The TV Watercooler had the opportunity to speak with Big Brother 26 winner Chelsie Baham! Chelsie shares with us how she was surprised by several jury votes, being thrilled about the all-women ‘Final Two,’ the challenges she faced with the Aisnley/AI twist and how she avoided a showmance to strengthen her game.
Congratulations on the win! Were there any jury votes that surprised you?
100%! There were four that surprised me! Quinn, Angela, Leah, and Rubina. I thought they would vote for Makensy, so all four of them shocked me completely! Jaw drooped, shocked! Yeah.
How satisfying is it that two women made it to the final two?
It made all the stress worth it. From Day 45, it was all women running the show. And yes, we took a guy to the end [Final 3], but I’m like “If there’s anybody that deserves to walk out of here with confetti and saying ‘hello’ to Auntie Julie, it was two women who have worked their butts off to get to the end!”
That was the ending that I pictured!
Was there any doubt that Makensy would bring you to the final two?
Yes, there was doubt. When she was giving her speech after she won H.O.H., she said that last week she made a decision with her heart and I thought she was going to say, “Today, I’m making a decision with my head.” I was prepared to walk out of there!
I thought that in that moment, she would snap out of making a heartfelt decision and make a very strategic decision. I can’t lie! Y’all saw my face on the block, I was nervous!
Had you won the final H.O.H., who would have brought to the Final Two?
Had I won the Final H.O.H., Makensy would have come with me. I would have seven competitions to her ten, and I would have still used my taking her to the Final 2 as a benefit to my game.
What has it been like reconnecting with all your other housemates?
I missed them so much! Brooklyn is my girl. I almost fell to my knees when I saw her. Cedric looked smart! How did I miss this cast so much? They drove me crazy in the house, but when we reconnected, you can tell that we truly loved each other beyond this game. It felt really good to have a family here.
What was your original strategy going into the game and how much of it did you need to pivot once the AI/Ainsley element was revealed?
Yeah, Ainsley messed up my whole game! Day One, when I lost the competition, and I couldn’t do anything the first week. Going in, I had to already be socially strong in the house, but with the twist of three nominees, there was an extra layer of unexpectedness about who would be sitting on the block.
Who we would be evicting wouldn’t be finalized until two or three minutes before the eviction vote. You really couldn’t plan too far out with Ainsley and the AI Arena, so you had to be very smart and you had to be very quick on your feet when it came to making decisions.
You made it quite clear that you didn’t need a showmance but was there any hesitation to change that part of your strategy?
No! I saw what happened Week One and the house was very intimidated by a showmance (Makensey/Matt). Day 10 is when we got Matt out and then when another one was revealed (Tucker/Rubina), we got Tucker out on Day 45. I had to be smart in the sense that the house this season is not really rocking with that, so I decided to go the smart route. “I’m going to win this game, so I don’t want to put myself in any position to be a threat.” A showmance was going to be a threat this season.
Were there any houseguests that you wish you had gotten to work with a little better?
Yeah, I wish that I would have worked with Quinn a little better. I wish he wouldn’t have blown up our Pentagon alliance early in the game because I really would have loved to see him go to Final Five or even Final Three with me. I love that kid! He’s a superfan and a very smart guy. I would have been honoured to give him my vote as well.
So, I wish Quinn and I would have been a little tighter in the game.
Which eviction hit you the hardest?
Oh, my goodness. Brooklyn’s hit me really hard because I was part of that. I won and it resulted in my best friend getting out. But, T’Kor’s was the most difficult because we were in Jankie’s World. We were already emotional, but T’Kor has such a pure soul and such a big heart. Having to evict her was a game move, but it broke my heart. She took it well with such love.
It broke my heart.
Do you have any interest in watching the season when you get back home or is winning it enough for you.
Yeah, I think I might give myself a couple of months to get my head out of the Big Brother world. But, I definitely want to go back and watch as a fan so I can see this season from everybody else’s perspective.
There’s jury management but is there ever audience management during the game? Was there any worry in how you’d be perceived by the audience or how you are edited?
Yeah, that was a constant worry for all of us in this house. “Like how are people perceiving us and are our words being misconstrued?” But, I came into this game knowing that you could play a perfect game, an honest game, and a kind game, but somebody could still find a reason to say something bad about you.
So, I stopped caring about trying to manoeuvre that. My perception was, “Chelsie, stay true to who you are. The people who are for you will rock with you. The people who don’t like you aren’t meant to be with you, and you’ve got to be okay with that. You can’t win everybody.”
So, I stopped caring about that when I was in the microchip outfit! Oh, my dignity didn’t exist! So like, at that point, perception is out of the window! I thought, “I should be me in this game.”
You looked cute, it was fine!
Thank you.
Jankie’s alive! Should we, as a society, be afraid?
Everybody should be afraid. I knew that he wasn’t fully terminated. Something in my soul said that he was coming back! Everybody should be smart… That’s all I’m saying!
