If there was one word to describe Big Brother 26 so far, it would be “chaos.” Week 3 hasn’t even ended, and so far we’ve had rivalries brewing, contentious arguments, and huge blindsides. But that all perhaps pales in comparison to the veto meeting that closed out the August 7 episode, certainly one of the most eventful in the show’s history.
At the center of it all is Tucker Des Lauriers. The marketing and sales executive has emerged as one of the biggest characters of the season and stood at the center of some of the biggest storylines so far. His rivalry with Lisa Weintraub was a large reason why she was evicted. He’s volunteered to go onto the block not once, but twice. And on tonight’s episode, he attempted his biggest move of the season.
After winning the veto, everyone had assumed that Tucker would naturally use it on himself to not face another Thursday eviction. But, after being told by Kimo Apaka that Quinn Martin had the other power, he developed a big new idea. Getting together with HoH Cedric Hodges, he came up with an extremely bold plan. He’d use the veto not on himself, but fellow nominee Angela Murray. Then, Cedric would put up Quinn, having lied to everyone about his power. Then, at the eviction, he would out Quinn’s deception to the house, and they would hopefully vote him out.
At the veto ceremony, Tucker carries through with his plan. Confidently, he stands up, telling the houseguests, “I think this game is being played too safe. It’s Big Brother, expect the unexpected. Here you go, Angela.”
It’s like a bomb was set off in the house. Shocked faces abound, including from Angela herself, who burst into tears. Tucker follows up by declaring, “You gotta the competitors out. It’s what this game is all about.” And though Quinn is celebrating at the moment, little does he know that Tucker expects Cedric to carry through with his part of the plan.
Unfortunately, the reality failed to measure up to expectations. Not wanting to put up a member of the “Pentagon,” Cedric instead chose to flush another power: Makensy Manbeck’s. Despite Makensy telling him about her “America’s Veto” to disincentivize her from going up, the HoH went through with the house consensus to flush her power.
Before Tucker can shut the box and conclude the ceremony, Makensy stands to continue interrupting the proceedings. She formally uses America’s Veto, bringing up “Ainsley” (the identity behind the thematic “BB AI”). She announces that, in America’s Veto being used, the third nominee will now not be decided by the HoH, but by the fans.
For those who watched the live feeds, they know we’re in for much more fallout from this mayhem-filled veto meeting. But for now, we bring our gaze to America’s vote. Fans have 12 hours now to vote amongst the remaining houseguests for who they want to see as a nominee. They can only pick among those who are not already nominated and not safe, AKA between Cam, Chelsie, Joseph, Kimo, Leah, Quinn, Rubina, and T’kor.