Considered as one of the best Big Brother contestants ever having won season 10 and finished as a runner-up in season 14 of the reality TV series, Dan Gheesling went from being a high school teacher to a national favorite after his unanimous victory.
Following his Big Brother fame, he started making gaming videos and live streaming on YouTube and twitch.tv respectively, and has also grown a huge community with a slew of subscribers to his channel. He simply has a touch of gold you would agree. Learn more about him in this article.
Who Is Dan Gheesling? Bio
Dan Gheesling is a reality as well as YouTube personality who logged on to fame after he won the tenth season of the American reality tv series Big Brother in September 2008. Apart from his reality TV personality, he has also established himself as an author, coach, entrepreneur, and public speaker. He started a YouTube gaming channel in 2013 which has garnered over 68k subscribers.
He was born on the 1st day of September 1983 as Daniel Robert Gheesling in Dearborn, Michigan, the United States. A graduate of Divine Child High School and Michigan State University where he earned a Master’s Degree in Kinesiology, our dear Dan taught health at Orchard Lake St. Mary’s Preparatory School and coached the school’s football team as well.
Big Brother
The former high school teacher told in his blog, How to Get on Reality TV how it took him four years and over eight auditions to land a place in a reality show. When he finally got a place on Big Brother 10 in 2008, Dan played what was considered a perfect game which explains why he did not receive even a single eviction vote. He went on to trump his renegade ally, Memphis Garrett by a unanimous vote, 7-0 from his evicted peers, as well as getting all the jury on his side winning the $500,000 prize.
With his victory, he became the only US player and the first of two winners to succeed in a unanimous vote. Thus, his victory is still regarded as one of, if not, the best victories of all time in the show history and him, the best player in the show so far.
Following his phenomenal win, Dan Gheesling nicknamed Judas during the show detailed in his book, How A Normal Guy Got Cast On A Reality TV on how he beat the odds and fulfilled his dream of being in the Big Brother house. He was called back to season 14 as a coach intending to lead his team to victory. During the running of the show for the 14th season, Dan found himself trapped in solitary confinement – being locked into a room for 24 hours.
Being a brilliant gamer and seeing that everyone wanted him out of the house, he figured that there will always be a way out as long as one believes one can get out. Hence, he masterminded himself off the block with the most epic game move in Big Brother history: staging his own funeral and eulogizing himself.
The funeral was intended to convince his fellow houseguests that he was dead in the game which translates to no more scheming, alliances, and game talk which gave him the chance to continue on very carefully undetected. And the fact that his plan worked in not only saving him from possible eviction but also in disarming his peers, is plain brainy. Eventually, he made it to the final four and finished the season in second place behind Ian Terry in a 6-1 vote.
In his two appearances on the series, he became the first and only winner to make it to the final two twice. Added to his wizardry on the show, Dan has authored several books including Clean Your Own Mirror and How A Normal Guy Got Cast on Reality TV.
Net Worth
His story could be described as one of from obscurity to limelight. Since his days in the BB house, Dan has created a niche for himself in the celebrity world. With half a million grand price paid into his account at the end of season 10, he has gone on to invest and earn a whopping amount through his other numerous ventures. He has an estimated net worth of $600,000.
Dan Gheesling Wife, Children
He is the husband of Chelsea Gheesling (nee Niemiec), a professional writer and speaker. She is also the founder of a non-profit Good Girl Comeback (GGCB). GGCB is focused on encouraging girls to become virtuous leaders, to think outside the box, as well as to see the goodness in themselves and others.
The duo exchanged their vows in a Catholic wedding surrounded by friends and families on July 2, 2011, in Orchard Lake, Michigan. They have two sons – Desmond Daniel born on July 3, 2016, and Miles Glen born on March 13, 2018. He lives with his family in Oakland County, Michigan.
