A Big brother season filled with artificial intelligence haircuts, Veto renominations and calls of “CRAZY EYES!” finally came to a close on Sunday night when the winner of Season 26 was crowned during the live two-hour finale.

Chelsie Baham, Makensy Manbek and Cam Sullivan-Brown reached the final night hoping (and in Cam’s case, dreaming) of winning the final Head of Household, placing the winner among the final two and having them chosen next who they have to sit at the end, with the final two then going up against the jury – a jury who answered burning questions of their own to EW just before the finale.

As always, the final competition consisted of three parts, with the winners of part one and part two facing off at the end. The first part was called “Sever the Source” and involved players hanging in the air for as long as possible on an “Assault Block” while green goo dripped over them. Ultimately, Chelsie survived Can and Makensy by winning part one (destroying BB AI Ainsley’s power source) and going straight to part three.

Makensy and Cam then competed in the second part of the competition, titled “Cerebral Shutdown” – one with rules far too confusing to get into here, but with the clues given by a flying raven. Cam continued his season-long competitive battle as Makensy walked away with the victory, destroying Ainsley’s brain and wiping her off the planet. (Unless a Time Laser can somehow bring her back.)

That set up a showdown in part three between Chelsie and Makensy, and the winner’s dilemma of whether to take each other, or take Cam, who would ultimately be easier to beat. Both players got the first five questions correct in Part Three’s Data Destruction contest, but Chelsie faltered on the final question, giving Makensy the final HOH victory and asking the most important question of the season: would she take Cam to the end ? , virtually guaranteeing her victory and the $750,000 prize, or would she side with Chelsie and put on a fight to the finish?

Anticipating the unexpected twist worthy of the franchise’s tagline, Makensy did the latter, forgoing the easy win for a chance to beat the best at the end. But would she?

Makensy’s risky decision would come down to whether the jury valued her ten competition wins more, or respected Chelsie’s strategic chops and ability to manipulate others (like Makensy) into doing her bidding.

Makensy’s risky decision would come down to whether the jury valued her ten competition wins more, or respected Chelsie’s strategic chops and ability to manipulate others (like Makensy) into doing her bidding. That answer was given when Makensy was told by the jury that they believed Chelsie influenced her strategic decisions, such as when Leah was voted out. Makensy insisted it was all she did, telling them: “Taking that step was only done by me. No one can influence me. I made the decisions for myself.” But Chelsie then followed that up by (along with others) taking credit for the move, and the judges seemed to agree with her.

Chelsie also nailed her final speech — even pointing out that she had a better winning percentage than Makensy because she competed in seven fewer matches — sealing the deal on her victory, which became official when host Julie Chen Moonves read out the votes and Chelsie announced. as winner of Big brother season 26. And not just any winner, but a unanimous winner, receiving all seven jury votes.

So in the end, Makesy’s decision to bring Chelsie to the end cost the runner-up $675,000. As a result, however, viewers were treated to a triple threat champion who excelled competitively (tying the record with four wins over the Head of Household), strategically (convincing Makensy to get rid of ally Leah), and socially (never having any really at risk). from going home). And even Ainsley couldn’t do anything to stop her.

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