I loved Big Brother 26, and so did many others, so I guess it's natural that fans remain obsessed with updates on the Houseguests after the season. On the heels of learning the official relationship status of Rubina Bernabe and Tucker Des Lauriers, Makensy "MJ" Manbeck gave a shocking romantic update.
MJ surprised winner Chelsie Baham by going easy on her in the finale Q&A, and with her latest life update, she has certainly shocked the many fans anticipating Season 27 hitting the 2025 TV schedule. Here's what the Season 26 runner-up had to share, which I still am shocked about.
MJ "Hard Launched" A Relationship With Former Houseguest Matt Hardeman
It seems love is in the air for the Big Brother 26 cast, and MJ just broke the internet with a reveal wilder than when we learned Derek Xiao and Claire Rehfuss were dating. The reality star confirmed on Instagram that she's now dating former Houseguest Matt Hardeman and had plenty of pictures to prove it was legit:
If you were watching Big Brother's live feeds with a Paramount+ subscription this season, your jaw is probably on the floor. I was just able to pick mine up because I can't believe the showmance that never really got started is now an official relationship.
Why MJ And Matt Dating Is So Shocking
While Matt and MJ seemed to be forming a mild connection in the Big Brother house, he would quickly exit after Angela Murray had a wild call out of him. MJ, in later weeks, would talk about how she didn't feel like she was actually into Matt, and he started to focus his energy inside the house on taunting Angela on social media.
Now that the game is over, it appears that Matt and MJ have had some time to talk and have decided that a relationship can work between them. In fairness, I would imagine it's much easier to discuss the possibility of dating when you're in the outside world and not being watched by reality TV cameras while competing to win a large chunk of prize money. Also, there's something to be said of the pressure associated with knowing your friends, family, and thousands of strangers are watching your every move on the live feeds.
While I'm sure there will be some snarky responses to MJ and Matt becoming a couple, I think it's important for Big Brother fans just to be happy for them and move on. After all, most Houseguests go back to being normal people after Big Brother unless they get caught up in the circuit of competing on The Challenge or The Traitors, so it feels a bit unfair to dogpile on them for simply pursuing romance outside of the game.
Big Brother Season 26 is over, but as many already know, it's all available to stream on Paramount+. Anyone burnt out on Christmas movies but in desperate need of entertainment would benefit from rewatching it, and maybe now pay extra attention to that first week that Matt and MJ were together.
