‘Big Brother 26’ Activates Game-Changing America’s Veto Power: Here’s How It Works

Previously on “Big Brother”: Matt and Lisa found themselves as the first two houseguests evicted from Season 26 — and there’s still a lot up in the air before someone else joins them on Thursday.

After Head of Household Cedric nominated Angela, Kenney and Tucker for Week 3 eviction, Tucker became the first person of the season to win two competitions. However, he also became the third person in “BB” history to remove someone else from the block instead of himself; saving Angela from both the house vote and America’s Vote.

That’s because when Cedric decided to go against Tucker’s plan of nominating Quinn (and his not-so-secret Deepfake HoH upgrade in the process) in favor of Makensy, she activated her America’s Veto upgrade, making her free from the threat of eviction. Of course, this drama all culminated into one of the most confrontational Veto Ceremonies ever.

After Wednesday’s episode, viewers now have 12 hours to vote for Makensy’s replacement ahead of Thursday’s eviction. Naturally, nominees Kenney and Tucker, as well as HoH Cedric and Veto-ed Angela are immune. Whomever gets the most votes will be announced live on Thursday, followed by the third AI Arena and the subsequent live vote and eviction.

It’s also worth noting that CBS specifically called Makensy’s upgrade “America’s FIRST vote” of the season in their press release … meaning there’s still plenty of time for AI gamekeeper Ainsley and/or host Julie Chen Moonves to mess with the game, considering the latter did promise she’d be more involved than ever before.

Check out the two biggest moments from Wednesday night’s episode, above and below. But first, you can cast your 10 votes at cbs.com/BBVOTE.

As always, “Big Brother” airs Thursdays, Sundays and Wednesdays on CBS, with ~24/7 live feeds on Paramount+. Plus, past winners Taylor Hale, Cody Calafiore and Jag Bains will be stopping by the AI Arena this Tuesday for a special episode recapping all the drama so far this season.

“Big Brother” airs Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays on CBS. The show will air a special retrospective episode dedicated to this season’s biggest twists on Tuesday, Aug. 13.