Chelsie Baham joined the ranks of Big Brother winners during the Sunday, October 13, season 26 finale.
Chelsie, 27, beat out fellow finalists Makensy Manbeck and Cam Sullivan-Brown, who placed second and third, respectively. The trio worked together closely for the later portion of the game, but Chelsie and Cam, 25, had each others’ backs from the beginning.
Ahead of the finale, Chelsie won the first round of the final Head of Household competition, and Makensy, 22, won part two. Chelsie and Makensy then faced off during the live third round of the final HoH competition on Sunday.
Makensy ultimately won the day and decided to bring Chelsie with her to the final two. The two finalists then faced the seven jurors: Quinn Martin, T’kor Clottey, Leah Peters, Angela Murray, Kimo Apaka, Rubina Bernabe and Cam. Chelsie won by a unanimous vote. Tucker Des Lauriers was also crowned America’s Favorite Houseguest during the finale.
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Chelsie often held power in the house as the winner of four Head of Household competitions. After her alliance The Pentagon was outed early in the game by Tucker, 30, she managed to adapt, while her allies Cedric Hodges and Brooklyn Rivera were evicted. She forged strong relationships with T’kor, 23, and Makensy and convinced Makensy to target Leah, 26, and Angela, 51, during her HoH week, which benefitted Chelsie far more than Makensy.
Big Brother 26 premiered on July 17. The season’s big twist, the BB AI Arena, forced Head of Households to nominate three players for eviction instead of two. The three nominees had to compete live on eviction night, with the winner earning safety and the two remaining nominees left to face an eviction vote.
The twist, which ended after week 7, made it harder for houseguests to reach a consensus on who to vote out in advance. That meant more last-minute vote flips, like when Makensy voted to evict Joseph Rodriguez instead of Kimo, 36, after hearing his speech.
“The BB AI Arena forced people to make decisions on the fly,” Big Brother host Julie Chen Moonves exclusively shared in Us Weekly’s Reality Stars of the Year issue. “Because they couldn’t huddle up and have that herd mentality, early on they were in a situation where they had to think as an individual. … ‘I may be on the wrong side of the vote, but I gotta do what’s right for me.’”
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The twist was a treat for dedicated live feed watchers who have grown accustomed to knowing who will be voted out before live eviction episodes. The AI Arena added a new element of unpredictability.
“I think it was successful,” Chen Moonves, 54, said of the twist, adding that she wouldn’t be surprised if it makes a return in one form or another in future seasons.
Another unique element of BB26 was the record amount of vetoes used. The power of veto was used at every single veto meeting until week 11. Most shockingly, Tucker used the veto on Angela in week 3 despite being on the block himself. He then won in the AI Arena, saving himself from eviction as well.
“No question, this is the craziest year [of Big Brother],” Chen Moonves told Us.
