'Big Brother 26' Runner-Up Makensy Manbeck Says Taking Chelsie to the End Was 'A Testament to My Game and My Character'

Big Brother ’s house is open once more! Every week, Parade.com’s Mike Bloom will be bringing you interviews with this season's houseguests as they get evicted from the game.

As a construction project manager, Makensy Manbeck knows that every good structure needs both solid materials and a good blueprint. Makensy's attempt to build a winning game got off to an unanticipated start, as she got linked with a showmance and found herself out the outskirts strategically from the very first vote. She protected herself, though, with what ended up being the concrete of her game: Competitions. As she racked up wins, she came into power, which put her in a solid alliance with Chelsie Baham . But while Makensy's materials were there, the plans were not. Every move she made the second half of the game was meant to serve her and Chelsie, most notably evicting a solid ally in Leah Peters . The final loyalty test came when Makensy won the final HoH, choosing to honor her alliance with Chelsie all the way to the end. And, ultimately, that caused her project to win $750,000 to crumble, as she was shut out in the jury vote.

MJ was far from OK when she started the game. She was on cloud nine in Week 1, earning a game-changing "America's Veto" power on the very first night. Between that asset, a quickly-formed partnership with Matt Hardeman , and being part of some key alliances, she seemed primed to go far from the jump. But much like some surprisingly precarious stairs, her feet went out from under her. Angela Murray sharply turned on Matt, and the rest followed suit, evicting him first. Makensy was left completely out of the vote and in a very vulnerable position. Feeling cornered, she revealed her power, which both protected her and made her an even bigger target. After being forced to flush her veto, she was nominated twice more prejury, and seemed primed to go come eviction night.

But when Makensy was truly in dire straits, she benefited from what would end up becoming her calling card in the game: Competitions. She took home two must-wins in the "AI Arena." And though she wasn't in any of the major power structures, she was a key component of both big flips that happened in the prejury. Simultaneously, she began to get closer to Chelsie, and the two eventually locked in formally with Cam Sullivan-Brown . The two women dominated much of the second half of the game competition-wise, with Makensy winning two HoHs and four Vetoes.

Though she was finally in power, her decisions were far from ideal. Chelsie's used their partnership to guide both of her HoH reigns, most notably convincing her to betray Leah, who Makensy had been closely connected with since the very first week. Makensy held all the cards in the final two rounds as the sole votes to evict. She declared loyalty would win out, choosing to keep Cam at the Final Four, then sending him out at the Final Three in lieu of Chelsie. And, while loyalty won out, Makensy did not. As much as she talked up her narrative and independence to the jury, it was not enough to sway any of them away from the allure of Chelsie's diamond of a game.

Hours after the Big Brother 26 finale, Makensy talks with Parade.com about her choice as final HoH, how she looks back on her decision to boot Leah, and the biggest thing that contributed to her midgame pivot.

Related: Everything to Know About Big Brother 26

Hi, Makensy! How are you doing right now?
So good. I mean, I have so much going on. But I'm so happy to be talking to people other than the 15 houseguests.

I mean, I'm glad to hear you're doing well. Not everybody would feel that way after losing out unanimously on $750,000. We'll get into the decision you made as HoH. But talk me through your mindset as the jury questions and speeches went along. How were you feeling your chances would be?
Before the jury questions, I did have some hope in myself that I would receive a few votes. The jury questions, I knew, based off the questions and the answers received, that it would be a very, very lucky moment for me to get a vote. Because Chelsie explained her game in a very, very well way. She did have a very complex game, and she knows how to talk. She knows how to talk for sure; I'll give that to her. I love her. And listening to her explain her game would have made me vote for her! So I knew that sitting there that I had a very low chance of winning.

But for me, her winning was me winning. I absolutely love that woman. She played an incredible game, and I would not have been probably in those Final Two chairs if it wasn't for her help throughout this game. And honestly, my goal coming into this house was to win. Obviously, I wanted to win first, but also just win competitions. I'm an ex-D1 athlete. I like competitiveness,. And so I wanted to win a lot of competitions. And I wanted to make it to Day 90. The money is a bonus. Absolutely, of course I'm going to miss out on 750K. But I did get $75,000, and I got a lot of self-worth in this process. And I got to show my character, which is all that I can ask for.

So leading up to you winning the final HoH, how much were you truly debating taking Cam or Chelsie to the end?
I did think a little bit about how bringing Cam probably would have allowed me to have an easier win, but maybe it's the competitive nature in me, and also my loyalty and just who I am. I wanted to sit next to Chelsie. She had helped me throughout the game. I had helped her, and she was an amazing woman. She deserved to be sitting in those two chairs. She had an incredible game. I could see that. And I'm not afraid to sit next to the best people. I'm not afraid to go head-to-head. That wasn't my game plan.  My game plan was not to get huge competitors out. My game plan was to play Big Brother , and that's exactly what I did. That's exactly what she did. We both deserve to see be sitting in those final two chairs. Her winning is a testament to her game, and me bringing her there is a testament to mine.

I want to talk about something you highlighted in your jury speech, which is you choosing to nominate Leah on your first HoH. You had said that you made that decision completely independently. How do you look back on your decision now in a vacuum?
Here's the thing. I made the decision entirely independently. But did the thought process and talking it out come with speaking to Chelsie about this? Absolutely. But I came into this house wanting to play with people. And when I felt the opportunity to play with Chelsie, I knew I was going to make decisions that not only benefited my game, that benefited hers. Because moves that benefited hers intentionally benefited mine. Because if she was staying, that meant I was staying, and having somebody come for her was not something I needed.

Also, Leah played a game that was incredible as well. She didn't touch the block that entire time. She had a great social game. She was starting to win comps, and she was a threat. We've had a conversation about this. She did not let a lot of people know where her head was at. So she could have been telling me one thing, but saying another behind closed doors. I never knew, and not knowing allowed me to feel comfortable in making this decision. Because what I did know was that Chelsie was going to protect me. What I didn't know was where Leah stood at that time, and making that decision could not have been forced by anybody. I did make it solely. I'm the one that had the veto, so I made that decision for me. But did I consider other people inside of that, absolutely.

During your second HoH reign, you were upset with Cam losing competitions, and even toyed with the idea of nominating him. Talk to me about that. And, if you took him to the Final Two, what do you think your chances would have been?
I think my chances would have been a lot better. I definitely think I probably could have said I carried him. And vice versa, he probably would have said that he had me in his pocket all season and that he made me take him. But the thing is, I carried him because I knew I could beat him in the end and beat him in competitions, whether he was trying to or whether he was throwing them. Maybe don't throw them, because then you won't be viewed like that! But I don't know what his gameplay was. But I do know that I played a heck of a game, and if I was sitting next to him, I do believe I at least would have had one vote! [ Laughs .] But again, my game plan wasn't to have an easy win and wasn't to play a game that I didn't want. And so sitting next to Chelsie was a testament to my game as well as a testament to my character, and I would not [undo] it.

As you've mentioned a few times tonight, you had a rough first half of the game, between being targeted for your relationship with Matt, being on the outs socially and strategically, and having to win a couple of clutch competitions. Talk to me about how you adjusted to those circumstances>
The first half of this game was rough, mentally, physically. I walked into that house [and] I had a target painted on my back immediately, because me and Matt got along, and people don't like initially when people get along.I had that because of Matt's big blow up, which I somehow got dragged into! Then I had a majority alliance formed against me. And then, because I was on the social outskirts, I was like, "What can I do to make people like me?" Guess what I did. I told everybody about my power up! Dumb, yes. But hey, I got to Final Two, so couldn't be too dumb. And then I just I had to win. I was seen as a threat because I was a D1 athlete, and it was just rough. I had nobody who wanted to work with me, nobody who had told me the truth, nobody in my corner at all. The one person I had in my corner left, and then the other one, who was part of  an alliance called the "Throwmance," got so scared because of the fact that we got bamboozled, she ended up leaving me kind of in the dust early on two and didn't come back till later in the half.

So it was a rough, rough start that really made me clock into myself and realize that, "Hey, nobody's gonna have your back in here. But you know who can? You." And so I just told myself that I've got myself, and that's all that matters. And I can win, and I can do hard things, and that's exactly what I did. And then I got Tucker out on day 45, and that changed a lot for me, because that was the comp beast of the season at the time, And that was a lot of people's shield, and he had a lot of deceiving going on. He had a lot of gameplay, and people were afraid of him. Thankfully, I was not. He actually was my closest ally at a time, until I realized that he was playing me. So then I got him out. So, at that time, that's when a lot of things changed for me. I really started to take a lot of wins. I pushed myself close to somebody who I knew was really, really good in this house, which was Chelsie. I chose to latch onto her and I would protect her. I knew that she would see that. And it worked out for me. It got me to Final Two.

I don't need to think everyone should come out of the finale with the attitude you have. But, in a season full of ups and downs for you, it's nice to see you end on an up.
It really is. People come into Big Brother wanting to win $750,000. Did I want to win $750,000? Absolutely. But what I wanted most was a well-known, highly valued, highly respected, Big Brother game that got me to the end. And that is exactly what I played, and I wouldn't change it for the world.

Next, check out our interview with Big Brother 26 winner Chelsie Baham .