Big Brother 26 has concluded its 2024 Fall TV run, and what a finale it delivered! After a perfect season from an entertainment perspective, fans were thrilled to see the person who deserved to win, Chelsie Baham, walk out of the house with $750,000 in prize money. Chelsie was able to sway the jury unanimously she was the definitive pick over Makensy "MJ" Manbeck, but did reveal to CinemaBlend she was shocked at how the finale Q&A went.
Chelsie was kind enough to spare some time for me following her big win, and we talked about the downsides of emphasizing how she manipulated MJ throughout the entire game and what that could mean for her after the game was over. I asked Chelsie if she was concerned that her speech would impact the real friendship she cultivated with MJ throughout the game, and she shared her honest thoughts about it:
Yeah, I did worry about it. There's certain things I said on my feet that was not planned in that moment. It's the most stressful moment that I've been in, in this house.I've watched the show for so many years. People who care about the game go in on their speeches. So I expected MJ to completely go in as well. I expected this to be like a battle. So I felt bad when it wasn't! It was just me really fighting for my game. So it was unexpected.
If you want to win Big Brother, you have to make the jury understand the strongest parts of your gameplay. Chelsie manipulating MJ into making moves that didn't benefit her needed to be mentioned, even if MJ was completely oblivious to it happening. As mentioned above, Chelsie expected MJ to also take shots at her and was pretty surprised she didn't.
I can imagine MJ felt betrayed to hear a friend play her, but she didn't show any indication of being hurt when Julie Chen Moonves talked to her after the result. Those streaming Big Brother's live feeds likely saw some of the pep talks Chelsie and MJ had toward the end about being on stage together, and the winner shared that they did talk about remaining friends regardless of what happened on finale night:
MJ and I have had several conversations of [how] this is a game at the end of the day, we love each other, and we're gonna be friends, and we're stuck with each other. And so I did feel confident in our genuine friendship. That game will be game, may the best woman win and then, our friendship will remain after that.
Fortunately, one has to think that if there are any ill feelings MJ has, she'll rewatch this season with a Paramount+ subscription and see Chelsie had her reasons, and they were strictly rooted in the game. Their friendship in the game was real, and I think Chelsie fully acknowledges that her win doesn't happen without MJ working with her most of the way. Cody Calafiore and Derrick Levasseur remained friends after Big Brother 16, so I'm sure these two can still stay besties.
As someone who absolutely loved Big Brother 26, I can say I preferred to see Chelsie dragging MJ in the Final Two Q&A than I would've liked to see the two support each other's games. We already received a gift in the two strongest competitors at the end having to face off, rather than Cam Sullivan-Brown sitting next to either and making the jury's decision all too easy. That said, I do wonder how MJ would've reacted had Chelsie won the Final HOH and taken Cam as she had planned.
MJ and Chelsie's friendship isn't over, but Big Brother 26 is. There's no word yet on whether we'll be getting the return of the spinoff Reindeer Games on CBS this winter, but at least we can re-live the glory of all past BB seasons on Paramount+.
