Big Brother 27 has given new meaning to the slogan “Expect the Unexpected.” What fans and alumni alike did not expect this season was a complete change in the eviction format as producers work to whittle down the number of houseguests in the final weeks.
Be warned, there are major spoilers ahead. If you have managed to avoid the BB27 news over the past several days, stop reading now.
With nine players left in the game heading into the closing stretch, it was clear that a series of evictions would be coming. What no one expected was an “elimination,” and even fewer expected Rachel Reilly to be the one to fall victim. As we have gathered from the Live Feeds, the White Locust twist forced houseguests into a maze one by one. Each had to finish before the time set by the previous person ran out, and the finisher then chose the next person to go. If you watched Reindeer Games, it is the same setup where Danielle Reyes was eliminated.
Apparently, Ava started the chain and did not let Rachel go first because, allegedly, Rachel “tugged” on Ava’s arm. Ava has since spent hours on the Live Feeds defending her choice. Regardless of the reason, Rachel was not picked early, and by the time she finally was, there was almost no time left. She failed to finish and was eliminated from the game. The entire game. No nomination, no veto, no Block Buster, no campaign for votes. She was simply sent to jury. Fans and alumni are outraged. While much of the anger stems from it being Rachel, many believe the greater issue is that the game itself was compromised. Big Brother has always been a social experiment where players decide who stays and who goes. This kind of elimination undermines that.
And alumni are speaking out.
“[Rachel] came back because she loves and respects the game,” Big Brother’s Janelle Pierzina tweeted. “The game was not broken. Why meddle? So many players this season had three opportunities for safety: HOH, Veto, and Block Buster. Not to mention they got to campaign. Big Brother 27 did not deserve Rachel.”
Big Brother 8 winner Evel Dick, who spent much of the season irritated by Rachel, was still upset at the twist.
“Almost everyone has had the chance to save themselves three times this season,” Evel Dick posted on Twitter/X. “Veto. Blockbuster. Eviction vote, where they can sway the vote. Now there is an eviction by twist. No vote. No Blockbuster. No Veto. It really is very unfair, regardless of who it was. Now I feel bad for Rachel.”
Cory Wurtenberger from Big Brother 25 posted on ChatBCC that this had been his favorite season in years before all this happened.
“Like it or not, this whole season was about Rachel, her journey, good moves, bad moves, whatever,” Cory wrote. “And her being eliminated in one night off-feeds is just laughable. Legitimately, this was my favorite season in years and I have no interest in watching anymore. Not because Rachel is gone. It just feels like this season has had the life sucked out of it because they forgot how to schedule evictions.”
Josh Martinez, Big Brother 19 winner, put it more bluntly: “Cancel the whole f____ thing,” he tweeted.
Big Brother 24’s Brittany Hoops echoed fans’ frustration.
“… Rachel, a legendary player from the golden days of Big Brother, being evicted (eliminated?) by a random new era twist is the perfect metaphor for how the original spirit of the show has been lost,” Brittany posted on ChatBCC.
Big Brother 10 champ Dan Gheesling captured the disappointment best. (Note: he tweeted and later deleted the following because “it might not be over for Rachel yet,” he explained).
“Was rooting for her to be the first two-time winner,” Dan wrote. “I cannot imagine how devastated she must be. Always having a chance to fight to stay in the game and knowing it is never over until the final vote is cast is what I have always loved about Big Brother. Maybe this will help return the franchise to less severe twists or even no twists at all.”
Some still hold out hope that this is only a temporary removal and Rachel could return, but with so few weeks left, that feels unlikely.
How do you feel about what happened to Rachel and the way it went down?
