3 reasons why Chelsie Baham should win Big Brother season 26

As Big Brother season 26 comes to an end this week, fans have been debating who will be the best player to win and represent this season. Some argue that the person who should've won this season has since left the house, evicted as a pre-juror. However, we believe that this is far from the truth as the last single most-deserving winner of season 26 is still in the house.

And that person is none other than Chelsie Baham!

When simply judging her character and personality, we know that Chelsie isn't someone who people necessarily think is everyone's cup of tea. After all, as her fellow houseguests say, she tends to be a bit blunt or hard to approach. Even so, when we look at her resume, all of her personality flaws fade away and what's left is her flawless social and competitive gameplay.

Here are three reasons why Chelsie is your undeniable winner of Big Brother season 26!

Chelsie swiftly recovered from having no power to having all the power

Because she came in last place during the first-ever competition of season 26, Chelsie, along with Cedric Hodges, were given a huge punishment that made them not only wear mascot costumes for the entire first week but also stripped them of playing in any competition that week. Not being able to compete meant that Chelsie had no true way of protecting herself. Even so, because of her ability to lay low when it matters most, she, somehow, didn't end up on the block despite having a punishment that should've sent her clean out the door.

After Chelsie's punishment, she could finally compete. Fortunately for her, she secured the next Head of Household (HOH) win of the season, showing that she knows how to ensure she stays in a pretty comfortable position whether she's HOH or not. Granted, she used her first HOH to send home an easy target like Lisa Weintraub, she didn't get any blood on her hands since the house wasn't the biggest fan of Lisa.

Going from a player with no power during week 1 to becoming someone who most people run strategy by isn't an easy feat by no means. And who else could pull it off so flawlessly other than Chelsie?

Chelsie's strategic game stayed impeccable through it all

Having been at the forefront of alliances like The Collective and The Pentagon, Chelsie didn't initially start off as someone on the outs.

Initially, The Collective, an alliance full of heavy hitters and amazing social players, was a cushion Chelsie could fall back on whenever she wasn't in power. However, as we all know, nothing lasts forever in the Big Brother house and, eventually, due to a couple of hiccups along the way, The Collective became a huge disaster, leaving Chelsie with no choice but to go all the way with The Pentagon.

The Pentagon, comprised of Chelsie, Brooklyn Rivera, Cedric Hodges, Cam Sullivan-Brown, and Quinn Martin, kicked off Week 1 and seemed to be the only alliance for Chelsie with tons of promise. But when Cedric was blindsided and went home by mistake on Quinn's Deepfake HOH flop, Chelsie and the remaining members of the Pentagon knew that they wouldn't have the numbers or fighting power to make it very far in the game.

Not too long after, Tucker Des Lauriers, season 26's comp beast and firecracker, knew that Chelsie and Brooklyn were the ones pulling The Pentagon's strings. And so, Tucker used his HOH to put a huge target on Brooklyn and Chelsie's game, causing a huge rift in Chelsie's game.

Rather than accept her fate, Chelsie ensured she positioned herself in a way that people would see Brooklyn as a bigger threat than herself. How did she do this? She, once again, stayed quiet and only spoke when she absolutely needed to. This strategy may seem like a horrible one, but, knowing how much power silence holds, Chelsie was smart to refrain from campaigning too hard and just let Brooklyn dig her own grave.

With Brooklyn evicted, it seemed that Chelsie was certainly next on the chopping block, especially because she wasn't aligned with T'kor Clottey, the next HOH after Tucker's reign that sent Chelsie's strongest ally home. But with her back against the wall and with nothing left to lose, Chelsie used her amazing persuasion skills to get the house to finally flip on Tucker.

T'Kor put Tucker up to be a pawn. However, after Tucker lost the Golden Power of Veto, Chelsie saw a path that would potentially lead to Tucker going home. All she needed was for Tucker to lose the BBAI Arena for the first time and wait for the perfect moment to flip the numbers in her favor. Fortunately for Chelsie, luck was on her side, and with Tucker losing two important competitions, she cleverly gained the numbers to send season 26's biggest threat out the door.

Chelsie went from almost going home to being the sole person to flip the house and send Tucker out despite Tucker initially having the votes to stay. Doing this with no alliance members and no power is insanely impressive. So much so that it's almost unbelievable that Chelsie pulled it off without ever becoming a huge target afterward.

Chelsie misted her only other real competition left in the game

Makensy Manbeck had a very similar journey to Chelsie. Makensy was someone who should've been a pre-juror after not aligning with the best people and having a huge target on her back. However, once she finally started winning competitions, people knew that Makensy was a force to be reckoned with.

With Makensy and Chelsie being in the Final Four, the jury will have an increasingly difficult time deciding who should win since both of their resumes are equally impressive. However, it didn't have to be like this. In fact, if Makensy used her Week 10 and Week 11 HOH wins wisely, Makensy could've sent home Chelsie to ensure that no matter who she is up against in the final two, the Jury would vote in Makensy's favor.

However, that's not what Makensy did.

Chelsie managed to fall under Makensy's radar by being a shoulder for Makensy to vent to while also manipulating her. After all, it was Chelsie's contagious suspicion about Leah Peters that led to Makensy sending home Leah, her Day 1 ally.

With Leah out of the picture, this not only led to Makensy having no true allies in the game, but it also left Makensy with few options but to think about bringing Chelsie to the end since Chelsie is the only person left in the game who is worth working with. Simply put, Makensy got outplayed during her HOHs where she could've cemented total victory for the rest of the season.

Of course, when it's all said and done, it's up to the Jury to decide who wins season 26. However, should Makensy, the only other true contender for winning Big Brother, bring Chelsie to the Final 2, we can't say for certain that Chelsie won't win due to the simple fact that Chelsie has the more impressive comp wins and social strategies that will certainly be acknowledged by the jury.

All in all, it's easy to overlook Chelsie's game since she's someone who was only very vocal when she needed to be. But don't mistake her in-game timidness for passiveness because Chelsie is a powerhouse. If her tying with Vanessa Russo's accomplishment of being the first woman to win four (yes, four!) HOHs in a single season didn't impress you, then let her rags-to-riches social game do it for you.

Chelsie Baham deserves to win Big Brother season 26, and we hope you see that clear as day now.