We’re down to the final five Big Brother 26 players. Pretty much, the game seems over as Makensy and Chelsie’s competition prowess, and Cam, Rubina, and Kimo’s lack of competitive abilities, make it seem impossible for any outcome that doesn’t at least include either Chelsie or Makensy in the final three. The odds of both of them making it seem greater than the odds of only one in the final three. Makensy and Chelsie are the players most likely to win Big Brother 26.
However, it’s not over until it’s over. Therefore, let’s examine each of the Big Brother 26 final five’s games and discuss what needs to happen for them to make it to the end. Let’s also discuss what points could be made in their finale night speech to help secure a win.
Can anyone still win Big Brother 26? Let’s discuss.
Kimo
Currently, things aren’t looking great for Kimo. He’s two votes away from finishing fifth. His first step to winning Big Brother 26 would be to flip the vote and stay in the house this week. His best shot of accomplishing this is to sell the narrative to Cam and Chelsie that they need him to take out Makensy. He knows they’re a tight trio, and it would hurt their games, and potentially lose them a vote, by taking out Makensy. He can do it for them.
Rubina has only won one competition so far. He has two wins and the upcoming competitions are ones he can win. Kimo needs to emphasize that they have better odds of going far with him over Makensy. He can help make that happen. Kimo also needs to downplay his potential jury votes.
His jury votes are likely what’s making him so dangerous to Chelsie. He would have Rubina, T’Kor, Angela, and probably Leah and Quinn’s votes. If Kimo manages to flip the votes to stay over Rubina, he must win the final four Head of Household competition to guarantee his safety. He also needs the final Veto win to control the outcome of the final three and add to his resume.
Kimo needs to keep Cam off the block with the Veto. Then ensure Cam votes out Makensy (because she has a better chance of winning competitions). Then he needs to win Part 1 or Part 2 of the final Head of Household Competition. Then take the final HOH and vote out Chelsie. Leaving a Cam and Kimo final two.
His Final Speech: Kimo needs to pull out the passion he displayed in his almost eviction during week 7. He needs to talk about how much Big Brother means to him. All the times he auditioned and how much of a dream this has been for him and his family. Kimo could talk about how his victory would make him one of the few LGBTQ+ winners of the series. Representation matters.
Kimo also needs to emphasize his Big Brother journey. He started at the bottom of a majority alliance. With T’Kor, he helped take it down and repositioned himself. He became one of the main members of Friendzzzz and took out a huge player like Brooklyn. Once Tucker left, he had to, once again, try to figure out what to do and where to go next.
His story is one of survival. He was on the block at least seven times. He managed to continue to stay in the game weekly. It was emotionally draining but he never gave up and always wanted to win. His strong social skills and spirit kept him alive in the game. People wanted him around not just because they thought he was easy to beat but because they liked him.
Big Brother isn’t just about competition wins, the social game matters equally. In Big Brother’s history, more players have won from their strong social games than just because they won competitions. It’s actually more impressive if someone makes it to the end simply because they can socially maneuver their way. Kimo must emphasize his survivor’s journey in the house and the importance of winning the game as a Big Brother fan.
Rubina
Rubina’s first step to victory is to stay in the house this week. Her odds are (currently) good to stay, but we know with too much time to think, the vote can always flip. Additionally, Rubina has been trying to fight some this week by throwing Chelsie under the bus. Chelsie knows this and has the most influence over Cam and Makensy.
Despite Rubina being better for all the players to keep over Kimo, anything can happen. To remain in the house this week, Rubina must continue pushing the idea that she’s really bad at competitions. Rubina then needs to continue to preach that she wants women at the end while continuing to build her relationship with Cam.
Rubina also might need to plant seeds of doubt in Makensy’s head about Chelsie and Cam while also planting seeds of doubt in Chelsie and Cam’s heads about Makensy. She needs to become someone who can turn people against one another without making it obvious. Rubina must come off as genuine and not like a manipulator or a schemer.
Her survival this week is critical but she also needs to try to start disrupting the power structure. If Rubina stays, she then needs to win the upcoming Head of Household. Not only would it ensure that she makes the final three, but it would allow her to disrupt the status quo and say she wasn’t dragged along all season. Rubina then needs Cam or her to win the final Veto. If she wins the final Veto, she needs to keep Cam off the block and allow him to vote out Makensy.
Chelsie and Makensy may be mad that Rubina claimed to be all about women’s empowerment, and then kept Cam off the block. That’s why it might be slightly better for her (if she’s HOH) to let Cam win the Veto so she can still claim girl power. The jury may take her protecting Cam two ways.
Some may see Rubina as a manipulative, scheming player and not want to reward that behavior. Others could see it as Rubina actually playing the game and be impressed that she schemed this far, especially since many may not currently respect her game. After Makensy leaves, Rubina needs to win the final Head of Household. She has to cut Chelsie and take Cam.
Her Final Speech: Rubina needs to start by discussing how she was excluded from that majority alliance. She spent the first few weeks floundering in the game without a lifeboat. However, she did use this time to build relationships. Her relationships are what kept her this far. T’Kor and Kimo flipped on a majority alliance because of their devotion to Rubina. That move shook up the game in the biggest way. Then Tucker took control for about a week.
People would try to claim that she just rode coattails but Rubina often pushed back on Tucker’s plans and didn’t let him control her decisions. Rubina also cared about him but put more stock in her relationship with Kimo and T’kor, which helped her more in the game. Tucker’s leaving could have been her huge downfall because she could have been just picked off right after him, and she almost was, but instead, she also played a game of survival.
Constantly, Rubina was on the block but managed to continue to play. Unlike most houseguests, she was also on the block against her closest allies repeatedly. This can be an emotionally daunting thing but she persevered each time. Rubina may only have a few wins (or one depending on how the rest of Big Brother 26 goes), but that almost makes the fact that she made it to the end even more impressive. Underestimated, discarded, and undervalued but she somehow continued to survive.
Rubina went from a week four boot to in the final two. None of the remaining houseguests have had to deal with constantly trying to fight their way from eviction. Rubina then needs to talk about her social game and how Big Brother isn’t just about who can comp beast their way to the end.
Winners with strong social games far outweigh the comp beast. I know Rubina would love to talk about Filipina representation and women’s empowerment (which are important things) but I think if she takes Cam, she should not emphasize that point because it makes her look like a hypocrite. And I think the jury would respect her speech more if she talked about her game resume and less about her identity outside the game.
Rubina needs to really drive home the points that she was constantly at the bottom of the house and disposable but used the only resource she had, her social game, to escape eviction. Rubina may not have won much but some of the greatest Big Brother players weren’t huge competition beasts.
Cam
Cam must win all of the remaining competitions. If he wins the next Head of Household, Cam then needs to nominate Rubina and Makensy. This would keep him looking like he’s loyal to Makensy and Chelsie. However, he needs Rubina to win the final Veto or to do it himself. If he wins the Veto, he must convince Chelsie to allow him to nominate her, so that Rubina can vote out Makensy.
Cam needs to sell Chelsie on this move by saying it would keep the blood off her and put it all on him. Additionally, he needs to sell this as a way to convince Rubina that they’re not as close. This may make Rubina pick her over him, or at least not see it coming when they pick each other to go to the end. Cam needs to really convince Chelsie that her on-the-block benefits both, and that Rubina would take out Makensy. That would be a nearly impossible task but it may be his only hope to win the game.
However, it would benefit him more if Rubina wins the Veto (to allow him to keep that blood off his hands). This move would put some blood on Rubina’s hands, and it allows Cam to have a hand in Makensy’s eviction. Makensy’s eviction would greatly benefit him if he could get rid of her in a way that allows him to act like the move was beyond his control. Plausible deniability.
Of a potential final four of Rubina, Makensy, Cam, and Chelsie, Makensy is probably the only remaining player who would probably not take Cam over Chelsie. Her leaving at the final four most benefits Cam. Cam then needs to win the final Head of Household and cut Chelsie. Now this betrayal I believe, would win him Big Brother 26. It would shock everyone and show that Cam isn’t just playing for second place.
His Final Speech: Cam needs to call attention to the fact that he has been in a position of influence for almost the entire game. He was only briefly at the bottom. It’s impressive to stay in power, in some way, most of the season. Chelsie and him were a powerful duo before they became a powerful trio with Makensy. They had so much influence on the game throughout. People may say he was just Chelsie’s minion but he influenced some of her decisions, like getting out Quinn instead of Leah.
Cam outwardly looks like he’s prime to become a competition threat. That didn’t become his reality. However, his appearance could have made him easy to vote out (as someone to fear in competitions), but he used his social game to go far. Cam consistently had to readjust his game to ensure his safety and the safety of his team. He played a fairly loyal game until the end.
He should really emphasize how he hated betraying Chelsie (by cutting her) but he had to make a move solely for himself. He respects Chelsie and will make this betrayal up to her, but he had to make a selfish move. Cam needs to really sell himself as someone influential in the game. He has to disprove the idea that he’s just been Chelsie’s minion. He needs to make it seem like they’ve worked as a duo, and that he had as much or almost as much influence on the game as her. Cam also must mention how socially he got this far, not just competition. Then make sure people respect that he cut Chelsie, and not use it against him to not vote for him.
Makensy
Makensy needs to either continue her winning streak to comp beast her way to the end or persuade everyone to not vote her out the first chance available. The former is the easier route. If Makensy manages to win her way to the end, she will have an extremely impressive amount of competition victories.
That automatically gives her some points with the jury. While I think it’s extremely bad for Cam, Rubina, or Kimo to go to the end with Chelsie, Makensy might be the only one who could beat her. Makensy has a guaranteed win, likely, against Cam, Rubina, or Kimo. Chelsie presents more of a challenge for her. However, taking Chelsie shows a few things. It shows she’s a loyal player to the very end. It also shows she’s not afraid of competition. Now, on the flip side, it also shows that Makensy isn’t self-interested enough.
She also plays naively if she does not see how Chelsie’s chances of winning exceed her chances. However, Makensy can spin keeping Chelsie as her wanting to go against the best. Some jurors may respect this decision.
Her Final Speech: Makensy should start with her association with Matt and how it immediately put her in a bad position. She then feared going on the block for weeks. It was only the threat of her power that kept her safe. Then she had to use it to stay off the block for another week.
After the power was gone, she faced a potential eviction. She used the AI Arena to win safety and help evict one of the biggest competition threats in the game: Tucker. After Tucker’s eviction, Makensy repositioned herself and formed the dominant trio of Chelsie, Cam, and Makensy. They took hold of the game and didn’t let go all the way until the end.
Makensy’s major competition wins helped ensure they stayed in power and were able to make the moves that got them thus far. Makensy also helped execute and influence some of the biggest evictions of the season, including T’Kor and Quunn’s evictions.
Competition wins aren’t everything but they can be a valuable tool if they help players bend the game in a way that keeps them on top. Without Makensy’s wins, who knows if Chelsie, Cam, and Makensy would have even had a chance to win Big Brother 26.
Chelsie
Chelsie’s only real threat to not making it to the end is if the other final four players ban together and plot to evict her. They would first have to hope that she doesn’t win the next Head of Household (which she likely will). Chelsie needs to win the next Head of Household or Veto to ensure no one has the chance to ponder getting her out at the final four. If she wins the final four Head of Household or Veto, it doesn’t really matter who leaves for her game.
Any of them leaving benefits her. Rubina or Kimo leaving means no one is tempted to take Rubina or Kimo to the end. Makensy leaving means her chances of winning increases. Cam leaving means that Makensy and Rubina or Kimo may take her over each other to the end. In this scenario, Rubina and Kimo may fear Makensy’s competition win potential and take her out over Chelsie. Makensy wants to go to the end with the best, so she would pick Chelsie.
To ensure she makes it to the end, Chelsie needs to win the final Head of Household. Who sits next to her in the end may not matter. However, Makensy is the only one of the remaining players who may have a chance to beat Chelsie. It would benefit her more to cut Makensy, or not have her in the final three.
Her Final Speech: Chelsie should talk about her one week of danger. She should mention how she won a crucial competition (the AI Arena) to save her game life. Chelsie then needed to readjust her game and claw her way back to the top. She replaced Brooklyn with Makensy and again took charge of Big Brother 26. Then she took out the biggest threat to her game: Tucker.
Makensy had a lot of competition wins, but Chelsie did too. The comp wins helped Chelsie have a major agency in the game. Additionally, Makensy’s Head of Household wins were still basically Chelsie’s win because she influenced Makensy’s decision so much. Makensy getting rid of Leah and Angela helped Chelsie way more than it helped Makensy.
Chelsie didn’t just have wins but she had power most of this season of Big Brother. It wasn’t just about the competition wins but using her words to manipulate people into doing her bidding. Since Week 1, Chelsie was put in a bad position by losing a night one competition. She started from the bottom and didn’t let herself stay there.
As the game continued, Chelsie grew stronger and became one of the most influential players of Big Brother 26.
She gained power, lost it briefly, but then grabbed it back and didn’t let go. Chelsie has had one of the most dominant games in Big Brother history because she combines competition wins and influence.
