JOPLIN, Mo. — “‘Big Brother’ without Howie is like a day without sunshine.” 

Howie Gordon, a fan favorite from the popular CBS reality show “Big Brother,” made this quip 10 years ago. His statement has proven rather prophetic — he’s now forecasting sunshine as a television meteorologist in Joplin, Missouri.

Gordon participated in back-to-back seasons of “Big Brother.” He was one of 14 people vying for a $500,000 prize during the show’s sixth season, which aired in 2005 from July 7 to Sept. 20. Utilizing his unique sense of humor, he finished in fifth place, evicted from the house on day 68. One year later, he would return for the show’s seventh as an all-star player. He was evicted after 47 days, placing eighth.

As a 34-year-old bachelor and pharmaceutical representative living just outside of Miami, Florida, “Big Brother” wasn’t even a blip on his radar in early 2005. A friend and co-worker had pushed and prodded him into auditioning for two reality dating shows: “Blind Date,” in February, 2005, and “Elimidate” the following month. He made appearances in both shows.

Based on those two successes, coupled with his sense of humor and tanned looks, his buddy convinced him to audition for ‘Big Brother’.

“So my buddy says to me, ‘Hey, you’d be great on this ‘Big Brother’ show,” Gordon said. “So I filled out an application, made a two-minute video (which can be viewed on YouTube), and I submitted it.” 

It was only when Gordon was named a “house guest” of season six, that he discovered just how popular the reality show truly was. It was one of CBS’s big three reality shows, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with “Survivor” and “The Amazing Race.” An average of nearly 9 million viewers tuned in to watch the three weekly episodes.

“They sequester you before you move into the ‘Big Brother’ house, and during the interviews, they told me about the huge fan base, and I remember saying, ‘Fan base? Really? I never even heard of this show.’ But yeah, right after that, ‘Entertainment Tonight’ and Us Weekly is interviewing me, and it opened my eyes. It was pretty cool.”

His antics and nicknames — “Hurricane Howie” and “Jedi Howie” — made him popular among both the house guests and the viewing public. He was the only member that season to win the show’s “Head of Household” twice.

But his time on air wasn’t always full of laughs. Twice, Gordon admitted he lost his goofy edge.

“When someone tries to cost you a half-million dollars, you can only bite your tongue for so long,” Gordon said about the two infamous clashes he had during the two seasons. “I was in the ‘Big Brother’ house for 115 days over two seasons, and I was pretty calm for 113 of those days. But for two of those days, I lost it.”

The first clash occurred near the end of his run during season six, when he locked horns with April Lewis. Gordon didn’t like how April had been playing the game, calling her “useless” during a rant that has since been named No. 4 of Live Wire’s “Big Brother Top 20 Memories.” In season seven, after being evicted from the house on live television, Gordon tossed aside Mike Malin’s hat and called him a punk. Malin, grinning, repeatedly told Gordon to “get to steppin.’”

He appeared on a few other reality shows, including “The Search for the Next Elvira.” He did a few commercials and starred in a some small movie roles. A huge Sasquatch enthusiast, Gordon almost appeared on the reality show, “Bigfoot Bounty” on Spike TV. But even during his “Big Brother” days, there was a reason why the words “meteorology student” appeared below his name.

“I’m proud — very proud — of what I did in (Big Brother). I hear from a lot of people who still come up and tell me, ‘Hey, it was the greatest summer of my life.’ It was a lot of fun. But weather was always in the back of my mind.”

Hurricane Howie

While most people would love to experience even a pinch of Gordon’s overall Hollywood success, he considers that a past chapter of his life. After earning his meteorology degree from Mississippi State University in 2009, he worked various marketing jobs, including selling dental implants in Chicago, before he landed his first professional job at KODE-TV on May 20.

“Hey, I got my thrill. OK, great. It was fun, and I got national and even international exposure. But my passion has always been to become a weather man,” Gordon said. “I have a fascination with the weather.”

Gordon is now doing on-air weather spots during the 10 p.m. weekend news broadcasts. He’s also doing a weekly feature at 6 p.m. on Friday nights called “Big Howie on Campus,” which takes advantage of the humor he so readily flashed on “Big Brother” a decade ago. Despite being born and raised in Chicago and living in Los Angeles and Miami, he digs the small-town feel of Joplin.

“It’s cool and different. I like it a lot. Though,” he added with a smile, “I do miss the Chicago pizza and Chinese food. But I think it’s really cool here. And (Joplin) is a top-five severe weather area in the country.

“I’ve been getting recognized for 10 years for being on ‘Big Brother,’ but now people are coming up to me and saying they saw me doing the weather,” Gordon continued. “And I like that.”