After a lonely woman gets cast on her favorite game show, she learns that one of the other contestants she’ll be living with and competing against for the next three months is the daughter she gave up for adoption over twenty years ago.

SYNOPSIS:

Judy Fouch (40), a single postal carrier enters “Bout House,” a Big Brother-like game show, with eleven other diverse contestants. Once inside, the host presents the new roommates with the season twist: Each of them is related to one other contestant. As they figure out their relations and pair off, only Judy and Heidi (21) are left, unsure of their connection. That is, until Heidi reveals that she was adopted. Judy is stunned and realizes that Heidi must be the baby she gave up for adoption over twenty years ago. Once Judy reveals herself to her daughter, she tries to form a bond with Heidi, without being overbearing, all the while, trying to win the three million-dollar prize, that everyone is gunning for.

Judy takes on a mother role to all the contestants, even though she’s a frequent target for elimination. She’s eventually eliminated, halfway through the season, but another twist affords her the chance to win her way back into the house, which she does. And when the remaining contestants are rewarded with a video message from their loved ones, Judy’s support comes from a cranky guy on her mail route. The revelation earns her a bit of sympathy from Heidi and brings them closer. But not close enough for Heidi to call her “Mom.”

After surviving some deceit from Heidi’s showmance and success in the final contest, Heidi and Judy are the last surviving roommates. When it comes time for the banished roommates to vote for the winner, Judy argues that Heidi deserves the money. It’s an act so selfless that it causes Heidi to reveal a huge secret: She’s not Judy’s daughter. The DNA test she submitted to be on the show contained her college roommate’s DNA.

The uproar over this breaking of the contract causes producers to nullify the season, awarding Judy a smaller sum and an invitation to return to the show for another season, along with the other roommates, aside from Heidi. And when it’s announced that Heidi’s roommate is in the studio for the finale, Judy rushes out the door and is reunited with her daughter, who has been watching the show all season. They hug each other in the greatest reunion in reality TV history.

BIG MOTHER