A house divided against itself cannot kick out a houseguest without a ton of dramatic debates.
After just 16 days into the new season of Big Brother, one contestant is already proving that brutal honesty can have serious consequences -- especially if your honesty feels more like bullying in the eyes of all your fellow houseguests.
Leading up to the live eviction on Thursday, Hisam Goueli had won the Head of Household competition and nominated previous HOH Reilly Smedley for eviction as well as Cameron Hardin, who he put up as a false target of sorts.
Hisam has talked a great deal about wanting to play an "honest" game, so he didn't mince words when he told Reilly that she was his ultimate target and that he was going to do everything in his power to get her kicked out of the house.
Currently, the house is divided into two large alliances -- The Handfuls (i.e. the younger players), and The Professors (the older players). Both Cameron and Reilly are members of The Handfuls, so regardless of who goes home, The Handfuls are losing a member. But which member they lose is very important to everyone in both alliances, because there are countless other machinations and schemes being formed in the background.
The only hope for Reilly seemed to be if she -- or one of her allies -- won the Power of Veto competition. Unfortunately, this didn't pan out, and Hisam managed to snag that as well.
Instead of downplaying things and letting the chips fall where they may (which likely would have led to Reilly getting kicked out), he made a big show out of not using the POV, then calling Reilly out and asking everyone to help him vote her out for the good of the house.
The episode begins with everyone reeling from Hisam's surprisingly candid (or, as others might say, hurtful) diatribe, which leaves Reilly in tears. Cory Wurtenberger summed up the mood of essentially the entire house when he said, "As far as I understand, the plan is to get Reilly out of the house. But then Hisam had to go and make an ass out of himself in front of everybody. Why should I be doing that guy's bidding? In fact, what I want to do is do exactly the opposite of what he wants."
As the episode progressed toward the live vote, Hisam continued to rub everyone -- even those in his own alliance and those who have been his allies -- the wrong way. It soon became clear that, regardless of who goes home this week, Hisam has painted a huge target on his back with his lackluster social game and somewhat abrasive conversational style.
As Cirie Fields and her closest confidant Izzy Gleicher began their campaign to lull Hisam into a false sense of security in the weeks to come, it finally came time for the live vote, and it was still anyone's guess who would be getting the boot.
At the live eviction meeting, Cameron was the first to give his speech in an effort to win support and stay in the house.
"Reilly, you are amazing and just incredible. I don't know what else to say," Cameron began his speech, before sharing some shout-outs to his family at home, and then getting into the bulk of his defense.
"Houseguests, it's been an absolute honor being here with you guys. I have truly enjoyed every second of all the things we have gone through, good and bad, and just made it through, as much as we have, with love and solidarity, and I hope that we continue that trend," Cameron shared. "I just can't tell you how honored I am to be here with you, so thank you so much for having me."
Then it was Reilly's turn to talk. "Houseguests, I had such an amazing time meeting all of you. In just two weeks, we have built such an amazing family together, and I mean that from the bottom of my heart. I will miss you guys so much if this doesn't go to plan," she said, awkwardly whispering that last part before laughing nervously. "I am really bad at this. Sorry, Julie. Anyways, I love you guys. You are my family. I hope that whatever happens tonight, we will all remain really good friends and this has been a blast. I love you all."
Unfortunately for Reilly, all the uncertainty and efforts at vote flipping and debates about blindsiding Hisam didn't amount to anything more than talk, and Reilly ended up getting evicted by a unanimous 12-0 vote.
After graciously hugging each of her fellow houseguests, she exited the house and took a seat across from host Julie Chen Moonves for her exit interview.
When asked by why she wasn't able to win over any votes, Reilly explained, "I think that there is a lot of fear going on in the house right now."
"I definitely had my core alliance that was rooting for me, but it was really hard to gather those votes because we were so divided at the beginning, that people were afraid to flip to the other side," she said, adding that she eventually told her alliance members to not blow up their game by voting against the will of the majority. So essentially she saw the eviction coming.
Reilly also spoke to Big Brother alum Taylor Hale on behalf of ET about Hisam's veto speech and her biggest regret from her short time in the house. Reilly admitted that she "didn't think it would be week two" that she'd be leaving.
"I feel like it's an unfinished story," she shared. "But nonetheless I am so happy for the experience. I mean, this changed my life and I met so many amazing people. So I can't I can't be too sad."
Reilly noted that her biggest regret looking back is "being really trusting, especially right off the bat with an eight-person alliance that was definitely a big move to make right at the very start."
"I am one of those people who's very vocal about how I feel in my emotions," she explained. "...I also think in general, just winning Head of Household puts definitely a target on your back right in the very beginning of the game. So anything that happens is kind of your responsibility in a sense. So I think that was something that I I could have handled better."
Reilly said she was "fighting right to literally the last 10 minutes" before her eviction. "Everyone was very up and down, and up and down. I campaigned like crazy for myself. I had them and then I lost them right at the end. So that's kind of why my speech was not beautiful," she told ET. "It was a tough one. It would have been a huge move. Probably the biggest move of the game so far. So I think that scared a lot of people. I could have had it but I can't be too upset. I was asking a lot of people."
She also spoke to Hisam's veto speech. "I definitely think the speech was something that people weren't exactly expecting. But Hisam was super honest and that was his way of showing that and he's definitely very passionate about his his goals for the week," she noted. "I can't be mad at it. It's just a game. I think it definitely made people start to think about where they see themselves moving forward. But, you know, I wish him the best. It was just a game move."
Reilly elaborated on Hisam's "super long" veto speech. "He basically just told everyone where his head was at and asked for help to get to his destination," she recalled. "He had voiced his opinion around the house anyways, so no one was really surprised at where his head was at. But he did what he had to do, and I totally understand that."
When it comes to who she thinks has the upper hand in the house, Reilly shared, "I think it's anyone's game. I really think it's anyone's game. We're such a unique cast and everyone is so capable. ...Everyone has something to bring to the table and I think that this game was so beautiful in that sense that anyone can take it home. So I'm curious to know who won Head of Household last night."
And for viewers wondering what Reilly told Cirie Fields before she left, she revealed, "I told her to kick some butt."
She also thinks that Cirie's son, Jared Fields, is "playing the best game right now."
"I don't know if there's anyone playing a bad game right now. I definitely think that if anything, there might be a little bit more of a target on a Hisam's back," she told ET. "I know that there's a couple maybe floater type of houseguests right now that I think should start getting involved. But other than that, I think that Jared is playing a really good game."
What will this aggressive gameplay mean for Hisam next week when he has to relinquish his title of Head of Household? It seems the winds of fate are not in his favor, but only time will tell.
Big Brother airs Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT and Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.
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