Rachel Reilly‘s “Big Brother” elimination sent shockwaves through the house and caused a stir among fans. Now, she’s finally given her side of the story to People and explained how she wished that fateful night had gone down.
Reilly entered the “Big Brother” season 27 house as the only veteran player with the hopes of becoming the show’s first two-time winner. Unfortunately for the red-headed bombshell, she was unceremoniously sent home after losing a competition.
Rachel Reilly Was Eliminated Without A Vote
Reilly was the casualty of a “Big Brother” twist, in which houseguests were required to complete a maze, then select someone else to try the challenge but with one fewer minute on the clock. The first person to fail the maze in the allotted time was immediately sent to the jury house, and that person was Reilly.
Reilly managed to escape the nomination block the entire time she was in the “Big Brother” season 27 house, a feat for which the former winner feels a lot of pride. “I was never nominated, never evicted by a vote, so I guess I made ‘Big Brother’ history in a different way,” she told People.
On her previous season, Reilly was a comp beast. In season 12, she was the only female player to win the Head of Household (HOH) competition twice, and she’s tied for most HOH wins across multiple seasons, with seven.
However, this season Reilly played a far more socially strategic game, not relying so heavily on competitions to further her game. Reilly believes that if given chance to put her social skills to use, she may still be in the house, saying:
“I wish that I did have a second chance to save myself. I think if I was able to save myself socially, and not just in that competition, I might have performed better.”
Reilly was put in a unique situation compared to her fellow evicted houseguests. Not only could nominated houseguests campaign for themselves and attempt to stay in the house with their social game, they also got multiple competitions to try to win safety.
As Reilly put it, “we had a chance to win an HOH, you had a chance to win a veto, and then you have the chance to win that blockbuster. So everyone that was eliminated from the season truly had three opportunities to [save themselves] this season, and I had one and a half.”
Rachel Reilly Could Still Win Some Money
Reilly’s hopes at winning the $750,000 grand prize may be shattered, but her time on television isn’t up. As the first member of the “Big Brother” season 27 jury, Reilly will vote for the winner on finale night. She also still has a chance at walking away from the CBS show with some money.
Soon, voting will open up for “America’s Favorite Houseguest,” giving fans the opportunity to award someone $50,000. Given the fan outrage at Reilly’s elimination, she has a good shot at winning the cash prize. Reilly hasn’t campaigned for the “Favorite Houseguest” title, but she does hope she made her fans proud, saying:
“I hope that the audience felt, and the ‘Big Brother’ community and the fans felt that I did play a really great game and that they enjoyed watching it. I hope that they enjoyed my journey and I hope that they enjoyed watching me play. I think that that’s the best that we can do.”
Outside of “Big Brother,” Reilly has competed on “The Traitors,” “The Amazing Race,” and other reality shows. It won’t be surprising if she finds herself back on TV in the future.
