‘Big Brother’ star Makensy Manbeck defends shocking final decision

Makensy Manbeck had won Big Brother. After emerging victorious in the Head of Household final and placing in the bottom two, all Makensy had to do was pick Cam Sullivan-Brown to sit next to her and her win (and the $750,000 that came with it) was complete. But that’s not what Makensy decided to do.

Instead, Makensy preferred loyalty over money and chose Chelsie Baham to join her in the final two. The move backfired when Chelsie swept the jury and won unanimously 7-0. Makensy expressed satisfaction with her decision after losing, but would she make the same decision again? And what votes did she not get that surprised her? We asked Makensy all that and more when we spoke to the finalist shortly after leaving the house and delved into the emotional rollercoaster of an evening.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: I know you’re processing a lot right now, so how are you feeling after the emotional monster of the last few hours?

MAKENSY MANBEK: Honestly, I’m great. I am delighted to be able to spend the 90 days in the Big Brother home. That is an achievement in itself. Winning how many competitions I did as a woman is an achievement in itself. And to get second place in Big Brotherwhich not many people can say they obtained, is an achievement. I, of course, wanted to win first place, but I knew it would be a risk to choose Chelsie, but I’m not ashamed of that. I played the game I said I was going to play going in, which was one of respect and loyalty, and if that got me to second place, so be it, because I’m proud of the decision I made and I’m proud of who won.

It’s interesting because we as viewers see a lot more than you see, so we know more than all of you, and to us, when you make the decision to choose Chelsie, it seems crazy on the one hand, while it may not it seems so. to you because I don’t have the same information.

Exactly.

So I guess the question I have is: If you could do it over again, knowing what you know now and knowing that the goal of the game is to win it, would you still take Chelsie to the end or not?

I would really do it again, because I still had hope in myself. I didn’t think I was going to lose, or at least as bad as I did, 7 to 0. But I had confidence in my own game. I was sure I had played an amazing game. I survived a lot in that house and tested myself every week. And if the people on the jury didn’t see that and didn’t want to praise my game, so be it. They can praise hers.

But what I know in my heart is that I won for myself and I proved that to myself a lot, and I hope I proved that to America a lot, and I’ll walk out with my head held high knowing that I made decisions that make me happy on the inside. home, and it will make me happy outside this house. Being able to watch this game again, knowing how I talked about people, the moves I made and everything in general will make me feel very, very proud. And I hope to make my family proud and other people to see that they can be authentically themselves and still go far in this game.

Well, I think the person you want to be proud of is Jankie, but that’s neither here nor there. Anyone in your position is going to have to do jury calculations when addressing that, and I spoke to chelsie Just a few minutes ago and she said that at one point she thought you would have had the votes, 4 to 3. What did you think your chances were against Chelsie before you met with the jury?

Before I met with the jury, I thought it was going to be a 4 to 3 vote, for me or her. I didn’t know who those different people would be, but I did think it was actually going to be a very close vote.

What were the votes that surprised you the most and that you thought you were going to get or had a good chance of getting?

I thought I had a good chance of getting it. read and Angelabecause they said they would. And I also thought that I could possibly have gotten Quinn and blondebut I didn’t do it. So be it. I don’t know why, but I can’t do it again.

Those are the exact same four that Chelsie said at one point that she thought you were going to get.

Yes, look at us.

Do you think Chelsie would have taken you all the way if she had won the Head of Household finale?

I want to say yes, based on the conversations we had. However, based on the questions and how you answered them, I don’t think so. I think she was manipulating me and using me, and if that’s true, so be it. Because at least I can say that I was a good person and that I was true to myself. And if that now makes me a naive 22 year old because I thought I had a very good friend and a very good ally in this game, so be it, because I still won the last HOH I could win. I had to make the decision and I had to make a decision for my game that showed who I was.

For the record, I asked her and she says she would have taken you all the way. Now, that’s easy for her to say now, but that’s what she says. She says I would have brought you. But we will never know.

Well, thank God because she said she would have, and I hope she would have. But yeah, I mean, who knows what would have really happened. We will never get that moment back. Cam definitely wouldn’t have accepted me. I think Cam was lying to me the whole time, which is really funny. But that’s why I took him to the final three because I knew I could beat him.

Yes, you would have beaten him. I don’t think there is any doubt.

Yeah.

Makensy, could you feel it slip during the trip questions and pretty much after Chelsie gave her final speech? Was that when you were able to figure out what it was going to be like?

I did. When Chelsie was asked the questions she asked and she answered them the way she did, it really allowed them to understand her game. And it allowed him to show that he had very complex aspects of his game. And for me, I am very proud of her, very happy. But for me, it really made my game one-sided. I was winning. That was the game I had to play. They cornered me the first week. They saw me as a threat as soon as I started winning.

So nothing I did in that house allowed me to improve socially, because everyone already had their groups, everyone had what they wanted and the only thing I had was myself. And that’s exactly why I continually won. And winning continually also puts balance bigger target you as a threat. So he continually had to earn even more! So it was a great match, but it was a very one-sided match for me. And it has been seen before. taylor He did an amazing job with the same type of survival game and won. But again, it’s been seen, it’s been done. And so be it.

Of your 10 competition wins, which was your favorite?

Or AI Arena two, getting Fatigue Away, the comp beast himself! He said, “Someone hit me!” and I did it. And apparently he loves puzzles, but apparently I’m better at them. And voting for him was great and allowed me to go ahead and become the big competition beast of the season, which led to one of my favorite competition wins, which was OTEV in one round. So crazy, so amazing. And that’s what happens to people for wanting to kick me out the first week. I’m telling you, I won that competition because no one wanted to play with me in the first HOH.

It’s not $750,000, but it’s $75,000, so any plans for that money?

Maybe pay my car note, save something because I went [censors herself with a BEEP! noise] before I come here, try to calculate all my expenses and then buy me some coffee, because it’s been a long, hot minute before I had a good coffee and I’m excited to buy many, many, many coffees for the next few days in forward. And then the rest I’ll probably spend on my family.

I know it was a long time ago at this point, but you were on a show at the beginning of the season, I don’t know how much you and Mate I had a chance to speak on stage, but any thoughts on that whole situation?

No, we couldn’t talk much on stage or afterwards. I’ve been very busy, but I hope to have a conversation very, very soon. Matt is an incredible man and I would be very lucky to have a conversation with him. So stay tuned for how that conversation goes and what it means.

Would you do it again? Would you play again if asked?

Would I play again? I absolutely would. I need a break. I need a little break, a little mental vacation, because being there is stressful. I’m 22 years old and I’ve got gray hair! I’m going to let everyone know right now that I have gray hair at 22 years old! So it was a difficult experience, but one I wouldn’t change for the world and would probably do again.

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