‘Big Brother’ star Rachel Reilly addresses controversial exit: ‘I am definitely frustrated’

Rachel Reilly entered the Big Brother house for season 27 as a target roughly the size of OTEV. Yet somehow, even while playing a super-aggressive game with maximum cajoling, she never saw the nomination block. And that is in a season in which up to four different contestants were nominated each week.

None of it mattered. That’s because Rachel was on the wrong end of the Mastermind’s Maniacal Maze — a hamster wheel competition in which one contestant has to get a ball through a maze in an allotted amount of time, and then each person who follows has one minute less to complete the same maze.

White Locust competition winner Ava Pearl chose Vince Panaro to go first with six and a half minutes. He then chose Lauren Domingue instead of fellow Judges alliance member Morgan Pope to go next, so by the time Rachel was finally selected to go fourth after Vince, Lauren, and Morgan, she had only three and a half minutes.

It wasn’t enough, and Rachel was immediately eliminated from the game and sent to the jury house.

The hamster wheel competition was a huge hit when it first appeared in 2023 on Big Brother Reindeer Games, but that was a spinoff series in which no players were voted out and it was all about competition performance. The original Big Brother, however, is a game in which players are voted out by their peers. Until now.

How does Rachel feel about eliminated in this way and without a chance to save herself? Does she blame Ava for picking Vince to go first? Does she think she could have finished the maze had Vince chosen Morgan to go second, which would have given her more time?  And does she still feel like she let everyone down? We were able to email over some questions to the Big Brother legend on her way to the jury house — no life vests needed.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How do you feel about being eliminated in this manner, without a chance to save yourself with your social and strategic game or at a veto competition?

RACHEL REILLY: Yeah, so being eliminated by a twist in a hamster wheel, it was really frustrating. I felt that if I would’ve had a chance to talk my way out of something or have another shot to win another competition, maybe I could have.

I think when I originally saw the hamster wheel of death, as we like to call it, I just freaked out a little bit and unfortunately I wasn’t able to pull it through. You really need to focus in these competitions, especially when you’re fighting for your life in the BB house. So I think that if I would’ve been able to focus a little bit more and pull it out, not have overthunk what I was doing, I might have been able to do it in the three and a half minutes.

But, yeah, absolutely if I would’ve had a chance to strategically play or socially play the rest of the week, or even a few more hours, I think that I would’ve been able to talk my way out of it. But, you know, you get a shot and you got to take it and I tried. I did my best and I’m here now. So I am definitely frustrated about that, but what are you gonna do?

How frustrating is it to play so well all season long and then watch your game end so suddenly in this fashion?

Yeah, it is extremely frustrating to play such a good game all season, and I truly feel that I set myself up for this jury. I made this whole jury of people that would’ve voted for me. I worked really hard socially to become friends with all these people and to form relationships and to strategically play this game and to navigate through the game in a better way that I feel that I ever played Big Brother before.

On [seasons] 12 and 13, I don’t think that I had the same social game or the same strategic game. And so to play such a strong game and then to have a twist that I just, you know, I just couldn’t bring out the competition wins this season. And I did when I needed to. I won an HOH when I absolutely needed to. But then to be at a point where the competition was something that I just couldn’t complete and I couldn’t be successful at, I think it was extremely frustrating because I do feel that I set myself up in such a great position for the jury and to sit in those final two chairs. And I really did see myself there.

So yeah, I tried my best and  I think that I’m really proud of the game I played because truly I think that I’ve evolved so much as a game player strategically, socially, winning a competition when I needed to. And I think that over the past 15 years since playing Big Brother the last time — I’m such a fan of the show, and so I’ve really studied the show and studied what I needed to do, interviewed the winners, and I think I did play a great game. So to be taken out by a twist — like this was not expected, but as they say in Big Brother, expect the unexpected.

What did you make of Ava not letting you go first and picking Vince instead?

I am very disappointed in Ava that she didn’t let me go first. I was trying to explain the strategy of this hamster wheel to her, because we did see this on the Reindeer Games, right? Like, we knew how this was going to play out because it was on Reindeer Games. And so I was trying to explain the strategy to her of how to keep all of her allies in the game. And she and I had a final two, right? Like, we did have this like Double the Fun alliance final two deal. And I truly did believe with Ava that I could see myself sitting next to her in the final two chairs. She played a great social game and I really did love playing with her, and I became good friends with her. So I thought that she would listen to me, especially in a clutch moment like this.

I am disappointed that she didn’t, because I thought that socially that we were at the same level where we were like on the same page working together. I really think that because Keanu was standing right there and got in my way of it — just blocking the time that I had to talk to her — I think that that made her frustrated and that’s why she picked Vince first instead of myself. She could have picked Will. I mean, she could have picked anyone, but she just didn’t want to listen to me. So there’s nothing you can do at that point.

Vince picked Lauren instead of Morgan to go second. What do you think of that decision, and do you feel like you would have been able to complete the maze with an extra minute had he picked Morgan second instead?

So when Vince picked Lauren second instead of Morgan, I was extremely frustrated with him. I think that showed where his true alliance was. It showed his cards and it showed that, like, did he even respect Morgan that much? That’s what my question was, because Morgan had done so much for him in this game, and then to put her at a one-minute disadvantage as opposed to Lauren — I thought that that was kind of a slap in the face to Morgan.

I do feel that if I would have gone after Morgan and had the extra minute, I just think I would’ve been in a different headspace when I knew I had the three and a half minutes. I was just in such a frenzy of a headspace thinking that I wouldn’t be able to complete this maze. And I think that because of that I went into the maze already doubting my abilities.

And you can’t doubt your abilities in a competition, especially when you’re fighting for your life, because that is all you have in this game. And sometimes if it’s a Block Buster, if it’s a Veto, and even if it’s an HOH, you have to go into every competition focused and completely present in the moment. Otherwise, you’re just not going to be able to pull out that win. And that’s what happened to me.

You said in the Diary Room that you felt like you let everyone down by not beating the maze. Do you still feel that way?

I really tried to play the best game I could this season. II think my game has evolved so much from seasons 12 and 13 of Big Brother, and I really wanted to come back and play a game that was strategic and social and that was competitive and that I won when I needed to win. But I also had an alliance, and I also had all these different ways that you can play Big Brother.

Because, to me, I love this game and I’m such a fan of the show and I really wanted to come back. If I was gonna come back, I didn’t wanna just come back and show up and passively play Big Brother. I wanted to actively take a role in this game and I wanted to have other people that I brought along with me for the ride. And I think that I was able to do that.

So I do feel that I let myself down and by letting myself down, I feel that I did let let other people down. I did try my best, and that’s all you can do. And at the end of the day, I came and I think I did make great television and play a great game, and that’s what this is about, right? So I hope that everyone enjoyed watching and I hope that they really enjoyed this season. And I think that we will get a good Big Brother 27 winner. And I’m excited to go back and watch the season

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