Big Brother winner Chelsie Baham shocked with her unanimous win

Chelsie Baham saw her alliance fall apart early on Big Brother. But the 27-year-old non-profit coordinator from Rancho Cucamonga, California, spontaneously reoriented himself. And she was rewarded by being named the winner of season 26 during Sunday's two-hour live finale.

Chelsie was a true triple threat who excelled in the competition (tie). Big Brother record with four wins as Head of Household), strategic (convincing Makensy Manbeck to get rid of her ally Leah Peters) and social (never really in danger of going home). As a result, she earned a unanimous jury victory over fellow finalist Makensky, although Makensy won the final Head of Household category and ten competitions in total.

Was Chelsie surprised that Makensy chose to take her to the end instead of the easily beaten Cam Sullivan-Brown? Would she have done the same? Which voices worried her the most? And what does she plan to do with the $750,000 prize money? We asked Aunt Julie's niece all this and more just hours after her big win.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: First of all, congratulations! Is everything a blur at the moment?

CHELSIE BAHAM: Oh my God. I'm shocked. Life is a blur. I don't even know my name right now, so you know. That's crazy.

How worried were you that Makensy would take Cam to the end instead of you after she won the Head of Household title?

I was a little worried when she stood up there and gave her speech. I thought she was making a smart decision and not following her heart. But we had had so many conversations over the last few nights and weeks that no matter what happened, we both felt like we deserved to be in the last two chairs. I believe her. I believe in the woman she is. So I wasn't too worried. This is my friend and I knew she would make this decision.

Who would you have voted for to win if Makensy had cut you off there and taken Cam to the end?

I would have voted for Makensy to win.

Why?

Because we carried Cam the whole game! What do you think? This girl played one hell of a game. She deserved to walk away with some money, and if it wasn't me, she deserved to win. So I would still vote for her. If I wasn't sitting next to her, she got my vote.

Okay, be honest with me. No waffling, no wavering. Let's say you won the final. HOH: Who would you have taken to the final two?

If I had won I could have taken Makensy to the final two, that was definitely the case. A few nights before, I had been thinking about it: Do I make a decision with my head or do I make a decision with my heart? And I just felt like if I made a decision with my heart, I would still get a reward in the end. So I said I wanted to walk with my head held high and be proud of who was sitting next to me. Cam is great, but I was honored to sit next to Makensy at the end after the game she played. She had the ability to cut me weeks ago, but we decided to protect each other so I wanted to sit next to her. I would have chosen her.

I'm sure you've done jury calculations in advance of tonight. What were the jury votes that worried you the most?

I was most worried about Quinn, Leah, Angela and Rubina. All four. Rubina had given a speech just before her eviction where she felt that Makensy would win this game. So that was a jury vote that worried me. And then Angela and Leah Makensy became very, very close. And Quinn is one Big Brother Super fan, so I figured he'd go for the competitive beast that had just destroyed competitions this season. That's why I thought that if there was a vote where it was four to three, Makensy would win.

Really? Did you think she would win?

Yes. There was a point where I was doing math and thought, “I feel like she could win this game,” after Rubina talked a lot about her game. So I worried for a minute. But when I thought about jury management and how emotional our cast was this season, I knew that emotions would play a role in voting, not just in competitions. That's why I had to pull this emotional card in my speech. They wanted to vote for someone they liked because we've been doing that all season, and I just noticed it last night.

How shocked are you that it was unanimous?

Oh my God. I was so shocked! I prepared my heart that the first key that came out would be Makensy, would be Makensy, and then it was me. I thought, “Oh, cool. The second one will of course be her.” It was me again and it just kept going. I didn't expect that at all. I thought it would be a much more difficult decision for the jury than it actually was.

What went through your mind when Makensy was asked by the jury about the Leah vote and said: “I took this step alone.” Nobody can influence me. I made decisions for myself.”

I immediately thought that the jury was playing this game with us and knew that it wasn't 100% correct. So you can say as much as you want, but the jury played this game and lived it with us, so they knew what conversations would be had. So I thought: Nice move, but there will be an opportunity in my speech to convince the jury how hard I worked because I worked overtime to make sure she made the move. Because they were very, very close in that game and Leah wasn't a threat to Makensy, and I just made it seem like she was. So I knew I would get the opportunity to refute it, so I didn't fight it too hard.

During the jury question and answer session, when did you feel like things were going your way?

The jury asked Makensy a question saying, “We feel like you took steps that benefited Chelsie's game, not yours. What steps did you take to help your game?” And then I knew that I had the jury because they had read both of our games, and read them carefully. And if you read my game against them, I controlled their game in the second half of that game. Even when she won, she did everything I asked her to do and the judges knew it. Then I knew: “You know. I won't have to fight too much in my speech. You know.”

Big Brother is a game that lasts a whole season if you want to win. But there are certain points at which losers become winners and winners become losers. Is there such a point for you? Was there a point where you thought, “Oh my God, I need to regroup,” and a day that really put you in that position?

Yes, when I was on the wrong side of the vote in the third week when Cedric went home. And then in the fourth week I was put on the block next to my two closest allies by another member of my alliance. Everything I fought and worked for evaporated on the 35th day. It was day 35 and I said, “I have to change the way I play this game. I have to be smarter, I have to be calculated, I have to make the right decisions to get there.” So I focused on being a great social player and only winning when I needed to. That's how I got here. On day 35 I said, “I never want to touch this block again.” And I just did that tonight.

What are you going to do with the money?

I have no idea what I'm going to do with this money. One thing that makes me feel like I have so much purpose here is what I do for my daily work. I serve my local community and therefore want to continue to serve my local community. From a financial perspective, I would like to finance someone's tuition fees. I would just like to give something back. I know that I didn't do it alone and that the man above helped me get to where I am today. So I have to give something back. This money is not entirely mine. Maybe I'll buy a nice handbag and some ice cream and cuddle with my dog. As far as I thought about this money.

You didn't just win the game. They tied the record for most HOH wins, earning a unanimous victory. I know you're still processing all of this, but when you think about how you won this way, how does that affect your place? Big Brother Story?

I didn't know I had the most HOHs! And if I had won that last question, I would have broken the record, damn it! Now I'm a little pissed that I know this statistic because if I had known, I probably would have shifted gears! But this is iconic. And as I said in my speech, I didn't want to just survive in it Big Brother. I wanted to be successful in the end after playing this game. And that's just proof that I didn't survive this thing – I was fine. I really was like a diamond and that was my plan. So I'm grateful and shocked to hear that I actually played a really good game.

Would you do it again?

You know what? I would do it again. I would experience the madness again. I would be an instant target, but I would go through it again.

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