‘Big Brother 26’ episode 20 recap: Did the Veto save Makensy, Cam or Tucker? [LIVE BLOG]
Heading into the 20th episode of “Big Brother 26,” new Head of Household T’kor Clottey had just nominated Makensy Manbeck, Cam Sullivan-Brown and Tucker Des Lauriers for eviction. But with the Power of Veto competition still on the line, it was anyone’s guess as to who’d actually be going home this week. So how did it all play out on Wednesday night during a special two-hour episode?
Below, read our minute-by-minute “Big Brother” Season 26, Episode 20 recap/live blog to find out what happened Wednesday, August 28, 2024 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT. Then be sure to sound off in the comments section about your favorite “BB26” houseguests on CBS’s reality TV show, who annoys you the most and who you think will ultimately join the “Big Brother” winners list. Julie Chen Moonves once again hosts the series.
Here are the names of the 11 remaining houseguests: Angela Murray, Cam Sullivan-Brown, Chelsie Baham, Joseph Rodriguez, Kimo Apaka, Leah Peters, Makensy Manbeck, Quinn Martin, Rubina Bernabe, T’kor Clottey and Tucker Des Lauriers. Watch Gold Derby’s exclusive webchats with all of the eliminated players: Matt Hardeman, Lisa Weintraub, Kenney Kelley, Cedric Hodges and Brooklyn Rivera.
Keep refreshing/reloading this “Big Brother 26” live blog for the most recent updates.
8:00 p.m. – “Previously on ‘Big Brother’!” In the 19th episode, the house reacted to Brooklyn being evicted from the game, leaving just three members of the Pentagon alliance remaining: Quinn, Cam and Chelsie. After T’Kor won the “Sound Bites” HOH competition, she gathered her various alliance members and told them they were all safe … except for Tucker, whom she wanted to put on the block as a pawn. Since T’kor wasn’t working with Makensy and Cam, that made them easy targets for her to nominate alongside Tucker. Elsewhere, Tucker found out that America had voted to give him the A.I. Instigator power, which he used to publicly out his own showmance with Rubina. However, it had the opposite result and Rubina ended up breaking down in tears — womp, womp!
8:05 p.m. – Privately, T’Kor emphasized that her plan for the week is to keep Tucker on the block as a pawn to help defeat Makensy and Cam in the veto and arena comps so that she can ensure the eviction of one of them by the end of the week. Even though he knew he was a pawn, Tucker was dismayed that he was being used instead of any other people in their alliance that could have stepped up.
8:08 p.m. – T’Kor met with Cam and Makensy each briefly to apologize for nominating them and suggesting that she did it to give them fair chances at removing themselves from the block as competitors. Neither of them were too bent out of shape about it and committed themselves to fighting hard for the veto. Leah confessed to Cam that she was worried someone would come off the block and she would be used as the renom, underscoring that she “has no one” in the house fighting on her side and lacks agency in the game.
8:12 p.m. – In a conversation with Kimo and T’Kor, Tucker asked if they want him to win the veto and not use it, to which T’Kor answered “yes.” Later he was still hurt about being put on the block as a pawn and in the diary room admitted that if he wins he will remove himself even if it forces her to get more blood on her hands by nominating someone else. He remains committed to “doing what’s best for [his] game.”
8:19 p.m. – Some time after the women gave Angela a twerking lesson, Makensy and Chelsie had a conversation about a scenario where Chelsie plays for the veto and wins with an opportunity to save her. Chelsie said that because her goal for the week is to ensure Tucker doesn’t win so that they can send a big threat home. In the diary room, Chelsie clarified for us that she wouldn’t actually take Makensy off, but instead would remove Cam.
8:21 p.m. – In the selection ceremony for veto players, Cam chose Joseph to play (in an effort to shield how close he is with Chelsie) and T’Kor chose Angela’s chip to play alongside herself and the three nominees. Later, Chelsie told Cam that he should have picked her to play, but since he didn’t he’ll just have to win it for himself since Joseph will not take him down.
8:29 p.m. – For the veto comp, the six players competed for prizes and punishments in “A.I. Apocalypse,” a round-based came of slingshots at “evil robots” to knock down a board with a score on it. The lowest score in each round would get to choose one of the top secret envelopes with a prize or punishment inside and under threat for it to be stolen by anyone eliminated after them. Going into the competition, all of the nominees, T’Kor and Angela all wanted to win the veto over anything else. Only Joseph was hoping he wouldn’t win.
8:34 p.m. – Joseph was eliminated in the first round with a score of 0 and his chosen envelope was the coveted “Golden Power of Veto.” Angela was eliminated in the second round with a score of 0 and her chosen envelope was “Trapped in the Mattrix,” a 24 hour solitary confinement punishment. She didn’t want that so she traded it to Joseph. Makensy was eliminated in the third round with a score of 0 and her chosen envelope was “Last Chance Luau,” a trip for two to Hawaii. Despite being a nominee, Makensy knew that Tucker or Cam would steal the veto from her so she decided to keep the trip instead of trading.
8:40 p.m. – In the fourth round, Tucker scored 11 and both Cam and T’Kor missed their shots for scores of 0. The tie meant a shoot-off to determine who is eliminated where Cam bested T’Kor’s score of 20 with a score of 46. Now eliminated, T’Kor chose the “Radiation Eradication” envelope, a 12 hour punishment of having to clear the yard of radioactive items. Not wanting that, T’Kor traded for the veto, leaving Angela with the punishment.
8:49 p.m. – In the final found of the comp, Tucker missed his shot so when Cam hit a 12 point robot it secured his top placement in the challenge. Tucker chose the next envelope, the “End of Days Dollars” which awarded him $5,000. Knowing that Cam will steal the veto and there’s likely still a punishment in the game, Tucker steals the veto from T’Kor which places the cash in her hand instead of his. The last envelope that Cam chose was a “BB A.I. Assist” punishment requiring the holder to answer questions from Ainsley, day and night. Instead of keeping it, he traded for the veto and handed the punishment to Tucker. With that, Cam earned the veto to potentially remove himself from the block.
8:54 p.m. – Knowing that she’ll have to nominate someone else in Cam’s place, T’Kor and Kimo explored the “limited options” according to their alliances. Because of those connections, T’Kor told Kimo that she feels like she’s only left with Leah as an option.
8:56 p.m. – For his next act as “A.I. Instigator,” Tucker employed the Rubina avatar to make the “big announcement” that Angela is “the best butt roller in the house.” That message was followed by the Angela avatar encouraging herself to keep rolling her butt. The making of the joke between Rubina and Angela made Makensy feel like the messages were coming from a hacker that is likely Angela, convinced that only Angela would find that funny. Makensy’s accusation worried Tucker because he trusts Angela and one of the last thing’s he wants is for this to put Angela in hot water.
9:02 p.m. – As part of the “BB A.I. Assist” punishment, Tucker had to wear a robotic bodysuit, blue shorts and blue cap. Randomly throughout the day and night he’d be asked a question over the intercom that requires him to go upstairs to find the answer in a set of BB encyclopedias.
9:06 p.m. – Tucker’s employment in the punishment didn’t mean his instigating would stop. Next he wanted to “paint a target on” Leah by using Kimo’s avatar to spread the rumor that Leah “gets all the tea from the boys” and a reminder that “knowledge is power.”
9:08 p.m. – Later, Angela was introduced to her 12 hour shift in the “Radiation Eradication” punishment. For this challenge, Angela had to clear the yard of 1000 orbs in the time frame by moving them from across the backyard using a grabber tool and placing them in a containment vestibule. At random intervals, Angela would be stopped to get “decontaminated” in a station that sprayed her with ice cold slime. Though she started out with a pep in her step, by the 3 a.m. mark Angela was no longer feeling great about her task and on the cusp of physically and emotionally breaking down. Supported largely by Makensy through her punishment, Angela managed to get through the home stretch and finish her task among cheers and an applause tunnel after 9 and a half hours. Notably absent from the completion of her task was Tucker.
9:21 p.m. – Matt’s avatar appeared to present Joseph with his “Mattrix” punishment, an invitation to join him in an upstairs Have Not room on his own for 24 hours of solitary confinement with Matt’s avatar speaking to him non-stop on a video screen.
9:24 p.m. – Meanwhile, downstairs the Tucker avatar appeared on the screen to warn the house that “Quinn and Chelsie are not to be trusted” and that T’Kor is one of his new targets because she put him on the block.
9:26 p.m. – Once again the messages made the house believe that Angela is responsible for the instigating because she remains so quiet when they’re delivered. Cam was ready to “call her out,” but was talked down from it. Instead, Tucker found some time alone with Angela to warn her that people think it’s her hoping that she’ll “get out in front of it” and “stop it.” In the conversation, Tucker reaffirmed his trust in her, but placed her on par with Rubina in his book. Though Angela confirmed back to him, Angela was privately worried that he was acting and that it’s obvious he will choose Rubina over her in the end. Because of that, she began to consider doing “something unthinkable,” an effort to “rally to get Tucker out.”
9:34 p.m. – With her new plan, Angela went to Leah, Quinn and Makensy to “make something happen” and emphasizing that she “wants him gone.” She explained to them that he “planted stuff” in her ear about the avatar messages and it has made her distrust him. Quinn gave Angela her word that what she was saying wouldn’t leave that room, but he almost immediately ran up to T’Kor and Kimo (The Visionaries) to use the info as a way of stopping T’Kor from nominating Leah and instead throwing Angela under the bus. T’Kor said that she wasn’t considering ever putting her up and she’s worried about “tainting” that relationship by nominating her up, but acknowledged that Angela’s paranoia always gets the best of her.
9:38 p.m. – Wanting to earn some trust with Tucker, Quinn decided to disclose Angela’s move to him directly. Tucker was shocked, knowing that he’s been loyal to her and fought really hard to be on her side “because she needs someone in here.” There was a sense of disappointment in his voice when he responded to Quinn and said that he’s going to find out if it’s true.
9:46 p.m. – Tucker approached Angela with the “crazy rumor” that she’s trying to get him out. Angela admitted that she’d “be a fool to trust that he’ll take” her to the end, but he said that she should still trust him because of how hard he’s fought for her. He wanted to know why he would say the things he says to her because he loves her, not to set her up. He even went as far as saying that he keeps his word and he’d “kick Rubina out before” her. Still, she questioned his loyalty. Tucker, even privately, still wanted to work with Angela and would remain committed to getting her to the end of the game with him.
9:50 p.m. – Tucker tried to get T’Kor to nominate Leah instead of Angela, but T’Kor felt like having Angela up there would ruffle less feathers than if he were to upset Quinn by putting Leah in danger.
9:54 p.m. – Before the veto meeting, Joseph was released from confinement and joined the rest of the house in the living room. Then, Cam removed himself from the nomination block and forced T’Kor to name a replacement nominee. Torn between two options, T’Kor decided to put her alliance member Angela on the block. Based on reactions, Tucker was extremely displeased by T’Kor’s decision and could potentially vow to work against her going forward, seeing their loyalty as a one way street.
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