Big Brother winner Chelsie Baham shocked by her unanimous victory

Chelsie Baham watched her alliance blow up early on Big Brother. But the 27-year-old nonprofit coordinator from Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., recalibrated on the fly. And she was rewarded by being named the season 26 winner on Sunday’s two-hour live finale.

Chelsie was a true triple threat, excelling competitively (tying the Big Brother record with four Head of Household wins), strategically (convincing Makensy Manbeck to get rid of ally Leah Peters), and socially (never being at any true risk of going home). As a result, she notched a unanimous jury victory over fellow finalist Makensky, even though Makensy won the final Head of Household, along with 10 competitions altogether.

Was Chelsie surprised that Makensy chose to bring her to the end instead of easily beatable Cam Sullivan-Brown? Would she have done the same? Which votes was she most worried about? And what does she plan to do with the $750,000 prize? We asked Auntie Julie’s niece all that and more just a few hours after her big victory.

Chelsie Baham on 'Big Brother' season 26.CBS

And the Big Brother winner is…

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: First off, congratulations!  Is everything a blur right now?

CHELSIE BAHAM: Oh my. I am feeling shock. Life is a blur. I don't even know my name right now, so you know. This is crazy.

What was your level of worry that Makensy would take Cam to the end instead of you after she won Head of Household?

I had a slight worry when she was standing up there giving her speech. I thought she was going to make a decision that was smart in her head and not follow her heart. But we had had so many conversations the last couple 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 the woman that she is. So I didn't worry too much. That's my friend, and I knew she was going to make that decision.

Chelsie Baham, Julie Chen Moonves, and Makensy Manbeck on 'Big Brother' season 26.CBS

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Whom would you have voted for to win if Makensy had cut you there and brought Cam to the end?

I would've voted for Makensy to win.

Why?

Because we carried Cam this whole game! What you mean? This girl played a hell of a game. She deserved to walk away with some money, and if it wasn't me, she deserved to win. So I was going to vote for her regardless. If I wasn't sitting next to her, she was getting my vote.

Alright, be real with me. No waffling, no wavering. Let's say you had won that final HOH: Whom would you have taken with you to the final two?

I was going to take Makensy to the final two had I won, I absolutely was. A couple nights before, I had been processing: Do I make a decision with my head or do I make a decision with my heart? And I just felt like making a decision with my heart was going to leave me with a reward at the end, regardless. So I said I want to leave with my head held high and being proud of who sat next to me. Cam is great, but I felt honored sitting next to Makensy at the end after the game that she's played. She had the ability to cut me weeks ago, but we chose to protect each other, so I wanted to sit next to her. I would've chose her.

Chelsie Baham and Makensy Manbeck on 'Big Brother' season 26.CBS

The Big Brother season 26 jury speaks! (exclusive)

I’m sure you were doing jury math in your head leading up to tonight. Which were the jury votes you were most worried about?

I was most worried about Quinn, Leah, Angela, and Rubina. All four of them. Rubina had made a speech right before her eviction that she felt like Makensy was going to win this game. So that was a jury vote that I was worried about. And then Angela and Leah were very, very close to Makensy. And Quinn is a Big Brother superfan, so I thought he was going to go for the comp beast who had just been destroying comps this season. So I thought that if there was going to be a vote, it was going to be four to three, and Makensy would win.

Really? You thought she was going to win?

Yes. There was a point when I was doing math and I'm like, "I feel like she might win this game," after Rubina was talking highly of her game. So I was worried for a minute. But when I thought about jury management and how emotional our cast has been this season, I knew emotion was going to play a role in how they voted, not just competitions. So that's why in my speech, I had to pull that emotional card. They were going to vote for somebody that they liked because we've been doing it all season long, and that didn't hit me until last night.

Chelsie Baham and Makensy Manbeck on 'Big Brother' season 26.CBS

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How shocked are you that it was unanimous?

Oh my goodness. I was so shocked! I was preparing my heart for that first key that comes out is going to be Makensy, and then it was me. I was like, “Oh, cool. Second one will obviously be her.” It was me again, and it just kept going on and on. So I was not expecting that at all. I thought it was going to be a much tougher decision for the jury than it was.

What was going through your mind when Makensy was asked by the jury about the Leah vote and said “Making that move was only done by me. Nobody can influence me. I made decisions for myself.”

What I thought immediately was the jury played this game with us and they knew that that wasn't a hundred percent accurate. So you can say stuff all you want, but the jury played this game and they lived it with us, so they knew the conversations that were going to be had. So I thought: Nice move, but there will be an opportunity in my speech where I get to sway the jury on how hard I worked to make that happen, because I worked overtime to ensure she made the move. Because they were very, very close in this game, and Leah was not a threat to Makensy, and I just made it appear as if it was. So I knew I was going to have an opportunity to rebuttal it, so I wasn't fighting it too hard.

'Big Brother' season 26 Jury: Quinn Martin, T’Kor Clottey, Leah Peters, Angela Murray, Kimo Apaka and Rubina Bernabe.

Matthew Taplinger/CBS

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When did you get a sense during the jury Q&A that things were going your way?

The jury asked Makensy a question saying, “We feel like you've been making moves that benefited Chelsie’s game, not yours. What moves have you done to benefit your game?” And that's when I knew I had the jury because they read both of our games and they read it accurately. And if you read my game versus hers, I controlled her game for the second half of this game. Even when she won, she did everything that I led her to do, and the jury knew that. So that's when I knew, “They know. I'm not going to have to fight too hard in my speech. They know.”

Big Brother is a whole season long game if you want to win. But there are certain points where losers become winners and winners become losers. Is there a point like that for you? Was there a point where you were like, “Oh my God, I have to regroup,” and a day that you can really point to that put you in this position?

Yeah, when I was on the wrong side of the vote in week three when Cedric went home. And then week four, I was put on the block next to my two closest allies by another one of my alliance members. Everything that I was fighting for and working for blew up in my face on day 35. It was day 35, and I said, “I have to shift how I'm playing this game. I have to be smarter, I have to be calculated, I have to make the right decisions to get me to the end.” So I positioned myself to shift heavily on being a great social player and winning only when I needed to. That is how I got here. Day 35, I said, "I don't want to touch this block ever again." And I didn't until tonight.

Chelsie Baham on 'Big Brother' season 26.CBS

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What are you going to do with the money?

I have no idea what I'm about to do with this money. One thing that makes me feel like I have so much purpose here is what I do for my day-to-day job. I serve my local community, and so I want to continue to serve my local community. Now, financially, I would love to pay for somebody's college tuition. I would just love to give back. I know that I didn't get here on my own and I had some help from the man above to get me to where I'm at today. So I got to give back. This money is not all mine. I may buy me a nice purse and some ice cream and cuddle with my dog. That’s far as I thought about this money.

You didn't just win the game. You tied the record for most HOH wins, and you have a unanimous victory. I know you're still processing this all, but as you think about that winning in this fashion, how does that sink in, in terms of your place in Big Brother history?

I didn't know I was tied for the most HOHs! And had I won this last question, I would've beat the record, dang it! Now I'm a little bit mad that I know that statistic because had I known that, I probably would've taken it to another gear! But that's iconic. And like I said in my speech, I didn't want to only survive in Big Brother. I wanted to get into the end thriving, having played this game. And so that's just a testament to, I didn't survive this thing — I was thriving. I was truly 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 go through the crazy again. I would be a target immediately, but I would go through it again.