Warning: This post contains spoilers for Season 27 of “Big Brother.”
The 27th season of “Big Brother” on CBS was filled with controversial twists and puzzling moves from the 16 houseguests, plus a “mystery houseguest,” but only one person could be crowned the winner during the finale Sept. 28.
Rachel Reilly, who won Season 13 of the reality series, surprised the houseguests as an additional player shortly after they moved in during the premiere July 10.
“Reality royalty has officially arrived,” Reilly said during the Season 27 premiere, though she did not make it to the end of the competition and was eliminated Sept. 9.
After weeks of Head of Household and Power of Veto competitions, just three houseguests were left in the game for the finale: Morgan Pope, Ashley Hollis and Vince Panaro.
The two-hour Season 27 finale aired Sept. 28, and just one houseguest was able to take home the $750,000 prize. Keep reading to find out who won this season of “Big Brother.”
Who Won ‘Big Brother’ Season 27?
Ashley Hollis, a lawyer from New York City, took home the $750,000 grand prize after winning the jury vote, 6-1, against runner-up Vince Panaro, as Morgan Pope did not make it to the final two. Notably, Hollis did not win a Head of Household competition during the season, until the last day.
“To me, a ‘Big Brother’ winner is someone who turns their enemies into allies, not their allies into enemies,” she said during her pitch to the jury before the final vote.
In an interview after her win with Entertainment Weekly, Hollis said she put a lot of thought into her speech ahead of the finale.
“Oh my gosh, I worked on that speech for days — trying to come up with combativeness too, if I was sitting next to Morgan or if I was sitting next to Vinny,” she said. “And for me, I really just knew that Vinny’s social game wasn’t that strong. He made some really bad moves in the game. He led a lot of people on and gave them hope even though he knew he was going to go another way. So I knew I wanted to emphasize that.”
Hollis said she used her skills as an attorney to make her argument.
“And being an attorney, you have to predict what the other person’s arguments are going to be and already have a strategy and a counter-argument to whatever their argument is going be,” she said. “And so I knew he was going to try to say he had a strong social game and he only lied when he had to, but I’m like, ‘You turned a lot of allies into enemies.’ And I feel like in my game, I did the exact opposite.”
Hollis added that she knew her speech would do damage to her competitors.
“I knew I was going to beat Vinny because I knew I was going to hit with my speech and my questions, and I knew he was going to get nervous,” she said.
While Hollis won the competition, her fellow houseguest Keanu Soto won America’s Favorite Houseguest.
What Time Did the ‘Big Brother’ Finale Air?
The “Big Brother” finale aired at 8:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, Sept. 28, on CBS. The finale was two hours long and ended at 10:30 p.m. ET.
Will There Be a Season 28 of ‘Big Brother’?