‘Big Brother’: Brooklyn Rivera on Her Eviction and Who She’s Rooting for Now

The latest houseguest to be evicted is one who, at the start of the season, seemed in prime position to go all the way (one castmate even described her as “running” the house): Brooklyn Rivera.

Brooklyn was part of the first real alliance of Big Brother Season 26, the Pentagon alliance. And they had real power until Tucker Des Lauriers stepped up and ripped it away from them. Brooklyn tried to hatch a plan to get him out by targeting Rubina Bernabe, Tucker’s love interest for whom she thought he would fall on the proverbial sword. However, that backfired and left her alliance weakened by the eviction of Cedric Hodges.

This week, it was Brooklyn’s turn on the chopping block, and since she and other Pentagon-ers didn’t win Head of Household, Power of Veto, or the AI arena, she was eliminated with a nearly unanimous vote (with only Chelsie Baham holding out).

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TV Insider caught up with Brooklyn Rivera to find out whether she regrets her attempted power move against Tucker and Rubina and who she’s rooting for now that she’s out of the house. (Also be sure to check out our previous exit interviews with Matt Hardeman, Lisa Weintraub, Kenney Kelley, and Cedric Hodges.)

How are you feeling today now that you’ve had a few hours to kind of process everything?

Brooklyn Rivera: I guess with all things considered, I’m great. I am so honored to have played that game. As a super fan and someone who never thought that that dream would come true, I’m grateful for it. I wish that I wasn’t talking to you, though. So I will say that, but it’s good. It’s good either way, and I’m excited to get to watch the rest of the season.

Were you surprised at all by the vote?

No, not at all. I knew the last couple of days leading up to this that if I didn’t win that arena, I was going home, but I wasn’t gonna go out with my Ps and Qs in my pocket. So I tried to pull out all the stops and make people realize that they are playing for jury in second place by leaving Tucker in that house. So it didn’t work, but it was fun.

Yeah, like you said, Tucker’s kind of emerged as kind of a force in the house. What do you think was the exact moment when he seized power?

I think it was the first time he volunteered to go on the block. That’s such a scary thing to do and the fact that he was so easily, like, “Yeah, I can do it. What’s so bad about it?” And then he was on the block again because he volunteered, and he just kept winning and that right away was like red flags in my head. I was already a part of the Pentagon and the Collective, it didn’t include him. He did wanna work with me, but I just think that was to keep me close, and I felt that ultimately, he was just mad that no one truly wanted to work with him and that the people that are telling him it was just because they’re scared of him. And so they would rather be on the good side of the big bad wolf than the bad one and sitting here today.

So you mentioned his motives for wanting to work with you. What was your motive for joining his five-person alliance? 

Listen, there were so many alliances that I was in. I was like, I need a spreadsheet, please, that’s color coordinated, but I don’t even have a pen in this house. Yeah, the Five Pointz, I just kind of happened to fall into that because of Rubina and because she trusted me so much, I think Tucker wanted to, and he was nervous when it came to me. He knew that I was intelligent and that I was doing good socially. And so that made him a little nervous about his own game. So, of course, when his little lover girl said, “No, but my friend is Brooklyn, let’s work with her,” he said yes, but I had already decided that he was enemy number one in my eyes.

So obviously he was right to have suspicions because you did target Rubina. Do you have any regrets about that move? Because it seems like that’s really when it started to fall apart.

You know, I don’t have regrets because I know why I did it. I was being loyal to the people that told me that they had my back as well. So that’s why I didn’t try to hide it at that moment. I thought it’s better to be upset than try to lie about it because if I’m honest right now, maybe they will start second-guessing T’kor and Kimo and Joseph. But little did I know I had already been painted as the mastermind of things for a whole week at that point.

You seemed genuinely surprised when Cedric was voted against. Whose betrayal of him was the most shocking to you? 

I think it was Quinn’s. Quinn going against the Pentagon is so silly. Like he was guaranteed final five basically. And I think it was because we had a few conversations about being the low man on the totem pole when it came to the Pentagon because we were the last two to be asked, and maybe he felt how close I was getting with Chelsie and saw how much Cedric liked me and that made him nervous, I guess, and he decided, “You know what, I’ve got to go elsewhere, and I’ve got to flip this up,” and good game on him. That’s why truly I want Quinn to win this game. If Chelsie doesn’t win, I would love to see Quinn walk out with confetti on his head on finale night.

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Joseph was another one. When I talked to Cedric, that’s who he was most shocked by. Do you think he’s made a mistake by joining the Sixth Avenue Alliance?

Sixth Avenue? What’s that one?

It’s Angela, Tucker, Kimo, T’kor, and Rubina. They’ve all made a new alliance with him.

Oh lord. Joseph is an interesting character of a person. He is playing a game as a floater, and he is just a number for people. He can’t win a thing. Neither can I, so I’ll say that as well. I walked away without winning anything either, but he really can’t. And he’s not good socially. So he is a certified floater, and him and Angela will just be carried as long as they’re needed, and they’ll be dropped off when they’re done.

Who do you suspect will be targeted next?

Unfortunately, I think since I learned that T’kor just won HoH last night, I think they will do like a Leah, MJ, Chelsie. Someone on the out right now that’s easy. Maybe by putting Leah on the block, she’ll actually start playing this game and stop doing her nails. So maybe it’ll help her if they target her.

Now this is kind of mean, but Tucker called you a “queen snake” and “medusa” and said that you get into people’s heads during his confessionals. I don’t know if you saw the episode yet. 

Oh lord. No, I’ve seen nothing. I’m flattered that—if I went out as someone who they thought was really good at this, then I can sleep easy tonight because that was my goal in here: “Hell to the no would I be a floater.” And I was gonna play this as hard and long as I possibly could with a smile and a little wit and sass along the way, and I think I did that and I can be proud of that and know that. You know what? If the true comp beast in the house was scared of me. [Flips hair]

Who do you expect you’ll be friends with in real life after all of this?

Honestly, everyone. Truly, I mean that. Especially Chelsie. Her and I have big plans. Cam, I’m gonna find a wife and so that he moves to Dallas. It might be Chelsie, honestly. But I can’t wait to truly get to know each of every one of them — even Angela — outside of this house because that’s something we did have. And I don’t know if that was portrayed, but if you watch the live feeds, you could see that we were the most unserious cast ever. And we didn’t take things too much to heart. We celebrated each other. We poked fun at each other. And even as much as I did not enjoy Angela being in the house, I’m sure I’ll enjoy her outside of it.

Speaking of Angela, she got very upset about your charcuterie issue. Why did she blame you so much when everybody was eating it?

Exactly. Because I made the meat rows. I asked — it might have not been shown. I did get permission. I checked a couple expiration dates. Granted, a few said September. But you know what? You lose track of time. I thought it was September — couldn’t let good meat and cheese go to waste. Not my fault. She was a “have-not,” should have stayed on the wall longer.

Something that you just alluded to is you were in the house for several weeks. What’s it like for you to suddenly be out after all that?

My chest hurts and my eyes hurt, and I don’t know what day it is. It’s weird, but I’m excited beyond words to get to hug my children and my husband and get to watch this with them and hopefully have inspired other moms that are young with a lot of kids that your life doesn’t end just because another life begins. That you can show your kids if you tell them they can be and do anything, why don’t you think that for yourself? So yeah, I go home with a heavy heart of sadness but also joy, and so it’s a bittersweet feeling.

Well, you know what? I’m excited to hear what you have to say about all the news that’s happened since you guys have been in the house.

Listen, I heard something about the election. I’ll just leave it at that. My head is spinning.

Big Brother Season 26, Sundays, Wednesdays & Thursdays, CBS