Hayden Moss Wins 'Big Brother 12'

LOS ANGELES — The Animal scored the home run on "Big Brother 12."

Hayden Moss, a shaggy-haired 24-year-old college student and former baseball player from Tempe, Ariz., won the $500,000 grand prize on the voyeuristic CBS reality TV competition's season finale Wednesday.

Moss, who was dubbed "The Animal" by his secret four-man alliance, bested bearded 24-year-old oil rig salesman Lane "The Beast" Elenburg from Decatur, Texas.

"It makes me think I can do anything," Moss said of advancing to the finale.

Moss dominated by both winning several competitions and forming bonds with the other houseguests while always staying loyal to The Brigade alliance, which was formed on the second day in the house.

He defeated Elenburg in the final round of a three-part Head of Household contest, which allowed him to pick Elenburg to battle against for his four jury votes.

Enzo "The Meow Meow" Palumbo, a trash-talking 32-year-old insurance adjuster from Bayonne, N.J., became the seventh member of the jury and cast the deciding vote between his alliance partners for Moss.

Matt "The Brains" Hoffman, a 33-year-old web designer from Elgin, Ill., and the fouth Brigade member who was earlier ousted, also cast his final vote for Moss.

Hoffman, who described himself as a "diabolical super-genius," caused the most controversy this season for lying and telling the other contestants that his wife had a crippling disease called melorheostosis. He said he did it in hopes of securing "sympathy votes" if he made it to the end of the competition.

The plan backfired when the cast learned the truth.

"Make up a lie about your dog," Elenburg said. "Don't make up a lie about your wife."

Besides the $500,000 prize, Moss may have also won a date with 24-year-old boutique manager Kristen Bitting from Philadelphia. Moss and Bitting kept their fling in the house a secret from most of the contestants.

Bitting said she would be open to a relationship with the newly crowned champ, and Moss replied that he would take her "out to get some pizza."

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Comments

[barcelonamama]

10:07 AM on 09/16/2010

Worst. Season. Ever.

[Kim Kard]

09:58 AM on 09/16/2010

Watch Big Brother 12 Finale Full Video: http://bit.ly/bHVdwg

[hallowellboy]

09:36 AM on 09/16/2010

Once it was down to the boring brigade I stopped watching.

[CaptainObvvious]

07:40 AM on 09/16/2010

The real news story here for me is that people still actually watch this show.

[katatonic]

04:14 AM on 09/16/2010

I want the UK version here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=od6-f7_9oMI

[reallymolly]

04:20 AM on 09/16/2010

It's been canceled there - the final season just ended. I'd love to get to see the old series of it, though.

[MedinaM]

03:09 AM on 09/16/2010

I was just happy it was a guarantee that somebody from The Brigade would win. Congrats Hayden!

[JFetch]

02:10 AM on 09/16/2010

Whoever is moderating, Evil Dick is the guys name. Quit censoring it. I'm about done with HP because of their mods.

[reallymolly]

04:23 AM on 09/16/2010

I think I got censored trying to tell you that it's Evel and not evil. Like Evel Knievel.

[JFetch]

02:05 AM on 09/16/2010

This was a terrible season. It's sad that the ratings were so good because that means next year will be just as bad. I wanted so bad to see Evil Dick go in the house and make Britney and Ragan cry every day. They are terrible human beings that have to constantly trash others to make themselves feel better.

[reallymolly]

07:27 AM on 09/16/2010

That would have made suffering through Britney worth it. Good job, viewers, mean, entitled bit.ch.es everywhere can rest assured that no matter what, they will be rewarded for their terrible behavior.

[joe757]

07:52 AM on 09/16/2010

We see things very differently. I've been a fan of Ragan's for years before he was on Big Brother (via his podcasts and book), and I know that Ragan wasn't going to allow himself to be bullied.

[JFetch]

02:49 PM on 09/16/2010

Ragan is a professional victim. Nobody bullied him.

[reallymolly]

02:16 AM on 09/17/2010

I agree a bit with both of you. Britney is just a mean person overall. There are no nuances with her, it's all vitriol.

Ragan is more complex. Outside of Big Brother I really like him a lot. In BB, he was terrible. Some of the stuff Rachel threw at him was reprehensible and Ragan had every right to tear her apart for the things she said. On the other hand, Rachel is kind of an idiot and an easy target for someone smarter than her. I think Ragan went far beyond giving her the smackdown she deserved when he was unable or unwilling to stop talking about her once she was gone from the game. It's similar to the one and only thing about his podcast that I don't like - the way he goes after Courtney Love when she is clearly either mentally ill, or very, very stupid. I don't like seeing abuse heaped on people who have no capacity to defend themselves, even if they're jerks.

Ragan was extremely unpopular this season, but I still like him. He's smart. He'll see his own flaws and fix them. Britney won't, because she is devoid of self-awareness and empathy.

[greekgodspeed]

12:30 AM on 09/16/2010

meow meow.

[hype9857]

12:28 AM on 09/16/2010

This season was more like summer camp than Big Brother. Brenchel versus everyone else. Yawn.

Kumbaya let's-go-with-the-house people like Ragan and Bratney really ruined the season. And gave Hayden half a mil.