Ashley Hollis is officially the new queen of the Big Brother house!
The 27th season of the CBS reality show came to a dramatic close on September 28, with Hollis, a lawyer from New York City, taking home the $750,000 grand prize. She earned the win with a decisive jury vote of 6-1 against runner-up Vince Panaro, while Morgan Pope fell just short of the final two.
What makes Hollis’ victory even more impressive? She managed to stay under the radar for most of the game — not winning a single Head of Household competition until the very last day. But when it mattered most, she proved she had the strategy and determination to seal the deal. “To me, a Big Brother winner is someone who turns their enemies into allies, not their allies into enemies,” Hollis declared during her powerful jury pitch.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly following her win, Hollis revealed that she carefully crafted her finale night speech.
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“Oh my gosh, I worked on that speech for days — trying to come up with combativeness too, if I was sitting next to Morgan or if I was sitting next to Vinny,” she said. “And for me, I really just knew that Vinny’s social game wasn’t that strong. He made some really bad moves in the game. He led a lot of people on and gave them hope even though he knew he was going to go another way. So I knew I wanted to emphasize that.”
Hollis credited her career in law for helping her stay sharp in the high-pressure moment. “And being an attorney, you have to predict what the other person’s arguments are going to be and already have a strategy and a counter-argument to whatever their argument is going be,” she explained. “And so I knew he was going to try to say he had a strong social game and he only lied when he had to, but I’m like, ‘You turned a lot of allies into enemies.’ And I feel like in my game, I did the exact opposite.”
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Her confidence paid off. “I knew I was going to beat Vinny because I knew I was going to hit with my speech and my questions, and I knew he was going to get nervous,” Hollis added.
The Season 27 finale wrapped up what had been one of the most unpredictable seasons in recent memory, complete with controversial twists, puzzling moves, and even a surprise “mystery houseguest.” In fact, Rachel Reilly — the Big Brother legend who won Season 13 — shocked fans and houseguests alike by joining the game during the July 10 premiere. “Reality royalty has officially arrived,” she declared. While Reilly didn’t last until the end and was eliminated on September 9, her presence set the tone for a season full of surprises.
Meanwhile, fan-favorite Keanu Soto walked away with the title of America’s Favorite Houseguest, proving that even if you don’t win the grand prize, there’s still plenty of love to go around in the Big Brother fandom.
