Big Brother 27's Comp Focus Was The Reason Ashley Hollis Won

Big Brother season 27 has finally come to a close, but Ashley Hollis may not have won the CBS social experiment had the production team made some different decisions earlier in the season. Hollis made history as the Big Brother season 27 winner for a few reasons. For starters, she is the first player to win only the final Head Of Household competition, no previous HOHs, and win the entire season.

While Dr. Will Kirby is famously the only Big Brother player to win the game without winning any competitions, Ashley’s historical win is still noteworthy. Plus, Ashley is the first black woman to win Big Brother while sitting next to a white man.

Big Brother season 27 was unique, and the various twists helped Ashley to clinch the grand prize, despite sitting next to a competition beast. Had the production team not introduced certain surprises to the game, it’s possible Ashley would have taken home second prize, not first.

Big Brother 27 Was A Competition Focused Season

CBS

Big Brother season 27 was more competition focused than most seasons of the show, often giving players the chance to save themselves multiple times within a week via competitions, rather than needing to rely on their social game. This allowed players like Keanu Soto and Kelley Jorgensen to make it to the jury phase without any strong alliances or accurate reads on the game.

Sure, the BB Blockbuster was originally introduced in season 26, then called the AI Arena. However, the third weekly competition didn’t last nearly as long in BB26 as it did in season 27. BB27 players continued to play in the Blockbuster until well into the jury phase, so there was absolutely no ability to backdoor anyone until the game was almost over and backdoors were moot anyway.

To top off an already comp-heavy season, Big Brother season 27 became the first and only season to eliminate a player, rather than evict them, solely through a competition and without any votes to evict. Rachel Reilly’s history-making elimination caused outrage from fans, Big Brother alumni, and players within the house.

Big Brother is supposed to be a social experiment, not a display of physical strength like that of MTV’s The Challenge. However, the producers chose to give comp beasts’ the advantage this season, chipping away at the integrity of Big Brother and making it a new game entirely.

Ashley Hollis during the Big Brother season 27 finale.

On the live feeds, cast members like Ava Pearl often complained about how competition-focused Big Brother season 27 was turning out. When Ashley made it to the final two having only won two competitions the entire season, the jury got the opportunity to send a message: Big Brother is a social experiment and should be treated as such.

Ashley’s jury management was much better than runner-up Vince Panaro’s as she never won any competitions that required her to make hard or hurtful decisions. The jury’s vote made a powerful statement: just because someone is good at physical games doesn’t mean they deserve to win on this specific show.

Had Big Brother 27 been less of a competition-based game, Ashley may not have won against a player that made multiple bold moves. However, the jury made their feelings known to production, reminding them that Big Brother isn’t just about competitions, and Ashley is proof of that.