The jury phase has begun for Big Brother 26 and alliances keep forming and breaking. There are all kinds of players on the CBS show. Some houseguests took a backseat in the beginning, like Cam Sullivan-Brown and Rubina Bernabe. Crushes between houseguests gave them possibilities for allies and showmances. But most of them went unrequited except for Rubina and Tucker Des Lauriers, whose showmance was quickly torn apart with his eviction in week six.
Tucker was one of the bigger personalities and a wild card. The cast had to play around him because of his competition wins and unexpected game moves. But they also had to work around Angela Murray. She started off strong, then quickly ruined people’s trust in her. Many fans and houseguests have counted her out because of that…but they’re wrong. Here is why Angela is becoming the biggest threat to take the $750,000 on finale night.
Angela Murray Ruined Her Strong ‘Big Brother 26’ Start
Most seasons of Big Brother have men and women over 50 in the cast. However, the oldest winner of the show is Dick Donato, who won Season 8 at 44 years old. Big Brother is a young person’s game by design with physical competitions, staying up late to strengthen bonds in the house, and being in the minority group. It’s easy to get left out of the younger contestants conversations and there usually needs to be an incentive for them to connect despite that. Big Brother 25 had Felicia Cannon old place fourth at 64 years old and Cirie Fields placed fifth at 53. Cirie had the advantage of not participating in the first competition of the season and surprised the cast at the end of the premiere; some recognized her from Survivor and had the incentive to work with her. She formed a bond with Felicia that helped further their game.
Angela didn’t come in as a Survivor legend, but she did win the first Head of Household (HOH). The first HOH has the privilege of allies coming to them because of that power. Quinn Martin and Joseph Rodriguez offered Angela an alliance, but she spent all night thinking about the game and progressively became more paranoid. She then yelled at Matt Hardeman the next morning and outed the alliance. This made Quinn and the rest of the house understandably hesitant to work with Angela. The second week didn’t get any better; she pointed out a group of Black houseguests to Quinn and claimed they were working together. He told this to Chelsie Baham and T’Kor Clottey assuming she wanted to target them. After she was confronted, Angela claimed she wanted to work with them. It was smoothed over but Angela’s standing in the house was low.
Angela Builds a Veto Resume and New Relationships
Things changed for Angela once Tucker started using her in his plans against their common enemy, Quinn. Tucker won the veto while on the block next to Angela and used the veto on her instead of himself. It was a risky move that one would think only Tucker would be willing to do for her, but in week 7 it happened again. Quinn, as HOH, nominated her and one of his closest allies. Joseph Rodrugez. Leah Peters won and used the veto on Angela, claiming this move was so Angela could make the jury vote for her to win.
It is amazing that Angela remains in the house, even though she made the first weeks uncomfortable for Matt, Lisa Weintraub, and T’Kor. But the overconfidence that she can’t win is part of the reason she’s a huge threat. Houseguests like Quinn see that Angela will keep taking a spot on the block to make it easier for future HOH’s initial nominations. However, the bigger threat will always go home over her. Staying on the block for multiple weeks is no longer the nail in the coffin for houseguests after Taylor Hale won with a winning speech. We saw Jag Bains win last season after he was technically evicted from the game, but Matt Klotz saved him.
Angela has shown she’ll beg her way into an alliance — she did so successfully with Sixth Avenue. Angela betrayed her ally again when she was tired of being at the bottom of that alliance with Tucker and Rubina’s showmance outed. She and the other houseguests — who voted Tucker out — bettered their chances of winning. The Utah-native won HoH twice, with the second one taken over by Quinn’s Deep Fake. All the people she wanted out of the house are gone, including Matt, Lisa, Brooklyn Rivera, and Tucker. Angela is a messy player but can own most of it, which is the most important part of swaying a jury. They want to hear the final two be honest about their games.
Angela Murray Could Be in the Perfect Position To Win ‘Big Brother 26’
Angela has had ample speech practice with all the emotional declarations she’s given on eviction nights. She always turns to talking about her love of the game and feeling grateful to be around as she cries; it can be excessive at times. But you shouldn’t underestimate how emotions run high on finale night and there is plenty of time left in the game. Angela’s terrible start could be a faraway memory to the jurors, who are now understanding and accepting Angela more and more. Almost everyone thinks they can use her, which could lead to more jury votes for her than her rival. So yes, Leah made her move to save Angela for jury as a possible vote for her. But it’s more likely she’ll be voting for Angela based on her perceived low threat level.
Lastly, jury votes aren’t always about the player making all the right moves. Jurors sometimes think about who would be a good representation for their season. Angela is controversial, and her win would have mixed reactions. But one thing is certain. She would become the oldest houseguest to win the game and houseguests want their season to end on a groundbreaking note.