Big Brother 26 episode 34 recap: Chelsie becomes HoH again after the double eviction drama

Big Brother 26 didn't fail to deliver on the emotions and twists in episode 34, despite the delay in its airtime due to the premiere of The Summit. The episode eventually aired on September 30 at 10:30 pm ET on CBS. 16 contestants joined the popular reality show, and after all HoH and PoV competitions and eliminations, five houseguests remain in the house of Big Brother.

The eliminated houseguests are Matt Hardeman, Lisa Weintraub, Kenney Kelley, Cedric Hodges, Brooklyn Rivera, Tucker Des Lauriers, Joseph Rodriguez, Quinn Martin, and T’kor Clottey. Five houseguests who still remain in contention to win $750,000 are Cam Sullivan-Brown, Chelsie Baham, Kimo Apaka, Makensy Manbeck, and Rubina Bernabe.

Last week saw a double eviction due to evil Ainsley's actions, with Leah Peters and Angela Murray departing from the house of Big Brother. This week, the remaining five houseguests competed in the HoH competition, which could prove crucial for many houseguests as they had no alliances going forward and would earn them the power to nominate two people.

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Big Brother 26 episode 34: What happened?

Starting with a flashback of Chelsie becoming the Head of Household last week, the episode showcased Chelsie celebrating with Cam for successfully executing their plan to target Angela. She initially believed that Angela would have a better chance of winning against Kimo and Rubina and wanted to eliminate her first.

Later, Kimo won the veto and saved himself while Chelsie put Rubina's name in his place. This resulted in Angela's elimination straight after Leah departed. The footage then focused on four players competing to become the next HoH. The players had to use a large pair of tweezers to rebuild a tiny puzzle. While Rubina and Cam struggled, Makensy took an early lead.

Just when Makensy was about to finish her puzzle, the whole thing dropped. Despite the setback, she still managed to finish the puzzle piece before anyone else and became HoH for the second time on Big Brother, to the disappointment of Rubina and Kimo, who are bound to be in the danger zone.

Chelsie cornered Makensy and celebrated her win away from others as the two promised to reach the final two over any other houseguest. Chelsie emphasized her thought process by suggesting that Cam would be favored by the jurors, as he has been in the good books of the previous houseguests, not having to make any tough decisions in terms of elimination.

Rubina also took Makensy to the side and expressed that they have had a “really good game relationship”. Rubina put forward her case and pleaded with Makensy to not nominate her, but Makensy stated that she had already decided on Rubina and Kimo. Makensy also hinted at a possible alliance in the future among all the ladies, as she didn't want Rubina to go home before reaching the top 3.

Before leaving, Rubina revealed to Makensy that Chelsie had put forward the idea of eliminating Makensy from Big Brother. She also revealed that Chelsea called Makensy a threat as she was winning so many competitions. This prompted Makensy to confront Chelsie about the same, but the latter explained that she was just testing Rubina and was later relieved as Makensy believed Chelsie's story more.

Kimo expressed to Cam that since they were the last two men in the house, they should team up together. Cam “took that information” and gave Kimo nothing, as he wanted to give Makensy and Chelsie a solid reason to vote against Kimo. In the nominations ceremony, Makensy voted against Kimo and Rubina, explaining that all the houseguests are deserving of a win and that it was a tough choice.