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Richard Louis "Evel Dick" Donato is the winner of Big Brother 8 (US). He later appeared on Big Brother 13 (US).

On Big Brother 8 (US), Dick, along with Dustin Erikstrup and Jessica Hughbanks, was part of the "Rivals" twist. Dick's rival was Daniele Briones, his estranged daughter. Dick was known for his various personal attacks on houseguests as a means of intimidation after he and Daniele were nominated during Week Six. He narrowly escaped eviction in week 6 due to America's Player which required America's player Eric Stein to vote to evict Dustin Erikstrup instead of Dick despite Eric wanting to evict the latter. Both he and Daniele made it to the Final Two, where he won the season in a 5 to 2 vote.

He returned for Big Brother 13 where he was partnered with Daniele, and he formed the Veterans Alliance. However, he left the game in the first week due to an emergency; Donato later revealed he left the game after learning he was HIV-positive from a blood test given to him by the producers. He placed 14th.

Dick's actions in BB8 has made him arguably the biggest and most notorious villain as well as one of the most memorable houseguests in Big Brother history. He has been referenced several times following his performance in BB8, and many future players have tried to copy some aspects of his game.


Biography[]

Richard Louis "Evel Dick" Donato (born June 24, 1963) is a bar owner from Los Angeles, California. He is married to Michelle Donato.

Player History - Big Brother 8 (US)[]

Competition History[]

Week 1 HOH Sat Out
Food Win
POV Not Picked
Week 2 HOH Loss
Food Win
POV Loss
Week 3 HOH Win
Food Sat Out as HOH
POV Loss
Week 4 HOH Previous HOH
Food Loss
POV Not Picked
Week 5 HOH Loss
POV Not Picked
Week 6 HOH Loss
Food Loss
POV Win
Week 7 HOH Loss
Food Win
POV Loss
Week 8 HOH Loss
Luxury Loss
POV Not Picked
Week 9 HOH Loss
POV Loss
HOH Win
POV Loss
Week 10 HOH Previous HOH
POV Loss
Week 11 HOH Part 1 Loss
HOH Part 2 Win
HOH Part 3 Win

Food History[]

Week 1 Food
Week 2 Food
Week 3 Food
Week 4 Slop
Week 5 Food
Week 6 Slop
Week 7 Food
Week 8 Food Competition Phase Over
Week 9
Week 10
Week 11

Voting History[]

Week Position Voted for With Majority?
1 Immune Carol Journey Yes
2 Nominated
3 HOH
4 Nick Starcevic Yes
5 Eric Stein No
6 Nominated/POV
7 Jen Johnson Yes
8 Amber Siyavus Yes
9 Jessica Hughbanks Yes
HOH
10 Vetoed Jameka Cameron Sole Vote
11 HOH Zach Swerdzewski Sole Vote
Finale Winner

HOH History[]

Original Nominees Post-Veto Nominees Intended Target
Week 3
Mike Dutz
 Evicted
Mike
THEN
Day 69
Eric Stein
 Evicted
Eric
Week 11
Zach Swerdzewski
 Evicted
Zach
N/A

Player History - Big Brother 13 (US)[]

Competition History[]

Week 1 HOH Loss
Have/Have-Not Have

Have/Have-Not History[]

Week 1 Have

Voting History[]

Week Position Voted for With Majority?
1 Walked

Post Big Brother[]

  • Dick also appeared on Big Brother 9 (US), hosting the veto competition "Club Evel". It had the same format as the veto competition that he won during Week 6 of Big Brother 8.
  • Dick and his daughter appeared in a segment during Big Brother 9 (US) but have since stopped talking again by 2009.
  • Dick appeared alongside Big Brother 7 (US) houseguests Danielle Reyes and Janelle Pierzina, and Mike Malin to discuss Big Brother 11 (US).
  • Donato hosts an online Big Brother recap show called "Dick at Night", which features alumni, various celebrities, and evicted houseguests.
  • Donato, alongside his girlfriend Stephanie Rogness-Fischer, appeared on an episode of the fifth season of the VH1 reality show Couples Therapy, which aired on September 10, 2014.[1]
  • On October 1, 2014, Donato revealed that he has been HIV-positive since 2011, first learning that he had the virus after given a blood test by the producers during Big Brother 13. Donato says that this is the reason why he walked away from the house that season.[2]

Trivia[]

  • Dick along with his daughter Daniele originally made it into the casting process for Big Brother 6 where the duo was among 40 potential houseguests but they were not chosen to be one of the Final 14 houseguests for the start of the season.
  • Dick was the oldest houseguest to compete on Big Brother 8.
  • Dick and Daniele are the first parent-child duo to compete on Big Brother (US), followed by Cirie and Jared Fields.
  • Dick, along with Dustin Erikstrup and Jessica Hughbanks are the first three houseguests in Big Brother history to be immune from eviction.
  • Dick is the first father and first parent to win Big Brother. He would be followed by Derrick Levasseur, Marissa Jaret Winokur, Tamar Braxton and Miesha Tate.
  • Dick is the third winner, following Drew Daniel and Maggie Ausburn, to be vetoed off the block by someone else.
    • He is also the fourth consecutive winner to be taken off the block with the POV.
  • Dick was the first houseguest to use the Power of Veto on the opposing nominee and survive eviction on Big Brother 8. His daughter, Daniele, would make the same move at the Final 4.
  • Dick was the first winner to receive a vote to win as a result of a viewer's poll. (This was due to the fact that Eric Stein was America's Player.) Jordan Lloyd would later follow him in Big Brother 11 after the expulsion of Chima Simone at the Final 8 resulted in her jury vote being replaced by a viewer's poll as she was not allowed to be on the jury. They both returned for Big Brother 13. Nick & Phil Paquette from Big Brother Canada 4 followed Jordan Lloyd after the brothers received Canada's vote due to Ramsey Aburaneh quitting.
    • Coincidentally, all three players won by a 5-2 vote.
  • He is the first and only winner to not participate in the first HOH and have immunity the first week.
  • Dick is the oldest finalist and the oldest winner by date of birth on Big Brother US. Dick is also the oldest finalist and winner at the time of competing in a standard season of Big Brother (US), being 44 during Big Brother 8. Dick was the oldest finalist overall in both categories until Marissa Jaret Winokur won Celebrity Big Brother 1 (US) at the age of 45.
  • Dick was the first previous finalist to play for another season and not be evicted. He was soon followed by Dan Gheesling, who reached the Final 2 in both Big Brother 10 and Big Brother 14. They were then both followed by Paul Abrahamian, who reached the Final 2 in both Big Brother 18 and Big Brother 19.
  • Dick is the second houseguest to "walk" from the game following Big Brother 9 Houseguest Neil Garcia, and he was the first houseguest to walk before the 7-day mark.
  • Dick won the most HOH's in Big Brother 8 with 3.
  • Dick is the only returning player to walk from the competition.
  • Dick is the first person to survive eviction week 2 and become HOH week three. He would later be followed by Matt Hoffman, Helen Kim, and Alex Ow.
    • Nicole Franzel and Scottie Salton also were nominated week 2 and became HOH week 3, however, Scottie was vetoed off the block and Nicole won the Battle of the Block and was dethroned as HOH in week 3.
  • On the live feeds of Season 8, Dick revealed that his son agreed to send him a coded letter from home should he win HOH (which he did on week 3). The first letters of the first and last paragraphs were the initials of the houseguest he should least trust. If the letter said his son and his girlfriend were doing well, Dick could trust the people he was working with. If the letter said his son had broken up with his girlfriend, he could not.
    • As a result of this, in all future seasons, production rewrites the letters before giving them to the houseguests.
  • Dick holds the greatest placement drop of any Big Brother houseguest, going from 1st place in Big Brother 8 to 14th place in Big Brother 13.
    • By extension, he is also the only returning winner to place last in their second season.

References[]

Preceded by
Season 7 - All-Stars
BB7 Mike
Mike Malin
Winner
Season 8
BB8 Dick
Dick Donato
Succeeded by
Season 9
BB9Small Adam
Adam Jasinski
Big Brother 8 (US) Houseguests
BB8 Dick
Dick
BB8 Danielle
BB8 Zach
BB8 Jameka
BB8 Eric
BB8 Jessica
BB8 Amber
BB8 Jen
BB8 Dustin
BB8 Kail
BB8 Nick
BB8 Mike
BB8 Joe
BB8 Carol
Winner
Runner-Up
Evicted
Jury
Big Brother 13 (US) Houseguests
Rachel13 Small
Porsche13 Small
Adam13 Small
Jordan13 Small
Kalia13 Small
Shelley13 Small
Jeff13 Small
Daniele13 Small
Brendon13 Small
Lawon13 Small
Dominic13 Small
Cassi13 Small
Keith13 Small
Dick13 Small
Dick
Winner
Runner-Up
Jury
Evicted
Walked
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