Big Brother star Cam Sullivan-Brown Reaches Breaking Point After Makensy’s Shocking Decision

Cam Sullivan-Brown wanted to win Big Brother. But in his quest to win season 26, the former Division 1 athlete could not win more than a single competition. And that streak of futility continued into Sunday’s live finale when Cam lost both part one and part two of the final Head of Household competition. That meant he had to hope that eventual HOH Makensy Manbeck would bring him to the end. She did not. Instead, she brought Chelsie Baham to the final two, and Chelsie ended up winning every single jury vote.

How does Cam feel about being cut at the very end? How does he feel he would have done in the final two? Whom would he have brought to the end had he won the final Head of Household? And what does Cam have to say to his dogs in the crib about his subpar competition performances this season? We spoke to the third-place finisher about all that and more.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Let’s start with your vote for the winner. Why Chelsie?

CAM SULLIVAN-BROWN: I think Chelsie played the most all-around game of Big Brother. I’ve seen her since day one, and she’s played a very good social game. She’s won a lot of competitions, and strategically, she’s just been the best Big Brother player, and that is why she had my vote.

Knowing Chelsie’s résumé, as you just laid out, were you surprised Makensy brought her to the end instead of you?

Absolutely! And I was a little pissed, just because I think that Makensy didn’t make the right decision. Chelsie’s résumé did blow her out of the water, and Chelsie just knows how to speak very well. So if it comes down to her and Chelsie, and she’s talking to the jury, Chelsie’s always going to win that battle. I truly do think selfishly that she should have chose me to the final two, but it would’ve still been a battle for her for sure.

How do you think you would have done in the final two if Makensy brought you to the end?

I think I would’ve done very well, because I played a very good social game throughout this whole time in the Big Brother house. And I brought Makensy into the alliance with myself and Chelsie at the halfway point of the house, so I could use that to my advantage with the jury, as well as I had very good jury management. I was close with T’Kor and Kimo and Quinn. I was in an alliance with all three of them. So those are three votes. And then, inevitably, if Chelsie got evicted, that would probably be another vote for me. So I think I had very good jury management, so I think I would’ve held up pretty well.

You never got a chance to deliver your final speech to the jury, so give it to me now. What were you planning to say?

The biggest thing that I was going to harp on was playing the perception coming into this house. I was the athlete, and they would’ve thought that I won a lot of comps. I used that to create a lot of alliances and get a lot of protection from everybody in the house. And then when Tucker blew up all my alliances, I stayed very poised. I pivoted to actually the fact of me not winning competitions playing into my advantage, being non-threatening.

And then manipulating HOHs, starting with T’Kor and going all the way down to if I made it to the final two, I would’ve said either Makensy or Chelsie. I always had two targets ahead of me, and I had the rest of the house voting for me to stay. And that was the way that I was going to go about using my social game, using people’s words against them to manipulate the HOHs. And that would’ve been my pitch.

I saw at one point you looked in your pocket and said Makensy was in there. What did you mean by that?

I definitely threw that out, just the fact of me and Chelsie was always in her ear, and every time that she was in a position of power, we got her to do what we wanted to do — whether that was put Leah up, who was her biggest ally, or using the veto on Kimo, or using the veto on Angela. A lot of the moves that Makensy made towards the end were group decisions and not one-on-one decisions. So I would’ve definitely harped on that.

Had you won the final Head of Household competition, whom would you have brought with you to the end?

I probably would have brought Chelsie. I’m a big player on loyalty. Me and Chelsie have been working together since day one, and our games are pretty similar, but our games are also very different. Chelsie won competitions, but my game was strictly social, and this game is a social experiment and a social game. So I would’ve harped on that, but I probably would’ve brought Chelsie.

Even though you think she would’ve been tougher to beat than Makensy?

I think that I could psych out Chelsie a little bit more than Makensy. Definitely just off of our relationship, I would be able to throw just little jabs and get into her head a little bit more. And I would play the emotional pitch and that hopefully would play into my advantage when I was going against Chelsie.

Let’s talk about the competitions. I mean, you’re an athlete, so what happened?

Genuinely, if I had a clue, I would tell you, but I really do not have a clue. Being in that Big Brother house, it’s just a different situation. And I came in extremely confident, but when the competitions started, I really don’t know what happened. Maybe I got into my head too much, but it’s the yips! It’s truly the yips! I can’t say anything other than the yips. I’m clowning myself right now.

A few hours ago you’re thinking “I could win $750,000.” Then Makensy doesn’t bring you the end, you’re voted out, then you have to vote for someone to win the money. Now you’re out of the house and talking to me. What have the past few hours been like?

It has been a lot of emotional twists and turns, just like you said, thinking that I could win $750,000, and then having that dream taken away from me, but then also having to give that dream to somebody else that I’ve spent the whole 90 days with. It’s just been a lot of emotional twists and turns. But I can say one thing: I am happy to get up out of that house and talk to you though, because I love talking to new people.

Anything about this season that you’re a little scared to watch back on TV?

I think some of my flirtier moments, I’m not sure if they got into the show or not, so maybe I’m a little anxious looking at that.

Let’s talk about that. You definitely got a little touchy feely with Makensy in the house with the cuddling and stuff.

I just like to cuddle in the house! You need some love. Sometimes you’re away from your family, you’re away from all your friends and all of that stuff. So I just needed some love. I’m a little cuddle bug sometimes.

Alright, how much crap are you going to take from your dogs in the crib for your competition performances this season?

Oh my gosh, it’s going to be never ending. To my dogs at the crib — again, I apologize for my performances in the competitions. But yeah, I’ll be clowned literally for the rest of my life.