‘Big Brother 26’ winner Chelsie Baham says she was ‘shocked’ by her unanimous win

Big Brotherthe house is open once again! Every week, Parade.com’s Mike Bloom will bring you interviews with this season’s houseguests as they get kicked out of the game.

“I was strategic, I was sociable, I was skilled. I won when I wanted to, not when I needed to. If you look at my game, it’s not one-sided, it’s a diamond. If you look at it from multiple perspectives, you can say, ‘This It’s beautiful.'”

These are just fragments Chelsie Baham powerful speech she delivered en route to her unanimous victory in Big Brother 26. The nonprofit’s director certainly wasn’t immune to the chaos that has plagued the past 90 days and has fallen victim to a devastating power shift that has lost her two closest allies. But, as they say, diamonds are made under pressure. She changed things on her own, teaming up with Makensy Manbeck and dominating the second half of the season in every facet. It was an absolute gem of a game, valued by the jury at $750,000.

Chelsie’s first month in the house was as perfect as it gets. She has assembled a perfectly nested structure, with her “C-worthy” trio in Cam Sullivan-Brown and Cedric Hodges within the “Pentagon” of five people within the “Collective” of eight people. In most other seasons, this majority would be reinforced to end the game. But Big Brother 26 It wasn’t like most seasons. Quinn’s decision to expel the Pentagon exploded the House’s status quo. Suddenly, Chelsie was knocked down the ranks, as two of her closest allies, Cedric and Brooklyn Rivera were sent. Chelsie even hit the block at one point, like Tucker Des Lauriers the back door, calling her one of the puppets in the house.

Losing her greatest adventure, Chelsie created a new one in Makensy. After Brooklyn’s elimination, Chelsie was the force behind every eviction that followed. She engineered the second big vote inside the house to end the pre-jury phase. She was arguably behind the season’s change, convincing Makensy to name one of her most loyal allies in Leah Peters. And she was able to successfully divert the attention of the trio of her, Cam and Makensy. Even as the other players grew wary of Chelsie’s increasing dominance of the game, she also racked up a significant winning streak, including tying the Big Brother HoH registration.

As we found out after the fact, once Chelsie made it to the jury, she basically won the game. As she had been doing for the previous six weeks, she handpicked the series of events so that no matter who won, she would be the ultimate victor. And even though Makensy won the final HoH, as seemed to be Chelsie’s MO for most of the season, everything went according to plan. Tucker’s words the only time Chelsie was nominated proved to be a prophecy of her incredible game, as she became the first civilian woman to win a Big Brother season unanimously.

Hours after Big Brother 26 final, Chelsie talks to Parade.com about how confident she was in her win (and the reaction to the jury’s unanimous vote), who she would have taken all the way if she won the HoH final, and how the various records she set placed her in the pantheon of Big Brother winners.

Related: Everything to Know Big Brother 26

How are you now? I’m sure it’s indescribable, but what’s happening to you?
I’m winning now in so many ways. Not only did I win Big BrotherI can see other people! I’m winning now. This has been a dream of mine. And not just for being on the show, but for making it to the end and playing a really great game, I’m proud and shocked as much as anyone else.

Well, you say you’re “shocked.” Talk to me about your reaction to the fact that Makensy chose to take him to the end. Was this something you expected?
We’ve really developed a deep friendship over the last few weeks, where I would protect her, she would protect me. And when push came to shove last night, we knew one of us could act fast and dump each other at the last minute. But we decided we wanted to see two women in the end. We ran this season after the 45th and we believed that if one person won number one, the other person completely deserved number two. Therefore, there is a hint of doubt during his speech. I was like, “Oh, she’s about to attack me?!” But we had a lot of time and many hours and sincere conversations. I knew she would take me and I would have taken her.

How surprised were you by the unanimous vote? Was there anyone in particular who you were surprised voted for you over Makensy?
Yes, I didn’t expect a unanimous vote. The people I was most worried about were Angela, Leah, and Quinn. Angela and Leah were very, very close to Makensy throughout the game, and I was a big reason they were both on the jury. And Quinn, I felt, would vote for the beast of the competition. I mean, her record was absolutely crazy. However, when I look at the cast, when I see how we voted throughout the season, it was a very emotional jury, very emotional. And I knew I had deep connections with all of them, and if I played a full game in my pitch, I might get some. But last night, I thought it would be four to three Makensy if I made it to the end. So am I shocked by the unanimous vote? Absolutely.

Let’s say Makensy acts fast and evicts you. You mentioned that this season will have an emotional jury. Would you join them and vote for Cam?
No, I would have voted for Makensy. That would have been something I wouldn’t have even had to think about. This girl has fought so hard and my back hurts from carrying Cam the last few weeks. So I would have been happy if I got number two. But if I didn’t win, she deserved to be number one too. So it would have been an easy vote for me.

Let’s talk about Cam. You two played together for 90 days and at one point you said you had some feelings for him. But there were other points of tension, like when you weren’t happy with him cuddling with Makensy. You even said at one point that he “wasn’t ready for anyone” and needed a male role model in his life. You also talked about wanting to kiss him at the after party. So what are your feelings about your relationship?
(Laughter.) Messy! Okay, so Cam was, in my opinion, a terrible Big Brother player, but a great person. When you can peel back the layers of who he is and everything he’s been through, you can’t help but admire and truly understand why he needed what he needed. That bothered me, because I was working closely with him on this game, and we had seen a showmance come out on the 10th. And him hugging other girls, personally I was over it. But I say, “I need you as a number, so be smart, Cam! Stop hugging all these women because I need you to stay in this game and protect me.” But it wasn’t until I got to the game later that I realized he wasn’t even close to having my back in this game; I could do this alone. So I respect the guy. He made this game quite complicated for me. But he’s great to look at. He has perfect teeth, great voice, beautiful smile. I mean, my time with him wasn’t that bad. Closing party, who knows what will happen.

Let’s talk about the third part of the trio in Makensy. After Cedric and Brooklyn are evicted, the two of you seem to get stuck. Talk to me about how that developed, and did you ever debate getting rid of her closer to the end when she was racking up competition wins?
So in the second week, when Mackenzie revealed to me that she had the power I had in my mindset, I either go against her or make her my biggest ally and protect her. And I didn’t know that decision in week two would land me here, and I’m grateful for that. At some point, I saw how many rewards she was racking up and how much the cast was starting to appreciate her game. At the same time, I spend time with these people and see how they felt personally. And like I said, this cast was exciting. They are. I felt like in the middle of the game, whatever they choose in the end, it won’t just be someone who got eliminated in the competitions. It’s going to be someone who also had a great social game. So I decided, “Let me keep her around. Because as long as she’s here, she’ll be a bigger target than I am. And as long as I develop a deep relationship with her, she’ll accept me too.” When we got to the end, I really started to love this girl, and it was hard at that point. I was like, “I would be proud to lose to you.” Because I liked her.

Lisa said at one point towards the end that you were a completely different person in the Diary Room. Did it surprise you to hear that?
So I don’t think any of the guests knew how strategic I was behind the scenes, how tough and direct I was in my decision making. I guess they thought I was just living my life in the Big Brother home. There wasn’t a moment that passed Big Brother that I wasn’t thinking or strategizing. But I kept it to myself. Lisa, I think she was surprised. Out there, with the guests, I’m calm. I’m laughing, I’m joking. But when I get to the DR, I’m going to work. You guys thought you were just having a good summer?! I’m trying to win the game! And I don’t think anyone realized how much I really cared about this game and always thought about it. So yes, I think everyone will be surprised by how calculated every move I made in this game, every decision, every conversation. And that, I think, brought me here.

You mentioned in one of the jury questions that you didn’t necessarily deceive or lie, but rather chose when to withhold and distribute information. Talk to me more about this.
I utilized certain points and extended the truth. There were definitely times when I did that. For the most part, I was very objective with a lot of people. I was the one who exposed the facts. I was the one having the difficult conversations. I was the one who made people look at the other side of the coin and made other people threats. The problem is this: they were threats. I just didn’t reveal it I he was a bigger threat than everyone. So I was completely lying? No. But was I telling the truth? No. I played in the middle. Being smart in this game is knowing when to speak and when to just withhold information.

Finally, I’ll read you some statistics. You are the fourth civil person Big Brother U.S. history to win unanimously, and you are the first woman to do so. You tied the record for most HoH wins in a season and are the first BIPOC contestant to achieve this feat. You are also the first woman to play a “perfect game”, never receiving an eviction vote or a jury vote against you. As a superfan, how do you analyze your game and how it can resonate Big Brother history?
I got into this show like a microchip because I didn’t follow instructions! My goal was to get through the first week. I didn’t think I would win this game and have the statistics I did. I’m grateful. I am shocked to hear these statistics. I was just trying to be smart about the game. I didn’t even know there were people who kept statistics on Big Brother. But as a fan of this show, as someone who respected the game so much, it’s an honor to make it this far and not just survive Big Brotherbut as you speak and share these statistics, I have thrived. And that’s really cool.

Next, check out our interview with Tucker Des Lauriers, winner Big Brother 26“America’s Favorite Host” award.