The season finale for Big Brother 26 finally arrived on Sunday night.
Day 90 arrived, with host Julie Chen Moonves welcoming viewers to the two-hour endgame.
A $750,000 prize was on the line when the night began, as Makensy Manbeck and Chelsie Baham battled it out to become the Summer 2024 winner.
Oh, Cam Sullivan-Brown was there as well.
Makensy, Chelsie, and Cam had to compete in the final Head of Household Competition before two of them would face the BB26 jury.
The producers were also about to introduce the new jury roundtable host.
Big Brother 26 season finale recap
Julie Chen Moonves welcomed the viewers, and then there was a long recap of what brought the players to Day 90.
Part 1 of the final HOH Competition was the first segment. The trio competed in an Endurance Challenge to get a guaranteed spot in Part 3.
Makensy was eliminated 26 minutes into it.
Chelsie won Part 1 of the final HOH in 37 minutes.
Part 2 of the final HOH Competition on Big Brother 26
Makensy and Cam battled to win Part 3 of the final HOH Comp.
The object was to destroy the brain of AINSLEY. It was a complex challenge requiring the houseguests to finish a vertical puzzle to unlock components and correctly connect nine wires of differing lengths.
Makensy easily won the challenge and celebrated as AINSLEY died. Makensy screamed so loud it made Chelsie jump from across the room.
Taylor Hale hosts the BB26 jury roundtable
Big Brother 24 winner Taylor Hale hosted the BB26 jury roundtable.
Rubina Bernabe joined the first five jurors, and it was time to debate the season.
Taylor led them through an intense discussion. Quinn touched on not understanding some of Makensy’s game moves, and Angela admitted to being bitter (especially with Chelsie).
Part 3 of the final HOH Competition
Makensy and Chelsie had to answer questions about the first six members of the BB26 jury. Six questions were asked, and the winner would be the person with the most correct answers.
Makensy won the final Head of Household Competition by one point.
Who made it to the final two on Big Brother 26?
Makensy evicted Cam. The final two players were Makensy and Chelsie.
Cam became the seventh member of the BB26 jury. He went to have his interview with Julie while the ladies celebrated. He told Julie he would have taken Chelsie to the end had he survived.
Makensy and Chelsie face the BB26 jury
The seven BB26 jury members asked questions of the final two players to help them decide who to vote for this season.
The ladies became very animated, answering questions. Chelsie touched on being HOH four times (tying the record), and Makensy mentioned she won 10 competitions (11 if you count the final HOH as two).
And then the game was turned over to the jury.
All seven jurors made brief statements as they submitted their votes.
The pre-jury evictees return to the stage
Seven people were sent home before the jury phase and they returned to answer some questions on finale night. They seemed to be in great moods. Matt Hardeman even got a moment to joke about being sent home by Angela.
The Big Brother winner and America’s Favorite Houseguest announced
Chelsie Baham won Big Brother 26. She won on a 7-0 unanimous vote.
Tucker Des Lauriers won America’s Favorite Houseguest. The other top vote-getters were Angela Murray and Quinn Martin.
More news and notes from Big Brother
A Big Brother winner is on Deal or No Deal Island 2. The show returns on NBC (this winter) with a Big Brother alum and two Survivor alums.
Austin from BB17 is dealing with some severe health issues. Better known for wrestling on AEW now, Austin Matelson was in a showmance with one of the Nolan twins during his season.
All episodes of Big Brother 26 are streaming on Paramount+.
Big Brother 27 airs on CBS in the Summer of 2025.
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