“Big Brother” 26 crowned its winner, capping up one of the CBS competition series’ most surprising seasons yet.
After 90 days of 24-hour surveillance that included heated contests, betrayals, and lots of AI-themed twists, this season’s jury of houseguests voted for the winner among Season 26’s Top 3 players, with all of the action taking place during the two-hour finale event on Sunday night. Chelsie Baham was named the winner of “Big Brother” 26 and received the $750,000 prize.
During the season finale, viewers voted for their favourite houseguest, who was chosen Tucker Des Lauriers, a 30-year-old marketing and sales executive. He received a $50,000 cash reward.
Chelsie, a 27-year-old nonprofit director, was one of three houseguests who competed for the final spot, along with Makensy Manbeck, a 22-year-old construction project manager, and Cam Sullivan-Brown, a 25-year-old physical therapist. The jury decided unanimously in favour of Chelsie. Makensy, who finished second, got $75,000.
Prior to the jury vote, “Big Brother” Season 24 winner Taylor Hale returned to conduct the finale’s jury roundtable, taking over for Season 2 winner Dr. Will Kirby, who had hosted the debate since 2013. Derrick Levasseur, the Season 16 champion, also appeared on Friday’s lookback program to help set up the finale’s last BB AI shock.
“Big Brother” Season 26 began with a two-night event on July 17-18, when 16 houseguests walked into a house outfitted with over 90 cameras and 100 microphones, which recorded their every action 24 hours a day. Each week, someone was voted out of the home, with the final Houseguest collecting the big prize of $750,000.
As the season continued, viewers appreciated its unpredictable nature, with many considering it one of the CBS show’s best seasons in years. It also featured some historic firsts for the show, such as host Julie Chen Moonves missing a live eviction episode for the first time in show history after testing positive for COVID. Jerry O’Connell, co-host of “The Talk,” stepped in as a last-minute substitute.
This season’s other cast members included Angela Murray, a 50-year-old real estate agent; Brooklyn Rivera, a 34-year-old business administrator; Cedric Hodges, a 21-year-old former marine; Joseph Rodriguez, a 30-year-old video store clerk; Kenney Kelley, a 52-year-old former undercover cop; Kimo Apaka, a 35-year-old mattress sales rep; Leah Peters, a 26-year-old VIP cocktail server; Lisa Weintraub, a 33-year-old celebrity chef; Matt Hardeman, a 25-year-old tech sales rep; Quinn Martin, a 25-year-old nurse recruiter; Rubina Bernabe, a 35-year-old event bartender and T’kor Clottey, a 23-year-old crochet business owner.