Makensy Manbeck says she does not regret choosing Chelsie Baham over Cam Sullivan-Brown for the final two on Big Brother 26. She has, however, said she would change one answer she gave the jury about her own game—a distinction that helps explain why Chelsie won the jury vote unanimously.
Why did Makensy take Chelsie to the final two?
On the October 13, 2024 live finale, Makensy won the final Head of Household competition and chose Chelsie to sit beside her rather than Cam. Chelsie then won the jury vote, 7–0, as reported in TV Insider’s post-finale interview coverage.
In an interview with Global Television Network the next day, Makensy rejected the idea that Chelsie had manipulated her. She described the decision as her own and tied it to their relationship, mutual protection, and her concern about having a bitter juror: “I did not want to have a bitter jury member in that sense, in a game sense, for my safety and for Chelsie’s safety, who in turn, Chelsie kept me safe, so I needed her there.”
Makensy also described working with Chelsie as part of how she played the game. “The thing is, I did make decisions on helping Chelsie [Baham]. I do believe that getting to the end of Big Brother is [about] working with people,” she told Us Weekly. Her explanation was not that she had accidentally handed Chelsie the win, but that their alliance and the protection it offered mattered to her decision.
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Did Makensy regret the choice?
In her October 14 interviews, Makensy stood by bringing Chelsie to the end and said she had no regrets about her overall game. Her later reflection was narrower: she wished she had answered one jury question differently. The distinction matters—the answer she wanted to change concerned how she presented her game, not whom she chose for the final two.
What jury answer would she change?
The jury asked Makensy to name a move that benefited her alone rather than Chelsie. Makensy pointed to evicting her ally Leah Peters. Chelsie told the jury that she had persuaded Makensy to make that move because it served Chelsie’s game over time, making it harder for Makensy to claim the eviction as a move of her own. Us Weekly’s account of Makensy’s interview describes her wish to change that jury answer.
After hearing the jury answers, Makensy said she realized her chances were low because Chelsie had explained her complex game well. She had hoped her own gameplay would speak for itself, according to TV Insider.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the decision does—and does not—tell us
Makensy’s explanation is a first-person account of why she made the choice; it cannot establish how the jury would have voted if she had taken Cam instead. That alternative remains a counterfactual. What is clear from her interviews is that she continued to defend the decision while recognizing that her jury-room explanation of her individual moves could have been stronger.
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