Chelsie Baham saw her alliance explode early on Big brother. But the 27-year-old nonprofit coordinator from Rancho Cucamonga, California, immediately recalibrated. And she was rewarded by being declared the winner of Season 26 during Sunday’s two-hour live finale.

Chelsie was a true triple threat and excelled competitively (tying the Big brother record with four Head of Household wins), strategic (convincing Makensy Manbeck to get rid of ally Leah Peters) and social (never really risking going home). As a result, she earned a unanimous jury victory over fellow finalist Makensky, even though Makensy won last Head of Household, along with a total of ten matches.

Was Chelsie surprised that Makensy chose to take her to the end instead of the easily defeated Cam Sullivan-Brown? Would she have done the same? Which voices was she most concerned about? And what does she plan to do with the $750,000 prize? We asked Aunt Julie’s niece all that and more a few hours after her big win.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: First of all, congratulations! Is everything a blur now?

CHELSIE BAHAM: Oh my. I feel a shock. Life is a blur. I don’t even know my name right now, so you know. This is crazy.

How worried were you about Makensy taking Cam to the end instead of you after she won Head of Household?

I was a little concerned as she stood there and gave her speech. I thought she would make a decision that was smart in her head and not follow her heart. But we’d had so many conversations over the past few nights and weeks that no matter what happened, we both felt like we deserved to be in the last two seats. I believe her. I believe the woman she is. So I wasn’t too worried. That’s my girlfriend, and I knew she would make that decision.

Who would you have voted for to win if Makensy had cut you off there and taken Cam to the end?

I would have voted for Makensy as the winner.

Why?

Because we carried Cam this entire game! What do you mean? This girl played a great game. She deserved to walk away with some money, and if it wasn’t me, she deserved to win. So I would vote for her anyway. If I wasn’t sitting next to her, she got my vote.

Okay, be real with me. No doubt, no hesitation. Let’s say you won that last HOH: who would you have taken to the final two?

I would have taken Makensy to the final two if I had won, I absolutely was. A few nights before, I was thinking about the question: Do I make a decision with my head or do I make a decision with my heart? And I just felt like making a decision with my heart would ultimately bring me a reward, one way or another. So I said I wanted to leave with my head held high and proud of whoever was sitting next to me. Cam is great, but I felt honored to sit next to Makensy at the end after the game she played. She had the option to cut me weeks ago, but we chose to protect each other, so I wanted to sit next to her. I would have chosen her.

I’m sure you were making jury calculations leading up to tonight. Which jury votes were you most concerned about?

I was most worried about Quinn, Leah, Angela and Rubina. All four. Rubina had given a speech just before her eviction where she felt Makensy would win this game. So that was a jury vote that I was concerned about. And then Angela and Leah were very close with Makensy. And Quinn is one Big brother super fan, so I thought he’d go for the comp beast that just destroyed comps this season. So I figured if there was a vote, it would be four to three, and Makensy would win.

Real? Did you think she would win?

Yes. There was a moment when I was doing math and thought, ‘I feel like she could win this game,’ after Rubina praised her play. So I was worried for a moment. But when I thought about the jury management and how emotional our cast was this season, I knew that emotion was going to play a role in the way they vote, and not just in the competitions. That’s why I had to play that emotional card in my speech. They were going to vote for someone they liked because we’ve been doing this all season, and it only dawned on me last night.

How shocked are you that it was unanimous?

Oh my god. I was so shocked! I was preparing my heart for the first key to come out: Makensy, Makensy, and then it was me. I thought, “Oh, cool. The second will obviously be her.” It was me again, and it just kept happening. So I didn’t expect that at all. I thought it was going to be a much harder decision for the jury than it was.

What went through your mind when Makensy was asked by the jury about Leah’s voice and said: “Taking that step was only done by me. No one can influence me. I made the decisions for myself.”

What I immediately thought was that the jury was playing this game with us and they knew it wasn’t 100 percent accurate. So you can say whatever you want, but the jury played this game and empathized with us, so they knew what conversations were going to happen. So I thought, nice move, but there will be an opportunity in my speech where I can let the jury know how hard I worked to make that happen, because I worked overtime to make sure she made the move. Because they were really close in this game, and Leah wasn’t a threat to Makensy, and I just made it seem like she was. So I knew I would have a chance to refute it, so I didn’t fight it too hard.

When did you get the feeling during the jury question and answer that you were doing well?

The jury asked Makensy a question and said, “We feel like you made moves that benefited Chelsie’s game, not yours. What moves have you made to benefit your game? And then I knew I had the jury, because they had read both of our games and they had read it carefully. And if you read my play against hers, I controlled her play for the second half of this game. Even when she won, she did everything I pushed her to do, and the judges knew that. So then I knew, ‘They know. I don’t have to fight too hard in my speech. They know.”

Big brother is a game that lasts all season if you want to win. But there are certain points where losers become winners and winners become losers. Is there such a point for you too? Was there a point where you thought, “Oh my God, I have to regroup,” and a day that you can really point to that put you in this position?

Yes, when I was on the wrong side of the vote in week three when Carlo went home. And in week four, I was locked up by another one of my alliance members alongside my two closest allies. Everything I fought for and worked for blew up in my face on day 35. It was day 35 and I said, ‘I have to change the way I play this game. I have to be smarter, I have to be calculated, I have to make the right decisions to reach the end.” So I positioned myself to change heavily and be a great social player and win only when necessary. That’s how I got here. On day 35 I said, “I never want to touch this block again.” And I didn’t do that until tonight.

What are you going to do with the money?

I have no idea what I’m going to do with this money. One thing that makes me feel like I have so much purpose here is what I do for my day job. I serve my local community and that’s why I want to continue to serve my local community. Now financially I would like to pay someone’s tuition. I’d just like to give it back. I know I didn’t get here alone and I had help from the man above to get me where I am today. So I have to give something back. This money isn’t all mine. Maybe I’ll buy me a nice bag and some ice cream and cuddle with my dog. So far I have thought about this money.

You didn’t just win the game. You tied the record for most HOH wins and achieved a unanimous victory. I know you’re still processing all of this, but when you think about winning in this way, how does that sink in, in terms of your place in the battle? Big brother history?

I didn’t know I was equal to most HOHs! And if I had won this last question, I would have broken the record, dammit! Now I’m a little mad that I know that statistic, because if I had, I probably would have put it in another gear! But that’s iconic. And as I said in my speech, I didn’t want to just survive in Big brother. I wanted to get to the end successfully after playing this game. And that’s just proof that I didn’t survive this – I thrived. I was really like a diamond, and that was my plan. So I’m grateful and shocked to hear that I actually played a really good game.

Would you do it again?

You know what? I would do it again. I would go through the madness again. I would be an immediate target, but I would go through it again.

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