'Big Brother' Fans Are Rallying Behind Ian Terry After He Opened Up About His Autism Spectrum Disorder

From Good Housekeeping

Though Big Brother: All Stars has only just begun, Ian Terry is already emerging as a favorite in season 22. The 29-year-old season 14 winner has returned to the CBS series to see if he can score another $500,000 prize and snag the title of Head of Household a few more times.

But what fans of Big Brother may not know about Ian is that he was only 21 years old when he won season 14 and beat runner-up Dan Gheesling.

Because of that, he told Entertainment Tonight that he used all of his prize money to pay off his student loans, invest, buy a car, and put a down payment on a house. This time around though, if he does win season 22, Ian will likely use the money to splurge a bit on himself.

“I’m looking at like BMW bikes like the motorcycles. They’re just kind of stupid but seems fun,” he said.

Since being on the show in 2012, a lot has changed for Ian. According to his cast bio, Ian considers himself to be "more mature and readily available to navigate social situations," which he attributes to his background work as a physics teacher for four years in the Houston, Texas area. After that, Ian went on to become an associate consultant at HighRadius. Most recently, he worked as a consulting analyst at a different company, according to his LinkedIn.

In a recent live feed moment from Big Brother season 22, Ian revealed his Autism Spectrum Disorder to Kaysar Ridha. In response, Kaysar told Ian that he thinks he may also be on the spectrum, but has not ever been diagnosed by a healthcare professional.

On Wednesday's episode, Ian explained that "being on the spectrum isn't my identity. I'm a smart guy, I have a great family, friends, girlfriend, and I won Big Brother."

After learning of Ian's diagnosis, a Big Brother fan put together a petition to get Ian a rocking chair. Per the petition, which has been signed by over 2,000 people, viewers want to get Ian a rocking chair because "he has explained that the only thing that calms him down is rocking back and forth but he got a lot of hate for using the hammock due to its squeaking sound."

The petition aside, it's clear from social media that so many people — including BB season 15 winner Andy Herren — are behind Ian and want to see him thrive on BB:

But whether or not he has support from BB viewers, Ian is set on his strategy and ultimately coming out on top once again.

"I want to get into a decent alliance and try to win the first HOH, just to make sure I don't get frozen out for being unpopular," he wrote in his cast bio. "Following that, hibernate. Towards the end of the game, I will ramp up and utilize my competition ability and take advantage of the game's structure."

Let's hope his game plan works out for him.

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