BB28 Thursday Live Feed Update July 16, 2026

Summary

RHAP: We Know Big Brother – BB28 Thursday Live Feed Update (July 16, 2026)

Hosts: Taran Armstrong & Rob Cesternino
Episode Date: July 16, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode brings a detailed and energetic breakdown of Day 9 in the Big Brother 28 house, with alliance chaos, misplays, and messy campaigning taking center stage leading up to the first eviction night. Taran Armstrong and Rob Cesternino offer expert, entertaining analysis of shifting house dynamics as the Crossovers, Red Corner, Four Seasons, and the so-called "Roman Empire" lines are drawn, erased, and redrawn. The episode captures the build-up, fallout, and strategic calculus behind a chaotic flip in the plan for the week.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Setting the Stage: HOH & House Dynamic

• [02:18] D is HOH: Initial nominations were Mallory, Taylor, and Yash. Mallory won veto, Ashley replaced her on the block.
• The house fractured into two loosely defined sides: “Crossovers” (with the Red Corner) and “the Roman Empire” (Rome, Jason, Lala, Taylor, et al.)
• The new plan was to keep Ashley, perceived as the least connected player—a “safe” move for the Crossovers.

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The Great Ashley Campaign Fiasco

[04:54] Coaching Ashley Backfires

• Drew, Barrett, and D (with Angela at points) made the critical misjudgment of sending Ashley out to campaign, providing her with too much info about the "side" ready to keep her.
• Ashley approaches Taylor, Lyric, Mallory, and especially Melody, pitching herself as the beneficiary of a big secret majority vote—thereby exposing her supposed allies and causing paranoia.
• Taran: “Maybe don’t set [Ashley] loose in the house… Maybe not the most gifted Big Brother player.” [05:19]
• Rob: “It’s like you’re on the plane—they say put your own mask on first… but in the process, [Ashley] is not doing a lot of great work for herself.” [10:39]

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Paranoia and Alliance Wobble

[06:40] Angela’s Self-Doubt, Skepticism & Internal Monologue

• Angela cycles through trust/distrust with Drew; D talks her down, and Angela promises to “be a good alliance.”
• Rob: “Angela is really giving us a lot in terms of her internal monologue, which we really do appreciate… the Angela self-talking is also really hitting.” [08:00]

[11:54] Lyric, Melody & the Domino Effect

• Ashley’s pitch to Lyric/Mallory unsettles Lyric; she brings suspicions to Rome, who dismisses it, but the seed of sides being drawn is planted.
• Melody is the first to grasp the strategic threat: “If they want to keep her, we shouldn’t want her.” [22:32]

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Four Seasons, New Alliances, and Messy Play

[18:03] “Four Seasons” Alliance is Official

• Drew, Melody, Lyric, and Rome become the Four Seasons (Winter—Rome, Fall—Drew, Spring—Lyric, Summer—Melody).
• However, this alliance is already compromised, with knowledge leaking both to Crossovers and Mama’s Angels.
• Most are set on voting out Ashley, not Taylor, but Yash is still a top target for some. Drew stays in the non-committal “majority” posture.

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Meltdown and Strategic Exposure

[19:34] Ashley Spills to Melody; Drew Outed

• Ashley’s detailed campaign to Melody, believing she is “in” due to Drew’s influence, prompts Melody to panic and turbocharges the anti-Ashley movement.
• Melody crosschecks with Drew, who gives a weak, evasive denial—doubling down with non-answers and ‘word salad’ when pressed by Melody and later Barrett.
• Rob: “Ashley speaking as the nominee… is like, ‘Hey, I don’t want to see you get left out… The train’s left the station, you better get on board.’” [21:00]

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Fallout: “Not Only Done Against Taylor, Done Against Yash”

[31:30] Drew and Barrett Get Cornered

• Melody, now alarmed, confronts Drew and Barrett; both deny involvement and parrot the “majority” line but are called out as swing votes.
• Taran: “They’re completely exposed… [if] any of them vote to keep Ashley, they are declaring war.”

[36:01] Devins’ Dad Vibes & House Realignment

• Devins demonstrates expert social maneuvering, patching up with the Red Corner and persuading Kamu to vote Ashley out.
• Rob: “Rick [Devins] is like, ‘I’m ready to go home and go back to my family at any moment… Let me… jump on a grenade. I don’t care.’” [71:47]

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Meta-Strategy Talks

[42:02] The Value of Secrecy vs. Numbers

• D and Drew weigh whether keeping loose cannon Ashley is worth ‘drawing the line’ and losing secrecy—concluding secrecy is more valuable as long as the other side remains blind.
• If the other side is already at war, numbers matter; if not, subterfuge remains king.

[54:40] Survivor Instincts vs. Big Brother Play

• D and Devins, as Survivor veterans, find their gameplay instincts sometimes at odds with the slower, more performative, divided nature of Big Brother, where “dividing and conquering” often succeeds over collective side-hopping.

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Social Relationships, “President” Rome, and Power Dynamics

[53:39] Rome’s Straightforward Power

• Rome holds influence not through scheming but transparent, wide-open, relationship-focused play—dubbed “President of the House.”
• Taran: “People overestimate [Rome] in terms of how game-focused he is, and yet almost underestimate him in terms of how influential he is.” [25:53]
• Lala, Taylor, Jason, and lyrical connections shore up “The Roman Empire.”

[63:18] Kamu’s Stock Rises

• Despite appearing as part of a “cool kids” block, Kamu emerges as an increasingly safe and socially integrated floater, especially as Chuck and Haley’s stock falls.

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Final Night Moves & Episode Close

[75:33] Consensus: Vote Out Ashley

• After the day’s “Ashley-palooza,” all sides (including former allies) are now planning to boot Ashley, even preferring her over original main target Yash.
• If Ashley does not win the Blockbuster twist, she is gone.

[76:27] Yash and Taylor on the Sidelines

• Both other nominees, especially Taylor, benefit from Ashley overdrawing attention—Taylor spends “the morning in bed” out of sight, out of mind.

[77:47] D’s Flaw: The HOH Who Won’t Tie-Break

• Dee’s insistence she could not break a tie against Taylor (to whom she promised safety) was critiqued as unwise and unnecessarily transparent.
• Rob: “You can bounce checks in the Big Brother house… but nobody’s pushing back on [D].”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• [08:00] Rob: “Angela is really giving us a lot in terms of her internal monologue… the Angela self-talking is also really hitting.”
• [21:20] Taran: “You can see where [Ashley] is coming from, but it was a very bad way to pitch this because it really… sparked a lot of fear in Melody… Who is the only one that realizes this is very dangerous.”
• [25:53] Taran: “People overestimate [Rome] in terms of how game-focused he is, and yet almost underestimate him in terms of how influential he is.”
• [31:30] Taran: “They basically just got snared in their own trap… If any of them vote to keep Ashley, they are declaring war.”
• [42:02] Taran: “Secrecy is really important to our position… Is taking away a number worth exposing our whole hand?”
• [71:47] Rob: “Rick [Devins] is like, ‘I’m ready to go home and go back to my family at any moment… Let me… jump on a grenade. I don’t care.’”
• [77:47] Rob: “You can bounce checks in the Big Brother house… but nobody’s pushing back on [D].”

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | Highlights | |------------|------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------| | 02:18 | HOH/Noms Recap | House split, Ashley's weak connections | | 04:54 | Ashley’s Mis-Coached Campaign| Overexposure, alliance paranoia | | 06:40 | Angela’s Paranoia | Alliance doubts, internal monologues | | 10:39 | Lyric/Mallory Panics | Domino effect, “put on your own mask” analogy | | 18:03 | Four Seasons Form | Alliance naming and leaks | | 19:34 | Ashley-Melody Catastrophe | Details & aftermath | | 25:53 | Rome's Influence | Influence vs. strategy | | 31:30 | Drew/Barrett Cornered | Exposure, crossroads decisions | | 36:01 | Devins Dad Moves | Repairing damage, Kamu pivot | | 42:02 | Strategic Secrecy | Value of secrecy vs. numbers, BB vs. Survivor instincts | | 53:39 | Rome “President” Segment | Social centered dominance | | 63:18 | Kamu Stock Watch | Why Kamu survives & rises | | 75:33 | Endgame for Ashley | Consensus to evict her, Blockbuster stakes | | 76:27 | Taylor/Yash Low Profile | Strategic passivity pays off | | 77:47 | Critique D’s HOH Tie-Break | Mistake in transparency, “bounce checks” history |

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The Pulse Heading Into Eviction Night

• Ashley: All but doomed; only Blockbuster win can save her.
• Taylor: Quietly safe, benefitting from the drama.
• Yash: No clear allies, free agent status.
• Crossovers/Red Corner: Scrambling to maintain social subterfuge after outing.
• Devins: Social glue, “dad of the alliance,” secret weapon.
• Rome: Accidental kingpin, influential but not scheming.
• Melody: The only one with alarm bells—may be a dark horse target soon.

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Final Thoughts & Predictions

• If Red Corner wins HOH: Likely targets are Taylor, Yash, or a remnant from the Ashley/Taylor block.
• If Crossovers maintain secrecy and survive the night: They regain power balance, but are now on thinner ice due to exposure.
• Kamu: Emergent floater, popular with all factions—watch for upward stock.
• Devins: “Dad” archetype working—poised to manage threats and soak heat away.
• D’s Lesson: Don’t promise not to break ties—play flexible.

Rob’s Dark Horse Boot Prediction: If Ashley goes, second boot could be Yash, Taylor, or dark horse Melody depending on which side wins.

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“It was a lot of good gameplay with some sloppiness at the end that kind of derailed it and led to some very interesting scenarios… a whole Tinder box for week two.”

— Taran Armstrong [83:00]

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For detailed breakdowns, daily win equities, and fan Q&A:

• Check out the Big Brother Mailbag show and Summer of Stein, now with Eric Stein appearing for the BB28 premiere.

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Transcript

[A]

Morning decisions. How about a creamy mocha frappuccino drink?

[B]

Or sweet vanilla smooth caramel maybe?

[A]

Or white chocolate mocha? Whichever you choose, delicious coffee awaits. Find Starbucks Frappuccino drinks wherever you buy your groceries. Every morning. Darian Armstrong, talk Big Brother. Looking at the stuff from yesterday,

[B]

all

[A]

the drama, all the strategy and silliness from VO2HOH every single season, you know he is the reason, you know what's happening. Rob said that he could do it tomorrow. He will do it again. Hello, everyone and good morning. Welcome to our live feed update for July 16th. I'm your host, Darren Armstrong and I'm here to update you on everything that happened yesterday on The Big Brother 28 live feeds. It was day nine in the house and a lot going on. There's a lot of chaos from the night before. The plan had changed to keep Ashley and things went a little haywire with that. We have new plans for the eviction. We have all kinds of mess to report on and with me to talk about it all is Rob Sestrinino. How you doing, Rob?

[B]

There's a twist. There's a Survivor player on the live feed update now. Oh, no.

[A]

Oh, no.

[B]

Yes. But no. I'm so excited. This is the first time I've joined you on the live feed update, I believe since Big Brother 21. So this is. I have a seven year itch every time to come to the back to the live feed update. So I'm so excited to be here on our first eviction day.

[A]

Yes. And there's. And there's plenty to talk about as well. Seven years being big brother 21 is. That's. Yeah. Okay.

[B]

Yes. Where did the time go? But we can say same thing about this first week.

[A]

Yes, yes. Well, as everybody knows, D is the hoh. She initially nominated Mallory Taylor Yash. Mallory won the veto. Ashley went up in her place. The night before yesterday on day eight, the crossovers and the red corner alliance had kind of come together and agreed that keeping Ashley was a priority. And this is something that we had talked about on the podcast, that if anything, keeping Ashley makes the most amount of sense for the crossovers because she's the least connected player and Taylor is connected to Lala, who's connected Jason and Rome and that whole group where they have like the least amount of connections themselves, they've basically realized that and came to the conclusion that they should keep Ashley. But in the process they were pretty messy about how they wanted to do it. They spent and I say they it was primarily Drew Barrett And Dee, though Angela was with their. With them at that at some points as well, talking to Ashley, coaching her up together as a trio or more so as like a duo with. With Drew on the outside. Rob, a little bit like, like Bryce in the, in the, in the house.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

When the Paradise.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And.

[A]

And telling Ashley what to do, how to say things, who to go to, and, and genuinely, I think in Ashley's mind, telling her like, oh, let people know that you have some backing and that there are sides and that you, you know, they should vote with you on those sides. It immediately led to Ashley talking to Taylor and letting her know that there's a whole side that wants to keep her that is like not keep her in that. In the conversation with Ashley, but with Taylor, but that there is a side and that it consists of Kamu, Haley, Chuck, Angela, D. Devins, Barrett, Drew. And that's a bad thing for Ashley to be saying, and it's a bad thing to have given Ashley that information in any capacity. We knew that, but it seemed like, you know, Taylor took that and she talked to Angela and she was like, you're not going to vote me out, are you? Andrew's like, of course not, and was like, okay. It didn't really go anywhere. It seems like this might. This might just be fine. Rob.

[B]

Yeah, it seems like maybe in hindsight, looking back at this, maybe you could just keep Ashley. You don't need to have Ashley campaign for anything. You had the votes to keep her. And so we have watched Ashley play for a week now. Maybe not the most gifted big brother player. Maybe don't set her loose in the house to try to campaign on her

[A]

own behalf, especially Drew and Barrett with D. Like, linking those three together is exactly. And then saying like, that they're, you know, that they need to get the votes of. Of Chuck and Haley and Kamu. Like, it links everything together. Where are those votes coming from? And, and it just, it gave Ashley what she thought was the information that she should be do. Giving away according to what was being told to her. And, and so, yes, the, the ultimate thing here is. And this is what I talked about yesterday, I felt like they had the, The. The information, they had the, the influence to go and do this on their own. They did not need to do this with Ashley, but it's what they decided to do. So we. So we start the day. Another story from yesterday, from the day before, of course, was that it was, you know, do we trust Drew? Do we trust Drew's information? And by the End of the night, Angela had been feeling like, okay, I apologize, Barrett and D. I shouldn't have been so suspicious of Drew. But Angela wakes up in the morning, and she goes to Dee, and she's like, but do you think he's really telling us everything?

[B]

Yeah, very.

[A]

I don't know if this bug is gonna go away.

[B]

It does seem like it's a constant question with Druin. I think with other pieces of information that Angela is going to. She's not saying there's conspiracies. She's just asking questions. And she is a true skeptic of almost anything that she gets in the house.

[A]

Listen, you want to just believe what everything Big Drew tells you.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. That's what they want you to think.

[A]

Don't be naive. D kind of talks her down. And they have another conversation later as well, where these kind of like, you know, it's like, we should be listening more. And you've. You've taught me, you know, some things too. Like, you've really been coaching me up, Angela. And it's like, no, I can only tell you what not to do. That was what I gave you advice for. I gave you advice for what not to do as hoh. And after D leaves, Angela's just by herself. Like, I've got to do better. Got to do better. I can't be so paranoid. I need to be a good alliance. Be a good alliance. Angela.

[B]

Yeah. Angela is really giving us a lot in terms of her internal monologue, which we really do appreciate. She doesn't get the credit for. Some of the other people get for their Cam talking, but the Angela self talking is also really hitting.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

She doesn't talk to us.

[B]

She talks to herself out loud.

[A]

Yeah. So Ashley begins her campaigning for the day in earnest. And this is bad news. And it's really like, this might have been able to be nipped in the bud here the night before when Taylor went to Angela with Ashley's pitch. The. The problem is that Angela, when bringing that to the rest of the crossovers the night before, was more concerned about, as was Taylor, more concerned about, like, that relationship, Angela and Taylor, and not really mentioning the idea that Ashley was pitching this larger group. And that's because it didn't land with Taylor very much. And so it didn't get communicated to Angela as much. But if they had recognized that was what was happening, they might have been able to go to Ashley to stop her from doing what she was about to do. But she goes to Lyric and Mallory and pitches them the idea that there are sides of the house. And now this is. It's. It's been very confusing for people, I think exactly what happened and why. But basically, in Ashley's mind, based on the conversation that happened the night before, she sees again the mega alliance which does now exist, that I was calling the red Cross of the crossovers and the red corner as votes for her to keep her against the, you know, the Roman Empire, Rome and his people. And Ashley has a good relationship with the women, the trio of women, Mallory, Melody and Lyric. And felt like, I can pull these women over to the other side with me, get them on board to vote with me so that they're in the majority, which already exists because I've already been told by the swing votes like Drew and Barrett that I'm good. So let me campaign because this is what they were saying to do. Talk to the women about being with them and say, there's this big side doing this. So she makes this pitch to Lyric and Mallory. But of course, all it really does is panic. Lyric, oh, my God. There's another side of the house.

[B]

Yeah, Ashley probably. I don't know if she flies a lot, but when you're on the plane, they tell you to, you know, make sure you put your own face mask on before you start trying to help other people. And I do feel like that she from a good place, is trying to help her friends, but in the process is not doing a lot of great work for herself.

[A]

Help her friends. I think, while helping herself in the sense that, like, by, by letting them know this, that they will come on board and vote to keep her for sure. Now this is another big, like, oh, alarm bells are ringing. Now Lyric is worried. Lyric does go to Rome and says, I'm worried that there are sides. I'm hearing that there are sides. And Rome's like, nah, there's not sides. That's not. That's not a thing. Those people are. Devin's is with us. Like, don't worry about. I've talked to Devin's. Like, he kind of like settles her down. Like, this is not that big of a deal, actually. And. And we don't need to worry. So once again, it doesn't really go anywhere. Lyric is. Is sort of quelled here. And, and, and, and nothing. Nothing bad is going to happen.

[B]

Okay, so far so good.

[A]

So far so good. In fact, things are looking kind of up because in terms of the plan, just to make this clear, the plan to keep Ashley requires a couple of extra votes because the Red Cross grouping Right. They don't want to expose the fact that they're all working together along Roland's side that' this is bad news that Ashley might be talking about them as a group, but they only have the votes to make it a tie without anybody else. And Dee does not want to break a tie against Taylor. She's given Taylor her word, even though she first gave Yash her word. And, and, and in particular, like, doesn't want to ruin her relationships with people like Jason in Lala and whoever else. So she wants to break a tie in favor of Taylor even though she wants Taylor to go and actually to stay. So they need a couple of extra votes to not only prevent the from being in that position, but also to just hide the grouping that they are in. Shouldn't be too hard considering they have a few parachutes here and there. Mallory, Melody and. And maybe even a couple of other stray votes. And, and Mallory and Melody are both kind of like very open to keeping Ashley. In fact, Melody in the morning kind of wants Ashley to stay, but doesn't know if the votes are there. However, Lyric is a little bit worried about Ashley staying because she's worried about there being sides. And so Lyric tries to talk Melody into the. The idea of like, I think we should actually not keep Ashley around. I think that Taylor is more important to like, what we have going on, especially because we're working with Rome and we're, you know, we have a good relationship with Jason and Jason, Lala and Lala's with Taylor and we wouldn't want to make any of them mad. And this kind of lands with Melody early in the morning. And so, so Melody is still, still kind of like ruminating on this when she talks to Drew. And Drew is in the mindset of time to convince Melody to vote for Ashley to stay. Except his plan is still a little bit like, what, I'll do it last minute. So she brings up the vote and he's kind of like, yeah, I feel like it could be a game time decision, you know, like, I just want to be in the majority. Like, he's not trying to convince her that there's any value in one person or another. He's trying to convince her to just like not make a decision until literally the two minutes after the blockbuster.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Which is just not gonna happen. And so she ends up kind of pitching like, well, I was kind of feeling like it like Ashley should go. And he's like, oh, yeah, no, I mean, yeah, whatever. The majority thinks probably like a game time decision.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. Drew is in such an interesting spot this week as somebody who is, you know, playing the middle as this, like, big question is starting to emerge around Ash

[A]

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[B]

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[A]

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[B]

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[A]

And to make things worse for Drew here, like, because Barrett has spent so much time with D, he has, at this point in the day at least, kind of lost some of the influence he had. Like, he should have been spending all that time with Mallory yesterday or the day before, but instead, he was glued to D. And so Drew's kind of been left alone to solo carry the influence of the entire other side of the house. And he just doesn't have it, like, for as much knowledge as some of these players have, they don't have a lot of experience. And, and. And they don't have experience of, like, how to influence people to do what they want. I think, you know, this was an issue that we had with, with Vince and with Zach last season that, like, they had good connections, but they didn't know how to exert their influence. They were very passive players. And we're seeing a little bit of that from. From like, Drew and Barrett here, where they hear. They hear somebody express an opinion and they go, well, that's their opinion. That's what they. That's what they think instead of thinking, okay, how do I convince them otherwise? And so Drew is just, like, trying to stay stave back. Like, just.

[B]

Let's just.

[A]

Just wait. Let's just wait until the game time decision. And. And, you know, at this point, it's kind of fine. It's not that big of a deal. There's plenty of time to convince her otherwise.

[B]

Now he's really like the master of whispers. It's giving varys in the house.

[A]

Yeah, he really, I mean, he's. Yeah, the trader of secrets here. Now, earlier in the day, Melody had been talking to Mallory, and Mallory continues to express that she doesn't really trust Drew. And so Melody actually gives Drew a heads up, like, Mallory's not really trusting you a whole lot. And this is Going to be important just a bit and a little bit later. And then the mal. The Melody Drew conversation kind of switches to a lyric Roam. Melody Drew conversation. They've been talking about building a four person alliance together for a little while. Drew has already exposed this to the crossovers, and Rome has already exposed this to Mama's Angels. So before it even started, it was already exposed, but they're now officially coming together. They call this alliance the four Seasons.

[B]

Yeah. Probably huge fans of the Tina Fey Netflix series.

[A]

Who wouldn't be? Rome is winter because he's like Jon Snow.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Drew is fall, Lyric is spring, and Melody is summer. Okay, there you go.

[B]

So.

[A]

So they talk about the vote, and because Lyric is already on that page, they're all kind of talking about how they're obviously going to be keeping Taylor and. And probably evicting Ashley. Although, you know, evicting Ashley at this point is still sort of secondary to evicting Yash. Like, Yash is still kind of primary target. Number one. Ashley, secondary target. When they talk about evicting Ashley, it's usually against Taylor. So. So again, though, Drew's kind of like, yeah, you know, I do want to be in the majority. That's what I care about. And so Drew is feeling at this point, like, all right, you know, we got to make some progr progress eventually. But right now I'm just kind of holding off the. The forces of. Of Taylor protection. But then, Rob, this is when things finally get bad because Ashley goes and makes her pitch to Melody.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. And it's a similar pitch, but this time it was. It's really like. And again, you have to understand, in Ashley's mind, Drew was with Barrett and Dee giving her advice on how to stay, Drew himself giving her marching orders about sides. And you should go talk to these people. And everyone by design, sees Drew as his. Like, his number one is Melody. And so Ashley thought Melody was already clued in to this whole thing. And she's like, yeah, so, like, I don't know if you've been clued in yet, but, you know, this is what I'm hearing. I've got all these people and I think you should come on board, like, if you haven't already. And she. And Melody's like, what are you talking about? She said, oh, you haven't. Like, Drew didn't tell you? Like, what do you mean? He's like, yeah, Drew was like, leading the charge. He was telling me all these things. Like, he was saying that we've got, like, two sides and I was talking with these people and it's, and it's, you know, and she names all the people. And Melody's like, well, yeah, I haven't, I haven't heard about this. Drew was there. She's like, yeah, yeah. You know, and so I think that, like, you should come on board with me and we should join this side. We'll have the numbers and, you know, it'll all be great. And Melody is just like, oh, my God.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. This was a very funny conversation to watch, like, because Ashley speaking as the nominee is really speaking from like, her pitch to Melody is like, hey, it's like, I don't want to see you get left out of, like, this is going to be. Because this is happening. The trains left the station. You better, you better get on board.

[A]

Yeah. Which again, like, you can see where she's coming from. But it was a very bad way to pitch this because it really, it really sparked a lot of fear in Melody, who, who really, like, isn't that well positioned on the Rome side of things either and kind of is in a spot where like, she, like, in a perfect world, she's playing with Drew to play the middle.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But because Drew's not bringing her in on any of the middle play, she's kind of getting trapped on one side and, and unable to work any of the other side. And therefore is, you know, also probably one of the most active and game minded players on the Rome side of things. And so despite like, Taylor and Lyric and Mallory and Rome all hearing about this, it's Melody that realizes, oh, my God, this is a huge issue. We need to raise the banners. And, you know, and she's probably like the last person that should be raising the banners for that side, but she's the only one that recognizes that this is actually very dangerous. So they want to keep her.

[B]

If they want to keep her, we shouldn't want her.

[A]

Exactly. So Melody starts to freak out and goes to look for Drew while she's doing this. While this conversation was happening, Drew was upstairs doing another bad thing for Melody, which was immediately going and talking to Mallory about how he's heard that she doesn't trust him. And this information had just come from Melody, which. Who had just been told it from Mallory. So the chain of custody on this information is pretty obvious. And he's just like, yeah, I've heard you. Like you said you didn't trust me. And they just have this, like, kind of clearing the air conversation. Mallory completely denies it. Eventually comes around to this idea that, like, oh, maybe somebody like Haley, who is the house scapegoat, talked to me about, like, how do you feel about Drew? And I was just like, oh, I don't know, because I don't want to, because I don't trust Haley. I'm not going to tell Haley anything. And so they. They kind of, like, figure that out. And. And Mallory says, like, I totally think we're good. Like, we're the outcast. We're Hot tub Crew. And Drew's like, yeah, that's what I thought too. And so they're busy having that conversation. Mallory finally finds Drew up in the. Up in the gym. That's where they've been having the conversation. She's been looking everywhere for him because she needs to question him about what in the hell Ashley was talking about. She finds him with Mallory and is like. She's trying to give him the eyes, right? She's trying to give him, like, the. Like. Yeah, so what are you two. Yeah, so you two are talking about how. Oh, clearing up. That you don't trust. Okay, thanks, Drew. And she's so clearly pissed in this conversation. Pissed that he's clearly, like, divulging the fact that she already told him that Mallory doesn't trust him. Clearly pissed that she wants to talk to him because she thinks he might be playing her after all of that Ashley information, trying to get him alone. But Mallory won't leave, and he won't end the conversation. So she eventually just dips. She's like, all right, I'll leave. And, you know, just. Just heads out and goes downstairs and finds Rome instead and tells Rome everything. Now, Rome's already kind of heard this, but she specifically says. And apparently Drew was part of it. I don't know. Like, I don't know if we can trust him. I don't know if I can trust Drew.

[B]

Yeah, very good question, because Drew's everywhere.

[A]

He is. And this is like, you know, this is. This is very dangerous. Again, going to Rome, in Rome, hearing this information, like, if Rome was the figurehead that a lot of people fear he is, like, this would be terrible. Luckily for Drew and the rest of them, Rome, despite being very influential in the house and very liked, not super game focused, if it doesn't have to do with his relationship with Lyric. Yeah, he's not that into it.

[B]

It's hard to have a work life balance. Taryn, you know this. And so for Rome, he's juggling a lot. He's got a new relationship. At the same time. It's.

[A]

He really is like, he's like a Johnny Bravo in that, like, he very much is just, like, just there to have a good time. Lots of people coming. Like, people really overestimate him in terms of how game focused he is and yet almost underestimate him in terms of how influential he is. This whole thing happened, like, the entire reason why any of this is happening, aside from the. The messiness with the Ashley stuff, but the reason there's any amount of pushback at all is because Rome just kind of decided. He was like, yeah, I think Ashley should definitely go over Taylor, and Yash should probably go over Ashley, and. Because he just kind of, like, decided that an entire side of the house decided, like, that's what we must do. And to go against this is to go against Rome, and therefore, we'd be drawing lines in the sand.

[B]

He's too much of an Alpha, Taran that he is just. All the betas and submissives are just ceding their power to Rome.

[A]

Yeah. He later declares himself president of the House. So. So this is dangerous, of course, but ultimately not that bad that she goes to Rome because Rome doesn't really go anywhere with it, but she does eventually find Drew alone and is like, are you. Are you playing me?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

What. What do you mean? What do you mean? It's like, why. Why is Ashley coming to me saying that you are part of a side that is trying to keep her, like, draw lines in the sand and. And, like, you know, take out Taylor, and he's like, whoa, what are you talking about? No, no, no. That's not. That's not what's happening.

[B]

This is when they're. They're playing pool during this. Okay. I found that, like, I think this is a bad sign where she's asking, like, very pointed questions about the alliance and what he heard. I feel like that he, like, takes a while to, like. He's very focused on, like, the business of the pool game. Like, he takes a long time to answer, like, any question that's about the actual game of Big Brother, and I feel like that that's. That's a bad sign.

[A]

It is a bad sign. I will say that the. The nature of where they were having the conversation middle of the day gave him a little bit of COVID which I think he was intentionally using, because when you're out in the backyard, you kind of have to, like, pretend like you're not talking game, and. And so you have to kind of be like. Like, you know, you're doing your. Oh, look, I'm doing a like or that's less literally what Melody was doing. I was like, what, each year? And then. And then, like, doing the pool. And then, of course, Barrett comes over as well and starts to. To talk with them as well about this. But. But basically, she. She questions him, and he. He denies even really knowing what she's talking about. She's. Are you with them? Are you with that side and you're playing me? And he goes, no, no, of course not. Like, I. I'm not keeping Ashley. Like, that's not even. I don't even know what she's talking about. And I. And. And, you know, I'm being vague about what he says, because he doesn't really even have a good denial.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

He really just starts to. I. This is. I call this word salading. Word salading?

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Where. Yes. We're like, you know, you just kind of keep talking until it gets confusing about what's even being talked about. And even though Ashley told Melody specifically about what happened in the conversation, relatively specifically about what happened, and specifically named Drew as part of the convers, Drew was able to say, like, I wasn't ever in a room with Ashley. Like, I was never in. In that room. I don't know if she's using my name or anything like that. And I think that Melody comes around to believing that story because just because she's remembering the conversation wrong with. This was a lot to take in. And now she's hearing a lot from Drew, and he's essentially like, the. The ultimate conclusion they try to come to here is this is just. This is just a nominee doing their nominee thing. You know. You know how it is. You know, you're a nominee, and you're just like, no, I do have the numbers, I swear. And you start naming a bunch of people, like, that's. I think that's probably what's going on here. And so Drew and then subsequently Barrett, who joins the conversation as well, try to bother. Angle it in that direction to. To kind of calm Melody down. And in the conversation itself, it starts to work. But she's not gonna let this go, and she's not gonna let the idea go that, like, now Ashley definitely needs to, like, there's no way we can keep Ashley. If the others. If there's even a chance that the other side are gonna vote to keep her in order to strike at us at, like, at this side, then we need. We can't be with. And the thing is, they think they have you, Drew, and they think you. They have you too, Barrett. They're like, well, yeah, they don't have us. Well, then. Then. Then we. Then we have the numbers then. They don't have the numbers to do this. The only reason they think they have the numbers to do this because they think they have you. So we're good. We can get rid of Ashley.

[B]

Yeah, it's a tough spot for these guys because that. That we know about their role in the crossovers and how they have already made up their mind with. Also with the red circle that, okay, they're definitely keeping Ashley. But Melody, like, really point blank gets both of them to say that they're going to now vote out Ashley. They're definitely voting out Ashley. So a real crossroads for them.

[A]

Yeah, it's. They basically just got snared in their own trap. And instead of, like, subtly trying to influence the vote and masking who's even behind it, it's now become deadly obvious that if any of them vote to keep Ashley, they are declaring war. And now. But now a problem that they have that they're going to have to solve throughout the day is that if they don't vote to keep Ashley, they're kind of declaring war in the other direction to the. To the red corner. So. So they're. They're again just both kind of being like, yeah, we just want to make sure we're in the majority, though. Just like, maybe last minute game time decision. And she's like, no, we can't. Like, we need. We need to be the majority at this point. We are the swing votes. And they're like, oh, right, yeah, okay. Because they are. And that's the problem. It's. They are completely exposed. There was one point that Drew made that maybe could have worked, which was like, why don't we just pick up Ashley ourselves? And she's like, okay, okay, wait, no, that could make some sense, but it doesn't really go anywhere. And so. So this is bad news. And Drew is gonna immediately start spreading this to the crossovers in the red corner that, like, Ashley told Melody all of our names, and now Melody's spreading it everywhere, and she wants Ashley gone. And honestly, at this point, screw Ashley. I think we should just vote her out. I can't believe she did this to us.

[B]

Yeah. Ashley really becomes the real pariah in the retelling of this, and this is not going to go well for Ashley. No.

[A]

And. And I. You know, there's a lot of dunking on Ashley in the house from this point forward. There's been a lot of dunking on Ashley that I've Seen online as well, and very fair, A lot of it. But I do want to just reiterate that, like, she did do what she thought she was told to do by Drew and Barrett and Dee, who were very messy and very unclear about what exactly she was supposed to be doing in the first place. And the message she got that was sent to her should never have been sent to her. She should never have been directed to do this anyway. And so the fact that they are now, like, I can't believe she would do this after basically telling her to do it is, like, it's rough. It's rough. For Ashley, though, she still should have known better.

[B]

You know, she has to play her own game, too, Taryn. Like, she. It's like, you know, the other players told her to go, you know, jump off of the top of the big brother backyard. Should she do it?

[A]

I completely agree that. And that is where, like, you know, if. If we're talking to Ashley on Friday morning, I'm gonna be like, did you think it was a good idea to name a whole side?

[B]

Like, yeah. But I've really. I've come around to if. If it is Ashley that goes home tonight, because I think that, like, this group and I feel like we've been talking about this, like, nobody here, I felt like was playing that bad. Nobody here felt like a first boot. But now, like, after this day has started to come together the way that it is, I'm starting to see the vision of Ashley as a big brother first boot of. I think that we will think of her as the person. Remember the girl. She never ate a hamburger before, and then she told everybody that she was safe and she wasn't. Like, it's starting to coalesce for me as I could. I could see her as a first boot, Rob.

[A]

She. She gave up her never eating a burger status for this show, and she's gonna go first week.

[B]

It'll be so memorable.

[A]

She'll never be able to tell that as a fun fact ever again. It's on national television.

[B]

She could say, I only ate one burger ever, and it was in the big brother house.

[A]

So Drew goes around. He starts saying, like, I think maybe Ashley just needs to go. But despite the initial frustration as a reaction to hearing about this, people like Angela and Kamu and Haley and all of these people are saying, that's really annoying, but we still need to keep her. So the. The idea is that they still need to get. The problem is, for Drew and Barrett, there's no way to keep her at this point. Without completely exposing themselves.

[B]

So.

[A]

So that's not really okay for their games. Now, while all this is happening, there's some other stuff going on. Of course, Jason's been having a rough morning and a bit of an emotional morning. And what's funny is that he's genuinely starting to come around on Angela as a person. Because of Angela really turning on the charm, knowing that Jason was playing her. He. There's something about, like, a dream that, like, Rome has or Lala has. And he's like, I would never betray them, so I. I love them so much. And he actually cries to Angela. Like, you know, he's like, angela, I really hope that, you know that Haley can't convince you to not like me, because Haley's just, like, spreading things. And, you know, I just. I've just been really feeling rough this morning. And Andrew's like, no, no, Jason, no, don't be paranoid. That's what I was like on season 26. You know, don't do that. You know, you're doing. You're doing a great job, Jason. Like, you're gonna. You're gonna be fine. Like, he's. I'm. I know. I'm just like, no, don't cry. Don't cry. And he's like, oh, thank you so much, Angela. And they hug and he leaves, and she goes, I'm doing a great job of convincing him that he has me in his pocket. Yes.

[B]

Yeah. But that's the same thing that he did to her the other day. So, you know, he's like the boy who cried wolf. Like, you can't do fake crying to Angela. And then they like, you're not my mom. And. And then. And then do real crying to Angela and. And expect it to be real.

[A]

Exactly. She. She, like, she's literally like, I see what he's doing now. He's trying so hard, but I've got his number now and I'm uno reverse carding him.

[B]

And all he had to do was just not tell people that he was doing fake crying to Angela.

[A]

Right.

[B]

And it would be fine.

[A]

Yes. Mallory also is going around. She talks to Barrett, who is finally getting back to work. He' unstuck himself from D and he's talking to Mallory about the vote. And she was open to the idea of keeping Ashley. In fact, she kind of wants Ashley to stay, which could theoretically be that other vote they have. But even then, even if they had Mallory, they both need to vote that way, which is still exposing their games at this point. So it's still a rough spot to be in. She's talking to Barrett now. She has told multiple people she doesn't trust Drew, but Barrett's one of those people, and Melody's the one of the other people. But to. To Barrett, she's like, I don't even know where he would get this idea. I think. I think maybe it was Haley. To Lyric later, she says, I think Melody told Drew about me not trusting him. So she does know, despite the denials. And, you know, Lyric is actually kind of like, we do need to be a little careful with Melody. The two of them bond a little bit. Like, Lyric, you know, she. She's. She's got some instincts here as well, and she now has kind of separate 2, like, final 2 ish deals with both Melody and Mallory. I don't know why she would put herself in that position because she's bound to make a mistake. I. I can vouch for that. So we'll see what comes there. But.

[B]

Well, if you're working with both of them, then there's less of a likelihood. Like, it does. It. It's like. It's not like she has two fake alliances, right?

[A]

No, no, she's. It's. It's. It's like what Memphis tried to do at the end of All Stars. Like,

[B]

and the other thing.

[A]

I can never remember what they want. The gentleman or something. And. And one of the. One of the alliances was with Christmas, and he just called two alliances the gentleman. Just, like, just call both alliances the same thing. And then you'll. The wise guys. Thank you.

[B]

That's. Yes.

[A]

I knew it was gendered because it was because one of them included Christmas, and I thought that was funny. Anyway, D and Drew talk, and Drew lets her know about what's happening with the Ashley situation, the Melody situation. And. And this is like, Drew's finally getting some traction here, basically. And I thought this was actually a pretty fascinating conversation when it comes to strategic analysis, because, you know, we talk a lot about, like, if you have a number on the block, you have an ally on the block, like, keep them even. Like, even if it means you have to, like, push really hard or expend a little capital. Like, having that number is really, really important. But. And they recognize that. But they were also like, but is Ashley even that much of a number for us? She clearly just went rogue and exposed. Our whole thing is having. Is taking away a number from the quote, unquote, other side and keeping a number for this, the red corner side. Is that worth it to basically expose our whole hand? Because our Secrecy is really important to our position. And if we give up our secrecy for Ashley, is that a good trade? Because it doesn't feel like it's a good trade. And that's an interesting question to ask.

[B]

Yeah, it's a fascinating scenario for the dynamics of this House. I think that probably for the, you know, more exposed people, Kamu, Chuck, Haley, like, no, it doesn't make sense to vote out a person when you could clearly take out a number from the other perceived other side. But for all these people who are playing the middle, Drew and Barrett specifically, into a lesser degree, the returning vets, that it's not ideal for there to be two distinct sides. You kind of want, like this big, like, amorphous middle of blob of like a big, like, unanimous House vote.

[A]

Exactly. And I think that they ultimately come to the correct conclusion in this hypothetical scenario, at least, where for Ashley, who you don't even really have that much, really, you just saw her as a number you could pick up. And clearly somebody that has gone rogue already, rogue, to whatever degree you want to call it, rogue, it's probably not. You're not on the red corner side. You do have connections to the Roman Empire. But so. So it's not even that big of a deal. And, and drawing a line in the sand and putting Barrett and Drew on the side of D. Devins, Angela, Chuck, Kamu, Haley, Ashley is really dangerous. Like, it's. That just blows up the whole thing. So I agree. I think that keeping the secrecy is a lot more important. The issue is, and this is like the key. You can't, like the. The. The. The cat can't be out of the bag already. Like, Ashley is already spreading this stuff. Melody now has it in her head if the other side is smart enough to realize they tried it and failed and there are two sides now, you do need to keep Ashley because the numbers actually really matter. Because if. If it's. If the other side already is preparing for war and you're like, no, but we can keep our secrecy, and you give up one of your pieces to keep. To keep a secrecy that doesn't exist, that's a huge mistake. So the question is, like, do we still actually hold the position that we think we do? Because if we do, then we can safely sacrifice Ashley and maintain our position. And the reality is, based on what we've already seen on the feed and what we continue to see on the feeds today, is that they do that Melody is the only person that this set off alarm bells for. Rome keeps hearing about it and going, nah, I've got great relationships with them. It's going to be fine. Jason hasn't really heard about it much, so who knows exactly how he'll respond, but. But for the most part, all of these other people are pretty lulled into this feeling of, nah, I'm good. It's not. There's not sides. Don't worry about it. So ultimately, I do think D and Drew come to the correct conclusion here, which is it's time we should just drop Ashley. But that does introduce a new problem, which is how do we deal with the red corner who is going to war right now? Who does want is, like, relatively happy to draw those lines? How do we get them to not be pissed at us and feel like we're drawing a line against them if we vote out Ashley?

[B]

It's a good question.

[A]

It is a good question. So they spread this to the rest of the crossovers, who all kind of agree. Angela took a little more convincing because she initially still wanted to keep Ashley and take out Taylor, but they all eventually mostly agreed. Barrett certainly does. And Barrett and Drew are gonna actually have to go to Devin's to fill him on. In on it later, which will be a key part of that plan. But in the meantime, Haley, who is informed about what Ashley did but still planning to keep Ashley at this point, goes and confronts Ashley. She sits her down in the living room. She's like, so listen. And this is like. This is like your manager at work is, like, sitting you down to let you know not that you're fired, but that, like, you've done something really wrong and you need to learn to not do it.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So I've been told that you went and started naming names earlier today, and you really shouldn't have done that. You really shouldn't have done that. Was not a good idea. Ashley. Ashley's like, what? What do you mean? She's like, I. I've heard that you are. That you named me, that you said that I. And. And. And to. To Ashley's credit, she did not say that Haley did this. The problem is that, again, Haley is the resident scapegoat of the house. So the fact that basically, as this starts to spread, it all gets blamed on Haley. And so in Haley's mind, Ashley was like, haley's leading a charge to keep me, and Haley had nothing to do with it. Yes. Go ahead.

[B]

No, it was. I mean, we've had so few confrontations in the. In the game so far that this was like, kind of like just like a Whispery. Sit down. But maybe this is like, we've had a lot of intrigue, but maybe this is the first, like, interpersonal conflict. Really?

[A]

A little bit, yeah. See, listen, you and Ashley's initially kind of denied, like, no, I haven't done that. I haven't said I. Because Haley keeps saying you. You're claiming that I am leading aside and drawing lines in the sand to keep you. And Haley's like, no, I haven't done that at all. She's like, you told Mallory? Nope, sorry. You told Melody? Mm. And then Melody went and ran it around to everyone and, and, hey. And Ash is like, no, no, I mean, I, I, I mean, I, I talked. I, I've barely. I just talked to Melody. She couldn't have ran it around the house. She said, no, you talked to Melody earlier this morning. And ever since then, this has been spiraling around the house. And Ash is like, what? No, that doesn't. I mean, I, I didn't. I, I, I. It's not like I was naming names like that. I, I, that's not what I, like, meant it. And he was like, listen, I, you did it. It doesn't really matter what you meant to do, because this is the result, okay? And it's a big problem. And Ashley's like, but that's not what I was doing. That's not what I was like. I mean, I, I thought. You can't listen, Melody, you, you need to. What you need to do is stop talking. Just don't, don't campaign. Just stop trying to talk to these people. Melody is not with you. I don't know if you thought Melody was with you. She's not with you. He's like Wally, apparently. Geez. It's like, so that's, that's just it. Listen, I'm not trying to, like, argue with you or anything. It's just like, you really, you, you should not have done that. And Ashley's like, listen, Haley, I'm not gonna lie. Like, I was told to do that. I was advised to do that. He's like, by who? She's like, well, I mean, I don't, I don't want to, like, tell. I don't want to, like, be more messy and, like, tell you. It's like, you, I mean, you should tell me. It's like, okay, well, so basically. And then she starts telling the story about how Drew and Dee and Barrett essentially told her to do this in her mind. And, And Haley's just like, well, you shouldn't have done that. And she's Like, Haley Ash is like, it's genuinely. This wasn't even my game plan. Like, I had no intention of doing any of this. It's not even what I was inclined to do. The only reason I did it was because I thought that's what they were telling me to do.

[B]

Yeah. And she's still naming names.

[A]

And she's still naming names. Unfortunately for her, this. I mean, it doesn't really help that she was told to do it. It's which. Which Haley essentially says, like, it doesn't really matter how this came about. It happened, and now this is a big problem and there's not really a resolution for it. There is really, you know, no reason to, because, like, it was talked about. Should we talk to Ashley about this? And everyone was like, no, it's not even worth it. But Haley, you know, just. She wanted to have the conversation, let Ashley know what she did wrong, I guess.

[B]

Yeah. And so she's. She's in hot water. And, you know, Haley says she's gonna forgive her, but she's not gonna go unchecked.

[A]

Yeah. So Angela continues her rounds through the day. She ends up talking to Lala because Angela's really trying to work on this relationship. She. She really liked her relationship with Lala and then found out that Lala didn't like her much, but was able to blame it all on Haley, at least initially. And so they're working on that. She also mentions that she hasn't really talked to Rome much. And Lala's like, well, let me fix that. And she gets Rome, and Angela talks to Rome, and Rome says he really likes Angela and that, like, you know, he feels like it's his role to protect the betas in the sub. He didn't say basis, but he kind of implied, like, his. His role to, like, as. Because he gets along with the alphas, so, like, he can communicate with them and kind of protect the. The non alphas in the game. And he could see Angela being a part of that. And it's, you know, it's. He really, like, he's in his own world, but it's a world where, like, it's actually working for him right now.

[B]

Yeah, I. I think that Rome does come across as very likable. And, you know, maybe, like, the verbiage is not great, but maybe the heart

[A]

is good with Rome, I mean, so far, yeah, like, he seems like a pretty decent guy, but. And. And I think that's part of why, like, in a house full of schemers, like, Rome is really, like, one of the few people who has influence that is not just, like, actively scheming and like, he's playing the game. He's having. This is crucial. He's having game conversations, tons of them. But he's very straightforward. And he's like, I've got lyric. I'm close to Lala. I like Jason. Like, his allegiances are very out in the open. And because most other people are trying to hide a lot of theirs, him being out in the open makes him very powerful because everyone else is. Is limiting their power in order to hide their position in the. In the same way that, like, the crossovers could carry this vote, but they don't want to because that would expose themselves. Whereas Rome is carrying this vote without even trying because he's the only one that's very willing to be like, yeah, well, I want to do this. And then all of his numbers kind of, like, back him up. You know, we'll see how long that position lasts with him being so exposed. But. And, and, you know, the trade off of, like, being exposed and having this influence.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Is it. Again, it's that same question. Is that worth it right now, or is it better to keep your. Your. Your allegiances and power structures hidden? I think in general, we know that it's probably best to keep it hidden, but for right now, it's working for Rome.

[B]

It's working for Rome. And, you know, we were talking about his work life balance earlier jokingly. But I do think that there is probably a happy medium in terms of, like, the people who are spending all of their time thinking about the game. You can. And it sounds right on paper. Right. You want to be thinking about the game all the time. But I also think that those are the types of thinkers that tend to tie themselves up in knots and have unforced errors from overthinking. So if, yes, he's way too invested in the Lyric of it all, but, like, it probably is like, a happy balance to. Okay, I'm going to, you know, actually not be gaming for some of the time and then also still, like, have active game conversations.

[A]

Yeah, I agree. And I think that a good example of this is that D is going to talk to Angela later, and Angela filter in on her conversations with Lala and Rome and Dia just had a conversation with Taylor and she was reminded of how much she likes Taylor and how she doesn't want to break it. She would never want to break a tie. I'm definitely breaking a tie in favor of Taylor and that, you know, again, they're Agreeing that they're keeping Taylor, they're evicting Ashley at this point, and they're like, well, maybe we should work. Try to work more with Taylor and Lala. Like, we should try to make this relationship happen as much as possible because, like, we're seeing what Drew and Barrett are doing, and, like, they have all these connections, and, like, that's dangerous. Right? Like, we want. We want to have the connections, and we want to. Like, we don't want them to be in a better position than us. Like, we should start working the other side more. And I think what's happened with the crossovers to some degree is that they were. They were in this very good spot, and they're still in a pretty good spot if they can able. If they're able to sort of, like, hush this down, just sacrifice Ashley and then maintain their position. But their instincts are not the. The Big Brother instincts. Like, D has Survivor instincts. Devin's actually, I think is. Has some great Big Brother instincts. But, like, they see the game as, like, I want to be in with as many sides as possible and myself, so that I have all the options. But how really successful Big Brother majorities work if you're keeping it a secret is that you divide and conquer. You have Drew specifically there with Melody. You have Barrett out there with Mallory. You have died in there with the red corner. You have Devin's doing his thing. You have Angela overdoing her thing. Like, it's okay to separate and have your different pockets of people. If every one of the, you know, five of you are all trying to play all sides at the same time, that's when you get into these positions where it's like, none of you can vote the way that you need to because by doing so, you all get exposed at the same time.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And it's like, this is. This is probably how, like, again, in Survivor, if you're trying to, like, Pendulum, like, it's okay to work as, like, a group that's sort of like trying to play both sides. But on Big Brother, dividing and conquering is. Is the key to the game here.

[B]

Yeah, I was thinking about a little bit of what you're talking about with D in particular as being somebody who's played Survivor in the new era where in watching the feeds, like, it was really like. Like I said, a realization that most of Big Brother is pretending you're not having game conversations. You have to, like, pretend you're having, like, a normal life in the context of playing this game, which is not really the case on Survivor maybe a little bit more so in the 39 day game, but the, the new era of Survivor, it's so fast, you know, 26 days and we're always going to tribal council maybe a little bit in the pre merge you have to do this. But, but that's all D has known. And so to come into this game where so much of it is just like I'm pretending like I'm living my normal life and then in the shadows having game conversation, it is much different than Survivor.

[A]

Yeah. And, and I think that it's. My theory is that, you know, D and Devin's both came in, studied up on like the, for the most part like the methods of how to do this and they set up these pieces in the right place places. And similarly with Barrett and Drew, like they knew what they were doing coming in and they've developed this great position and strategy. But then as the week is progressing, like these Survivor instincts are kicking in and it's kind of like drifting her slightly away from where things are. And for Barrett, like, you know, cuddling with D is really nice and so that's kind of drifting him away into a different strategy. And so, you know, this is a very, very effective strategy but you do have to be dedicated to following it through. And I don't know that it actually fits their play styles at this point at least. You know, again, it's, it's so early in the game and everybody's still learning how to do this. So the execution on these strategies is still kind of like in its fledgling form. So it's, it's very interesting stuff and I've, I've been very fascinated, especially over the course of the day yesterday with how this is shaping up to be. So we'll see what happens next week. Obviously the HOH is going to be hugely important and, and we'll see, I think if like the crossovers alliance can maintain their positioning through potentially tumultuous waters here. But the day is not done. There is still work to be done. Of course. Barrett and Drew fill in Devin's about what's been going on and basically like let him know, like, yeah, so we're basically deciding we're taking out Ashley, if that makes sense to you. He's like, that does make sense to me. Like, it would be one thing if Ashley were a number that like we were super locked in with, but the fact that she's already doing all this and Devin's has no idea that she was basically told to do it either. He's just like, can't believe she's doing all that. I don't think it's worth, like, exposing our hands for a player like Ashley. And. And it's so funny is Drew and Barrett are basically like, asking their dad to fix things for them. They're like, so do you think you could talk to Kamu about this and help figure out how to get. Help us get away with not voting to keep Ashley with Kamu? And he's like, don't worry about it. I'll. I'll have the conversation. Like, I'll. I'll fix it up.

[B]

Yeah. Rick also seems like very down on Melody and Lyric. He's really has his sight set on them.

[A]

Very frustrated with Melody for causing all this chaos, uh, as is Drew. But Devin's does tell Drew, like, you should still stick to her, obviously, like, it's good that you're with her as much as possible. And. And yeah, Devins is not a Lyric fan. He doesn't really enjoy their conversations. And he, I think, rightfully sees that Lyric is actually the link between the Littles, like the. The trio of. Of women, Mallory and Melody, to Rome and the rest of them. So, like, by taking relationship with Rome.

[B]

So, yeah, it's exactly interesting.

[A]

He doesn't.

[B]

He doesn't love Rome's boo.

[A]

Exactly. And. And one thing that's interesting that we're seeing as well is that like, Rome, because of his connections to people like Devin's and stuff like, is actually in a decent position with a lot of those other people where, you know, Devin's is talking about potentially taking Lyric out. Now the. The problem is with Big Brother, unlike Survivor, a surgical strike is really difficult to pull off, especially now with the blockbuster. So for as much as Devins might want to take out Lyric over Rome, to get either one of them out, you kind of have to put both of them up and then who knows what happens with the veto and the blockbuster. So. Right. You know, we'll see. But. But interestingly, on the other side of things, we all kind of thought Kamu would emerge as one of the bigger targets of the trio between himself, Haley and Chuck. But actually he's the safest amongst the three of them because he's the most active because he's done the most to have conversations. People like Rome like Kamu and want to work with him. They. He just doesn't like Chuck and Haley. And it's the same with D and it's the same with like, even Jason is talking about, like, let's target Chuck, keep Kamu And Haley around like Chuck and Haley are actually getting the bulk of this again, can't really surgical strike that well, but it's looking decent for, for Kamu right now when it's all theoretical. Maybe once he's on the block things change. But like people actually like Kamu and they want to work with him and they want to free him from the shackles of his relationship with Haley in particular. But really this whole trio with him and Chuck and it's largely because Chuck barely talks to anybody outside of his alliance and when he does, he doesn't give him anything. And Haley who does talk to people outside of her alliance, just makes them annoyed.

[B]

Yeah, you know, I'm not in on the stock watch, but I do feel like that Kamu could be somebody that if you wanted to do like a long term play and I don't know if he's gonna win, but I do feel like that he's somebody who might be kind of lower, that could like have, have a peak, have a run at some point.

[A]

Certainly could Again though, it is one of those things where it's like almost the fact that everyone is saying they want to keep Kamu might be the reason why once he's on the block. After a week of him on the block, you go, he is more dangerous though. But you know, who knows? Who knows? So Devins does go and talk to Camus to basically try to convince him it's okay to take out Ashley this week. And he does a phenomenal job here. You know, the, the red corner is so valuable for the vets because they're so easy to just persuade. And this is like the first time I'm seeing people in the crossovers actively work to convince somebody of something and it goes beautifully and it's just like this is all you need to do. It's so easy sometimes Devin's basically gives, gives Kamu the pitch that D and Drew talked about. Like, because of what Ashley did, by voting to keep her, we'll be drawing a line in the sand and do we want to do that considering some of the relationships that we have? And Kamu is kind of convinced by this because Kamu feels like he does have a decent relationship with Rome and Devin's sort of like incepts the idea into Kamu's head that like Kamu, you know, you can kind of get, get ahead of this, sacrifice Ashley who's barely a number for us anyway and, and you know, have a conversation with Rome. He's like, go talk to Rome about like who you should vote for comes. Like, that's a great idea. Like, I'll go to Rome and be like, listen, I've heard this thing about what Ashley saying, but I'm not on board with that. Who do you want to vote out? Like, I want to be in good with you. And Kamu is like, this is great. This is great. I'm liking this idea. Like this, this. This works.

[B]

Camus and Rome. This is interesting, right? I kind of feel like the season doesn't end without us at some point getting like the two of them together and it' look at us. Like, would it be crazy? Should we just. Should we just do this? Should it just be me and you? And I think we get like a week or two where people are making the fan cams and I think people like, they turn on each other eventually. But people like. I think I see it at some point they seem like that they were getting along so good. It seemed effortless.

[A]

Well, I mean, I think really it feels like Haley is more the sticking point in the relationship at this point because they did, I think, start the game kind of close. So. So yeah, comma goes and he talks to Rome and it's. They're very aware of like, the positions. They're like kind of like, oh, it's the two leaders of the. The house coming together and having a chat. And. And Kamu does a lot of explaining about like, so Ashley did this thing where she used my name and I hadn't even talked to her yet, which is kind of true.

[B]

And.

[A]

And I did not tell her she was able to do that. I don't know what she's talking about with the sides thing. I think she's just trying to pretend like she's got votes, but she doesn't have votes. I wanted to talk with you about, like, what you were thinking in terms of the vote. And Rome again, because he's kind of playing level one Big brother is kind of just like, well, I was thinking take out Ashley, you know, keep Taylor. And Tom was like, I'm actually thinking the same thing, especially after Ashley was doing all that. So, you know, like all this stuff and. And Rome I think is fully like on board with this. He believes that Kamu was not a part of a side that was going to keep Haley, especially because Devin's also talks to Rome after this and. And confirms it as well. Like, like Rome really likes Devin's and fully believes that Devin's would never be part of a side because Devins is selling him this line about like, well, those are the cool kids, and I don't really fit in with them. And nobody really talks game. Devin's done a really great job of looking like a lone soldier because he hangs out by himself a lot and. And he has a lot of these individual relationships with people where he's like. Like, I don't really get included in a lot of things, but I feel good with you. And that really lands with Rome, who does not believe that Devins could have been a part of, like, any kind of side. And so anytime Lyric brings this up or it's talked about in the night is like, I don't think. I think that whole thing was blown out of proportion. I don't think Ashley was telling the truth. And. And he really vouches for Devin's a lot. And he also tells Devin he likes Common and. And all this stuff, so. And this is why he says he feels like the president of the house. He's like, I got Kamu coming up to me. I got Devin's coming up to me. I'm just, like, weirdly in, like, a powerful position without even trying. Really?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Like, yeah.

[B]

Look at Rome. Does that make Lyric the first lady?

[A]

I. I guess. What's the. What's the Roman equivalent? If. If Rome is the empire emperor, is she the empress?

[B]

Empress, yeah. Not. I'm not sure.

[A]

Yeah. I mean, because, yeah, he calls himself the president, but I. I like. I feel like, come on, Rome, you. You can do better than this. Your name is Romeo.

[B]

Yeah. You've. You've talked about that site as the Roman Empire. Is that terminology used in the house or.

[A]

No, not at all.

[B]

Yeah. It's really good. It should.

[A]

Thank you. Yeah.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

It's just, you know, people call it Rome's side of the house, and honestly, it's more Jason's than Rome's. Rome has more influence, but Jason's the more active player.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

In terms of, like, strategizing. Right. I think so. And I like this idea that we're divided into the Red Cross.

[B]

Jason's like, this is my Roman Empire.

[A]

Devin's does talk to Drew later as well. He's. He tells Drew he is gunning for hoh, even though, like, obviously it'll get tons of. He's like, and I'll do whatever. Like, I'll put Roma, I'll put Kamu up. Like, I don't care. And I. I think he means, like, when he talks to Drew in particular, he loves Drew.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

He's like, that's. That. That's a good kid right there. And he's telling Drew, like, if at any point I become a liability to you, feel free to just drop me. Let me know. Like, I'll. I'll distance myself. I'll do whatever I need to do. Like, I'm. I'm looking out for you, kid. And. And, you know, that means also, like, winning hoh and making moves that other people maybe can't make and stuff like that, which is an interesting position for. For Devin's and I. And I think not the worst. I. I'm curious to see if. How that actually plays out, if it happens.

[B]

Yeah, I thought that that was so interesting what he was saying, because I don't know if we've ever had somebody there who is. He's basically willing to do any type of, you know, maybe kamikaze type maneuver in the game of, like, hey, if we're in a bad spot, I'm not going to throw you under the bus. Let me do. I just. Just let me have a moment of glory of, like, he's willing to do that for his allies. And, you know, in the past, like, you know, he. He's willing to do, like, you know, Dan's funeral, but also, like, selflessly, which is very interesting. I don't know if we've ever had that. Maybe, like, maybe Tucker was getting there a little bit of, like, hey, I don't care if I go home or not. I'm willing to do whatever it takes to be a legend and keep things interesting. I think Rick, we know, has a great family life. Rick is like, I'm ready to go home and go back to my family at any moment. It's not my dream to be here. So if I could do anything, if things get bad enough, like, let me, like, I'll. I'll jump on a grenade. I don't care.

[A]

Yeah. And it really is, like. It really is dad vibes. I think it's very much like. Like, I'm the dad of the alliance, and therefore, like, if somebody needs to take a hit, let it be me. Like, I'll do it and I'll do, like, not. Not to say that, like, I'm, you know, he's, like, intentionally tanking his own chances. He's playing very well. He's doing a great job. He's helping the alliance, and he's advancing his own position. And quite frankly, it's not like any of this is necessarily going to actively harm his game. I think in some ways, being that person can be very good for you if he's the one that, like, jumps on the grenade. Other people tend to see that and they go, who are you jumping on the grenade for? Devins? And they think that other people are pulling his strings because no self interested player would, would do these things without being directed by somebody else. And so, you know, it could actually work out as well. But interesting stuff and, and very I think telling as to why Devins is probably doing the best in this alliance right now in all the chaos. And it's because his laid back attitude is, is really helpful I think to, to like he's not doing too much. He's not trying to be on everyone's side. He's just maintaining these light connections, gathering information and then striking surgically when he has to making these big moves like convincing Kamu to take out Ashley, which was a very good move and, and stuff like that. So I'm very impressed with Devin's yesterday.

[B]

Yeah, I even heard him talking with D the other day about how I think it was with D where he was talking about how he's like, look like I'm not gonna do anything that's gonna screw up my reputation. I'm thought of as a good guy. Like you could trust me. And I really do believe that. I, I don't. I really think that the way that he looks at it, he's not going to scumbag one of his allies ever in this game. Like he may. He's gonna scumbag his enemies. He will do that gleefully, but he's not going to stab people in the back.

[A]

I agree and I, I think that like, you know, the thing is that I think most people think that of themselves and what happens is they will find like a justification to betray their allies. So you know, we'll, we'll see how, how long it likes. I'm sure there might be a reason to betray eventually, but like I, I agree in the sense that like if he feels like his allies have been up and on the up and up with him, I don't think he's gonna like actively scumbag them in any significant way. So that's mostly the night Barrett does talk to the cameras. He says he is also potentially gunning for the HOH and if he wins he plans to nominate the cool kids Camu, Haley and Chuck, which actually don't love for him. Uh, if you're gonna win hoh, taking out that side in the way that you would be doing that is, is like not really the strategically sound thing in my opinion. Especially because he doesn't even have that strong a connection to The Rome side, other than Mallory.

[B]

So, you know, zero percent chance this actually happens.

[A]

I would hope so.

[B]

Yeah. Deal. Talk him out of it. Evans will talk him out of it. So I. I think it's maybe some bluster.

[A]

Yeah. So. So we'll see. We'll see what. What comes of that. But. But basically where we leave the night off is that Ashley's done. Not only is she done against Taylor, she's actually also done against Yash now. Like, they were so mad at her for doing what she did that they plan to vote Ashley out if she doesn't win the blockbuster. Period.

[B]

Okay, so first things first. Tonight, Ashley has to win the blockbuster. I know I said she'd be such a great first boot, but it's so much messier if she comes back into the house after all of this. So that I think that our number one rooting interest needs to be Ashley to win the blockbuster. But, you know, going back to when you were talking about Haley and Ashley and that conversation where Haley told her, hey, stop talking, Stop saying, Stop saying the things. It's such good advice. I believe in this live feed update of the day before the eviction, I believe there was one total mention of Taylor and Yash, the other two nominees of what they were up to. And I think that the Taylor mentioned was like, first thing in the morning, nowhere to really be seen, not having any of the conversations. And what a day for Taylor and Yash.

[A]

She spent the morning in bed. Yeah. Yash does spend some time campaigning, especially once the Ashley stuff goes down, more people start talking to Josh. And here's the thing, too, about the. The Ashley decision. Yash is not locked in anywhere, including with the Rome side. And so, like, he can really be picked up by most people now. Obviously he has a thing with D because she nominated him. But. But. But Yash is very much still a free agent right now, and nobody's really picked him up in any significant way. So where he could fall is. Is pretty interesting. But. But yes, right now, Taylor should be lock safe. Yash is evicted only in the event that Ashley wins the blockbuster. And Ashley will be sent home if she does not win the blockbuster. HOH is incredibly important. There are a lot of people who plan to throw it, including seemingly Rome, but we'll see. Red Corner is pushing forward, I think, a bit harder than they were before. And they need to. And. And crossovers are really hoping that Red Corner wins it because that would be phenomenal for them because it would be. And. And that's pretty much where we Are here, Rob, anything else from yesterday that you wanted to talk about?

[B]

I. It's kind of a moot point at this point, but I really did not love the way that Dee handled the tiebreak situation of that her entire alliance is voting to keep Ashley, and then she would, because of a promise she made to Taylor, break the tie in her favor. A not so great man once said, you can bounce checks in the Big Brother house. Like, I don't think it would be that. Oh, my God. De would be the ultimate villain of the house if she evicted Taylor in that spot. If it was a tiebreak and she, like, told all of her allies that and was like, oh, no, we totally understand. We totally get it. I just thought that that was. It was bad on D. And also, like, nobody's pushing back on that in any way. Like. Like. But, like, are you more loyal to Taylor? Are you more loyal to us?

[A]

Exactly. If you position yourself as an obstacle within your own alliance, it's just, like, it's not a good look. And again, like, the thing is, and I think this is probably, again, just like her. Her inexperience with Big Brother, but also experience with Survivor where, like, on Survivor, the vote is happening, like, now, tonight, and you. If you're not gonna do something, if you're like, I'm not gonna vote this, like, you need to tell them, like, this is. I'm. I'm sorry, but I'm not gonna vote Taylor out. We need to do something else. We need to vote for somebody else or whatever. On Big Brother, you have days and days and days a lot of the time, and the plan is constantly changing a lot of the time. And so, you know, when they're like, oh, we. We might end up getting seven votes, it could be a tie. It's like, it's probably not going to be a tie. It's very rare that things end up being a tie, so you don't actually have to tell them what you're actually going to do during a time like. Like, oh, are you willing to break a tie to keep Ashley over Taylor? D. Oof. I mean, that is tough. But I, you know, I'd be open to it if. If that's what we needed to do and then hope that it doesn't actually come to that and then give arguments for why it shouldn't come to that, because that would really draw lines in the sand and so on and so forth. You never have to expose that, like, you are actively a roadblock into the plans of the alliance because it was never Gonna happen anyway.

[B]

Right. Yeah. So I just thought that that was like, a little bit like, what are we doing? But it doesn't seem like that that's a remotely possible scenario.

[A]

Now. Also, somebody mentioned the chat that there was. Yes. A Drew conversation with Kamu as well. Late into the night. They've been talking. Of course, this is post Camus agreeing to the Ashley plan, mostly just continuing to solidify their relationship. There was talk of a, like, a final two kind of scenario, but. But this is something that's been in development. In development, and I think will continue to be in development as Drew further ingratiates himself with the red corner, which, again, it's like, you know, good for Drew that he has this relationship with Camus, but, like, he doesn't need to be in the red corner. Like, it's better for Drew to be in the four Seasons with a connection to Kamu that's like a secret final two than for Drew to be fully pulled into the red corner, because then the red corner expects them. Him to vote with them, while the four Seasons expect him to vote with them, so on and so forth.

[B]

Do you have a yes for the Week 2 boot? If you have to call it right

[A]

now the week two boot, I would say Haley is one of the more likely people.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And if red corner wins, you could probably expect, like, Yash and Taylor and Ashley, whoever survives on the block again. So, you know, honestly, give me Yash, Taylor or Ashley, whichever one is not evicted as a high potential second food.

[B]

Melody as a dark horse.

[A]

Melody is possible. You know what? Here's how Melody leaves. Somebody from Rome's side wins hoh. And the red cross grouping all throws Melody under the bus as much as possible because she's the weakest link on the other side that there are a lot of people that don't like her. Like, hey, do the house a favor and put Melody on the block instead of actually targeting one of us. And then Melody could take a hit from that. But her connection to Drew makes her valuable to a lot of other people. So that could be the one thing that keeps her a little bit more safe.

[B]

Okay. All right. Well, should be a busy night.

[A]

Should be. You know, the day could be interesting if Ashley starts talking again. You know, the night should be interesting based on who wins hoh. So I'm excited. This was a very interesting week between, like, it was a lot of good gameplay with some sloppiness at the end that kind of derailed it and led to some very interesting scenarios. And I think a Whole Tinder box for. For week two. So you left us where it goes.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

All right, well, that's what we have then today. Of course, we'll be. We'll both be live tonight for the recap of tonight's eviction episode.

[B]

The first eviction episode tonight. Are we. Or is it 90 minutes?

[A]

I think we're at one hour now.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

I think we're finally at one hour, which is. Which is funny because this is probably, like, the most packed episode that we need. Sure. But we'll be recapping it. I'll be streaming it live on YouTube, Twitch and Patreon. Make sure you join me there. I'll be back tomorrow morning. Tomorrow morning, timing is going to be a little. Little strange because we've got an X interview.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

So we're gonna aim for around noon eastern for the update tomorrow. So keep that in mind. At least an hour later, but it might be a little bit later than that. We're gonna try to figure out the best timing because, you know, the. The exit interviews, they're not always, like, strictly on time, so.

[B]

They're not always strictly on time. But I think that there was that maybe it was like Big Brother 24, where we were on hold for, like, I feel like we were, like, an hour and a half behind. I do feel like that they keep it pretty tight these days, so I. I'd be surprised if we fall especially behind schedule.

[A]

Yeah. So we're gonna. We're gonna shoot for around noon Eastern. If we're, like, a few minutes late, you know. Yes. If it's gonna be more than a few minutes late, of course I'll. I'll tweet it out. I'll let you guys know that, like, we'll be a little more late, but. But that's. That's where we'll have the update tomorrow. We'll have hopefully, a ton of new information for you for the new HOH and everything. And we're also gonna, like. I'm always interested to learn, like, what is the pacing for the. For the state of play in the house? Like, how do they schedule things? Because last season, they basically, like, never talked at night. They saved all of the talk for the next morning. And I'm curious to know if this cast is going to be a little more talkative for strategy the night of, but we'll see.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And. And that's basically what we've got going on. Again, check out my Patreon. I'm watching Love island, or I finished watching Love Island. Jet lag. Is still going all kinds of fun stuff over there. And Rob, I saw a video, a promo video that you put out.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

That was number one, phenomenal. And number two had phenomenal news.

[B]

Phenomenal news. The Summer of Stein is here. Eric has agreed to talk about Big Brother 28. We know that we are certainly going to talk about the premiere that will happen later on today. And if Eric wants to, he will come back every week, but we'll see. He might do one and quit. It's possible. It's in the realm of possibility.

[A]

Have we considered the idea that he's still riding the high of being a mastermind and he's just doing this to mess with us, maybe get our hopes up and then pull the rug out from under us?

[B]

Yeah, it's a possibility. I'm going to record that in maybe in about an hour, and we should have that up later on this afternoon. So at the time, like, the feeds go off and you'll have a couple hours before the episode, check out the premiere of Summer of Stein 2026.

[A]

All right. Anything else to. To promo here, Rob?

[B]

Just that Taryn and I did a great podcast on. We dropped it yesterday. It's a new patron show. We're calling it the Big Brother Mailbag. But we put it out for everybody to see. But we did something really fun. We assigned the win equity for all of the players. Might need to be adjusted from when we did it the other day, but we tried to assign a win probability to each of the players and we want to update it every single week. And we want to track at the end of the season the graph of, like, who fell off a cliff, who. Who hit zero the earliest. And it should be a fun thing to do. And we'll be taking mailbag questions from the patrons all season long, so check that out as well.

[A]

All right.

[B]

Julie Chen, Moonvest on Wednesday, say we did.

[A]

Yes. That was very, very interesting. Very fun. To my first time meeting Julie.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

In any capacity.

[B]

So. Yeah. So check that out as well.

[A]

Yes. All right. That's what we have for you. Thank you all so much for joining us here today. I will see all of you tonight next time.