Warning! The following contains spoilers from the Big Brother live feeds as of Wednesday, August 12th. Stream the feeds with a Paramount+ subscription, and read at your own risk!
Big Brother is a game known for creating some of the best strategists and manipulative masterminds on reality TV, but I don't think we'll see any new faces of that emerge in Season 27. The cast at large has made some pretty reckless and outright bad gameplay decisions five weeks into the game. However, I think viewers have finally seen the one that may go down as one of the worst game moves in the history of the show.
CinemaBlend is streaming Big Brother online, watching the live feeds, and of course, reporting on how Ava Pearl's HOH week is shaking out after the latest veto win. As those who read spoilers know, Katherine Woodman won the veto and decided not to use it. Keanu Soto, Vince Panaro and Zach Cornell are still on the block, but only one of them has a secret power to remove themselves. So, based on this headline, what do you think happened?
Zach Did Not Trade In His $10,000 For Safety, And Has Missed The Window To Do So In Week 5
For those who might've forgotten, Zach won $10,000 in the Big Brother Season 27 premiere, and it came with a special power. In the diary room, he heard he could receive guaranteed safety from eviction for one week, so long as he gave the money to the acting HOH.
When I wrote about the results of the veto ceremony, I treated the scenario of Zach taking himself off the nomination block as a foregone conclusion. Even with Keanu and Vince beside him, it seemed like everyone in the Big Brother house realized he was someone who could realistically walk to the end of the game and win and needed to be evicted while they had the chance. As it turns out, it seems that was obvious to everyone but Zach, who only just realized the gravity of the situation after the veto meeting.
After a few conversations, Zach began to realize that if he lost the BB Blockbuster, he'd lose in an eviction vote regardless of whether it was against Keanu and Vince. Live feed viewers assumed that Zach still had time to use his power to get removed from the block, but as fans learned via his conversation with Morgan, that time has passed:
Zach- I had the chance to take myself off. I wasnt willing to risk you going up. If I had given my $10,000 up, I could take myself off the block. I would rather have myself still up there than you. Morgan- You should have done it, Zach #BB27August 12, 2025
She's right, as anyone who wants to win Big Brother knows, you should never give up a chance at safety, especially when you're up for eviction. Even if Zach wins the BB Blockbuster, which feels like a tall order given he hasn't won any competitions since the premiere and is going up against the comp beast Keanu, it's hard to defend this move as anything beyond bad gameplay.
If Zach Is Evicted, It's In Contention For One Of The Worst Big Brother Game Moves Of All Time
If Zach does ultimately get evicted in Week 5 of Big Brother Season 27, I think his decision would certainly be in the running to become one of the worst game moves of all time. I know that others will make the argument that at least he left with prize money or try to rationalize how great it would've been for him had it worked out. I don't buy any of that for a few reasons that are specific to his situation in the house as it stands.
Zach was practically floating his way to jury with $10,000 in his pocket this time last week. Ava nominated him because she felt it was "what's fair," but the reality is he hadn't been on anyone's radar for eviction until the opportunity to evict him presented itself.
While it's impossible to predict what will happen going forward, if Zach survives nomination this week, there's a good chance he won't be nominated the following week. I guess, in the chance that he does, he's going to have another opportunity to use that veto to save himself but, if that happens, I don't want any revisionist history from the Big Brother fandom. Not spending the money to save himself was reckless and will likely haunt him if he goes home this week.
We will see what happens with Zach as Big Brother continues on CBS this week on Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday at 8:00 p.m. ET amid the 2025 TV schedule. I'll be eager to see if he's able to somehow flip the house into keeping him over Vince in Keanu in the worst-case scenario but, at this point, it's not looking likely.
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