27-year-old Chelsea Baham is the official winner of “Big Brother” Season 26 (the 90-day CBS competition series) by a 7-0 vote over runner-up Makenzy Manbeck. She was crowned the best player with a $750,000 prize. Recently, Baham shared her candid views on her prize money plans, gameplay, game decisions, personal background, and relationship with Cam Sullivan Brown. Here comes Chelsea Baham’s interview after her surprise win.
Key Points from the Chelsea Baham’s interview
Q: How do you feel after winning Big Brother?
A: “I feel so great. As a fan, this is a dream come true.”
Q: What are you going to do with the prize money?
A: “Pay the government first, number one! Then give back to my community – that’s what I do for a living. After that, get a nice pair of shoes, some ice cream, and cuddle with my dog.”
Q: What charities or causes would you like to contribute to?
A: “I’d love to contribute to my local church. They’ve done so much for me as a youth, so I’d like to give back to my youth specifically. I also work with foster kids, so I would love to help foster kids in need financially and not let finances be a thing that gets in the way of them living out their dream.”
Q: How did you feel when McKenzie chose you over Cam for the finale?
A: “That was what I needed. If I had won against her in that last HOH, that was what I needed, and losing with her taking me was also what I needed. I was going to use both scenarios to my benefit.”
Q: If you had won the final HOH, what would your decision have been and why?
A: “Many people were banking on me taking Cam – he’s been my ally since day two. However, McKenzie and I have protected each other since day 45. She’s played a great game. I was going to take my girl to the final two with me. Love you Cam, but Mackenzie has worked her butt off, and I was willing to risk it for the biscuit.”
Q: You made two big moves: convincing Leon during their HOH not to target you and convincing McKenzie to target her own allies. How did you manage that?
A: “It was unintentionally easy. With Leah, I laid out straight facts about the trio having numbers, but I neglected to mention that I was a bigger target. With McKenzie, I painted Leah as a big threat but didn’t mention that I’m a better competitor than Leah. I just chose to withhold some information.”
Q: Why do you think they confided in you and followed your advice?
A: “Either I had a really good social game or they had really bad social game! I preached ‘vulnerability breeds trust,’ and I chose to be vulnerable with them about certain things, which built trust between me and some houseguests.”
Q: What about your relationship with Cam? People wondered if there were romantic feelings.
A: “Being in the Big Brother house makes you go a little crazy. Cam and I knew we were going to become really good friends from the start. Right now, we are great friends, we’ll continue to be great friends, and we’ll see where a friendship leads.”
Q: Was it intentional to pull away from Cam after Zingbot’s comments?
A: “Yes! What the heck, Zingbot being messy trying to blow up my game! We both separated from each other and had a conversation after Zingbot. People were painting us as a pair, so I backed myself off because we see what this show has done to showmances.”
Q: How did you balance your faith with playing a cutthroat game?
A: “That was the hardest portion of this process. I had to constantly tell myself ‘Chelsea, this is a game.’ The majority of living in the Big Brother house is simply living, so there were lots of times where I was just being Chelsea and my faith naturally exuded from me. I had to compartmentalize between game time and just living in the house.”
Q: Do you have a final sermon now that you’re the winner?
A: “Chelsea’s cheese made day 91, episode 91, Proverbs 24:7! I told you so, I told you your girl is gonna make it to the end. All you gotta do is don’t have an ashy attitude, believe in yourself, encourage yourself, and have a little faith. Point blank period!”