Chelsie Baham, Makensy Manbeck and Cam Sullivan-Brown battle it out to win an unpredictable season of the CBS competition show
"Big Brother" 26 crowned its winner, ending one of the CBS competition series' most unpredictable seasons yet.
After 90 days of 24-hour surveillance that included fierce competitions, betrayals and plenty of AI-themed twists, this season's jury of houseguests voted for the victor among Season 26's Top 3 players, with all the action taking place during the two-hour finale event Sunday night. In the end, Chelsie Baham was named the winner of "Big Brother" 26, earning the $750,000 prize.
Viewers also had their say during the season finale, as America voted for their favorite houseguest and named Tucker Des Lauriers, a 30-year-old marketing and sales executive. He earned a $50,000 cash prize.
Chelsie, a 27-year-old nonprofit director, was among a competitive final three houseguests that also included Makensy Manbeck, a 22-year-old construction project manager, and Cam Sullivan-Brown, a 25-year-old physical therapist. The jury voted unanimously for Chelsie. Makensy, who made second place, earned $75,000.
Prior to the jury's vote, "Big Brother" Season 24 winner Taylor Hale returned to host the finale's jury roundtable, stepping in for Season 2 winner Dr. Will Kirby, who had been hosting the discussion since 2013. Season 16 winner Derrick Levasseur also made an appearance during Friday's lookback episode to help set up the finale's final BB AI twist.
"Big Brother" Season 26 kicked off with a two-night event on July 17-18 as 16 houseguests moved into a house outfitted with more than 90 cameras and 100 microphones, recording their every move 24 hours a day. Each week, someone was voted out of the house, with the last remaining Houseguest receiving the grand prize of $750,000.
As the season progressed, viewers praised its unpredictability -- with many fans calling this one of the CBS show's best seasons in years. It also marked some historic firsts for the show, including host Julie Chen Moonves having to skip hosting a live eviction episode for the first time in the show's history after testing positive for COVID. "The Talk" co-host Jerry O'Connell stepped in for the last-minute substitution.
Other cast members this season included Angela Murray, a 50-year-old real estate agent; Brooklyn Rivera, a 34-year-old business administrator; Cedric Hodges, a 21-year-old former marine; Joseph Rodriguez, a 30-year-old video store clerk; Kenney Kelley, a 52-year-old former undercover cop; Kimo Apaka, 35-year-old mattress sales rep; Leah Peters, a 26-year-old VIP cocktail server; Lisa Weintraub, a 33-year-old celebrity chef; Matt Hardeman, a 25-year-old tech sales rep; Quinn Martin, a 25-year-old nurse recruiter; Rubina Bernabe, a 35-year-old event bartender and T'kor Clottey, a 23-year-old crochet business owner.