Evel Dick
CBS' Big Brother 

In 2007, Dick was one of fourteen contestants on Big Brother 8. Six of the contestants were confronted with people they had unfinished business with from their pasts. Dick's daughter Daniele, from whom he'd been estranged for two years prior to the beginning of the show, was the person in the house for him. Although they were nominated against each other three times (in weeks 2, 6, and 10), they made it to the final two together.

 

Among Dick's records is that he was the first Big Brother contestant who ever won a Power of Veto competition but used it to protect someone other than themselves from eviction, that being his daughter Daniele. Daniele became the second when she used the season's final Veto to protect Dick.

Dick was consistently on top of many reality website's popularity polls when viewers are asked to choose their favorite member of the House, including the main poll on the official CBS site.

On Day 81, the jury cast a 5-2 vote that crowned Dick the winner of Big Brother 8 and the recipient of $500,000. In the final episode, broadcast September 18, 2007, Dick received the votes of Dustin Erikstrup, Eric Stein, Amber Siyavus, Jessica Hughbanks, and Zach Swerdzewski to win $500,000. The season's concluding episode featuring Dick Donato's win made CBS the most-watched television network that night.

He was nominated for and won the Golden Realitini for Favorite Reality Performer in the Fox Reality Really Awards for 2007 against Len Goodman, New York, Sanjaya Malakar, Ant (comedian), and Christopher Knight & Adrianne Curry. He was also nominated for Best Winner, Favorite Villain (which he also won[citation needed]), Favorite Potty Mouth, and Best Fight for his confrontation with Jen Johnson. Fox Reality Dick was a stand-in for Keith Richards in the motion picture Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's EndChannel recorded the ceremony on October 2, 2007, and aired it on October 13.

Dizzy Reed of the rock band Guns N' Roses says that Dick is not a name dropper, that people drop his name. The nickname "Evel Dick" originated with an email address Dick once made up

In 2008, Donato co-hosted the House Calls broadcast which accompanied Big Brother 9. His other works include House Calls, Co-Host on CBS.com, Evel Dick Live and host on Real.com.