers also dictate what the contestants wear, where they sleep and what they eat. While in the house, the contestants will split into two groups and compete in various physical and mental competitions. The captains of the two teams are the two contestants who have received the fewest votes from the public. After losing a challenge, the captain of the losing team is sent to limbo, along with a second member of that team which is voted on by the house. While in limbo, the public will vote which of the two contestants deserves to go back into the house and which one should permanently be eliminated from the game. The contestant with the fewest votes is eliminated, while the other will return to the house. The contestants are spoken to by a robotic female voice, which they referred to as the "Oracle" up until Day 3, when it was revealed the public would decide the voice's name. After the airing of the first live feed, online blogs and forums labeled the voice "FaRi", a portmanteau of the words faux and Siri, the personal assistant found on Apple's iPhone.
Contestants
When the original fourteen players were revealed, a woman named Melissa was included. Days after the announcement, however, she was removed from ABC's website, and had been replaced with Holly. ABC has yet to confirm why Melissa will not be participating on the show. The original fourteen contestants entered the house on June 11. On Day 5, Jacob voluntarily left the show during limbo and was not replaced.
NameAgeOccupationHometownEnteredResultReference 31 Police Sergeant Day 1 27 Cocktail Waitress 31 Bookkeeper 35 Receptionist EliminatedDay 66 48DJ Day 53Day 1 EliminatedDay 44 28 Stuntman EliminatedDay 58 30 Scientist 27 Nurse EliminatedDay 51 20 Retail Sales EliminatedDay 37 29 Paralegal EliminatedDay 30 48 Blogger EliminatedDay 23 25 Poet/Magician EliminatedDay 16 25 Bail Bondsman EliminatedDay 9 28 Cook
Future appearances In 2013, Alex Stein appears on season four of Worst Cooks in America.
Summary On Day 1, contestants moved into The Glass House. Holly and Robin were placed in the "enemies" room, while Erica and Andrea were placed in the "friends" room. On Day 2, during the first live-feed showing, contestants played a game in which they had to guess the answer to questions that the public were answering live. The questions were multiple choice, and varied from topics such as whether it is acceptable to have sex on the first date to what is the rudest thing a person could do during a first date. Other questions involved the contestants reactions to learning their child was gay, and how long should a couple date before marrying. To answer the questions, contestants had to go to either the "friends room", "enemies room", the bathroom, or the kitchen counter, with each room symbolizing a specific answer. The contestants were later asked to tell who they felt their biggest threat was, with Andrea and Kevin receiving the most votes from their fellow contestants. They later split into teams to compete in the first competition. The competition, titled "Twist and Shout", featured the contestants solving a puzzle built onto the wall based on information about their fellow contestants. The contestants split into east vs. west to do the challenge, with the east team winning. Jacob was the captain of the west team, and therefore became the first contestant to be sent to limbo. The contestants had to choose whom to send to limbo with him later on.
On Day 3, the public voted for the contestants to each reveal their biggest regret. They had the option to go to a different room to tell their story, and several chose to use the "Twitter Room". Following everyone's confessions, the contestants played a game of "Guess the Sketch". They decided to split up Men vs. Women, with Erica and Apollo being the first drawers, and Jeffrey and Joy being the second. The viewers chose the object they had to draw. The public later voted for the contestants to hear the results of the sixth game in the Stanley Cup Finals over the results of the first game of the NBA finals. On Day 4, the public voted for the contestants to play dodgeball. After playing three games, they performed "sexy yoga", in which an instructor named Elizabeth joined them to teach them various poses, chosen by the viewers. On Day 5, Jacob and Alex were sent to limbo, with Alex receiving ten of a possible thirteen votes. Later that day, Jacob chose to leave limbo and walk from the game. With Jacob out of the game, Alex remained in limbo, with the public deciding whether he should return to the game or not.
On Day 9, Alex became the first person evicted from The Glass House. For the second week, the viewers chose to put Jeffrey and Robin in the "Enemies" bedroom. On Day 9, Ashley celebrated her birthday in the house. Contestants were also asked to share their worst birthday stories with the viewers. Later that day, contestants competed in a spelling bee, with the viewers choosing the words that the players had to spell. It was revealed later that day that a special guest would join the contestants tomorrow, though it was not confirmed who the guest would be. On Day 10, a Tom Cruise impersonator entered the house for an hour, and the contestants did their impersonations of various celebrities. They later discussed the topic of a man calling 911 over a sandwich, after a public vote decided the topic. Later that day, contestants competed in the second competition of the season, with the team captain being sent to limbo in a few days. Apollo and Ashley were chosen to be the team captain, and both took turns picking members for their team. The competition, "Ruffle Your Tailfeathers", featured teams having get a bunch of eggs into various birdhouses. Each of the birdhouses contains a prize or a challenge and each egg represents a player. Whatever birdhouse the egg lands in, that player either gets the prize or has to complete the challenge. Ashley won a $1,000 prize when her egg lands in a birdhouse, Jeffrey ends up having to peel 200 hard-boiled eggs by hand. Stephanie had to squeeze orange juice by hand and carry packing peanuts back and forth one by one, and Andrea has to blow up 500 balloons by herself. On Day 11, contestants drew pictures to describe their ideal mate, as voted on by the viewers. They also discussed the various things they missed about the outside world, and later talked about five trending topics on Twitter. Later that day, Apollo and Holly were sent to limbo, with Holly receiving ten out of a possible ten votes from the other contestants.
On Day 15, the contestants were asked to tell the public whom they would like to see return to the house, Apollo or Holly, and why they want them to return. They were later shown tweets from fans of the show, which ranged from who their favorite was, to whom they wanted voted back into the house. They later had to make their own costume using tape, trash bags, aluminum foil, and other items. While doing so, they had to explain what their worst Halloween costume was. Later, the contestants spoke about the most romantic moment that had happened to them. During a discussion on the contestants opinions on Proposition 8, most of the contestants, except for Andrea and Kevin, expressed their disapproval of the ban on gay marriage. Jeffrey, who is openly gay, and Andrea later had a heated discussion on the topic, leading to Jeffrey calling her an "idiot", though he later apologized. That night, the team captains were revealed, and chose their teammates. On Day 16, Apollo was eliminated from the game, and Holly returned to the house. On Day 18, Ashley and Robin's team competed in the third competition. The teams were given three choices which involved various tasks involving food. One member from the team would choose a task and perform it. The team would earn a point if the viewers had chosen the task they chose to do. Ashley's team won the challenge, correctly performing three tasks as opposed to Robin's two. On Day 19, Robin and Erica were sent to limbo.
On Day 22, contestants were read Twitter comments from viewers, and discussed the topic of "spanking" a child. The team captains are revealed later that night. On Day 23, Robin was eliminated, and Erica returned to the house, which created a stir within the house. The house became split, with two separate alliances: Andrea, Ashley, Holly, Mike and Kevin; Erica, Gene, Jeffery, Joy and Stephanie. That night, Ashley and Holly are revealed to be the team captains for the week. This makes Ashley's third consecutive week as team captain, and Holly's first. For strategic purposes, Kevin's alliance agreed that Holly would choose everyone from the opposite alliance to be on her team, and then lose the challenge. In the "Lab-A-Doodle" competition, the team captain stood in the center of a large circle with four holes on each side. They had to transport three balls by balancing them one at a time on the circle and dropping them into a tube. The team who finishes in the fastest time will be safe for the week. Against the plan of her alliance, Holly's team won the competition. On Day 26, Ashley was sent to limbo, along with Kevin, who was voted upon by the other contestants.
On Day 29, a chef and a wine expert entered the house and served the contestants wine and food. While eating, the viewers chose who sat across from who. They later did an interpretive water dance, with the viewers voting that Jeffrey and Andrea had the best dance. On Day 30, Ashley was eliminated and Kevin returned from limbo. Later that night, Mike and Holly were revealed as the team captains. On Day 31, contestants competed in the "Choose Your Weapon" competition, in which the teams used a weapon to try to smash the opposing team's glass. The glass was on a windmill device, constantly rotating. The first team to smash all eight of their opponent's glasses won. Mike's team won the competition. On Day 32, Holly and Andrea were sent to limbo, after Andrea received four votes from the other contestants. Later in the week, Alex returned to The Glass House and delivered the contestants their "fanswers" for the week.
On Day 37, Holly was eliminated from the house, and Andrea returned. Mike and Stephanie were later announced as the team captains for the week. On Day 39, the contestants fought each other using giant boxing gloves. Sensai Mark came and instructed them on how to fight properly. During the team draft, Mike chose Andrea, Gene, and Jeffrey, while Stephanie chose Erica, Joy, and Kevin. In the "Spinner Code" challenge, two members of the team sat on a giant decoder wheel with colors on it that pointed to images. A spotter would be watching the decoder, and would tell the puzzle solver what the decoder was showing. The puzzle solver would take the four answers and find out what they had in common. After finding out this answer, they would buzz in their final time. Stephanie's team won the competition, meaning Mike and another member of his team would be sent to limbo. Jeffrey later volunteered to go to limbo, and was voted in by a unanimous seven to zero vote.