Makensy Manbeck had won Big Brother. After emerging victorious in the final Head of Household and putting herself in the final two, all Makensy had to do was pick Cam Sullivan-Brown to sit next to her and her win (and the $750,000 that goes with it) was complete. But that’s not what Makensy chose to do.

Instead, Makensy picked loyalty over money, choosing Chelsie Baham to join in her in the final two. The move backfired when Chelsie swept the jury, winning in a unanimous 7-0 vote. Makensy expressed satisfaction with her decision after losing, but would she make the same choice all over again? And which votes did she not get that surprised her? We asked Makensy all that and more when we spoke with the runner-up shortly after she emerged from the house, and went deep on her emotional roller-coaster of an evening,

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: I know you are processing a lot right now, so how are you feeling after the emotional juggernaut of the past few hours?

MAKENSY MANBEK: Honestly, I’m great. I am ecstatic to make it all 90 days in the Big Brother house. That’s an accomplishment itself. To win how many competitions I did as a female is an accomplishment itself. And to get second place in Big Brother, that not many people get to say they got, is an accomplishment. I, of course, wanted to win first place, but I knew that it would be a risk whenever I chose Chelsie, but I’m not ashamed of that. I played the game that I said I was going to play coming in, which was one of respect and loyalty, and if that got me the boot to second place, so be it, because I’m proud of the decision I made and I’m proud of who won.

It’s interesting because we as viewers see so much more than you guys see, so we know more than you all, and so to us, when you make that decision of taking Chelsie, it seems crazy on one hand, where it might not seem crazy to you because don’t have the same information.

Exactly.

So I guess the question I have is: If you could do it again, knowing what you know now and knowing that the goal of the game is to win the game, would you still bring Chelsie to the end or not?

I would really do it again, because I still had hope in myself. I didn’t think I was going to lose, or at least as bad as I did, 7 to 0. But I was confident in my own game. I was confident that I did play an amazing game. I survived a lot in that house and I proved myself every week. And if people on the jury didn’t see that and didn’t want to commend my game, then so be it. They can commend hers.

But what I know in my heart is that I did win for myself and I prove to myself a lot, and hopefully I proved to America a lot, and I get to walk out with my head held high knowing that I made decisions that make me happy inside the house, and will make me happy outside of this house. Being able to watch this game back, knowing how I talked about people, the moves I made, and just everything in general will make me very, very proud. And hopefully it’ll make my family proud and other people seeing that they can be authentically themselves and still go far in this game.

Well, I think the person you want to make proud is Jankie, but that is neither here nor there. Anyone in your position is going to be doing jury math going into that, and I talked to Chelsie just a few minutes ago and she said at one point she thought you would’ve had the votes, 4 to 3. What did you think your chances were going up against Chelsie before you met with the jury?

Before I met with the jury, I did think it was going to be a 4 to 3 vote, me or her. I didn’t know what those varying people were going to be, but I did think it was going to be a very close vote actually.

What were the votes that surprised you the most that you thought you were either going to get or had a good chance of getting?

I thought I did have a good chance of getting Leah and Angela, because they said they would. And I also did think that I possibly could have gotten Quinn and Rubina, but I didn’t. So be it. I don’t know why, but can’t do it over.

Those are the exact same four that Chelsie said at one point she thought you were going to get.

Yeah, look at us.

Do you think Chelsie would have brought you to the end had she won that final Head of Household?

I want to say yes, based on the conversations we had. However, based on the questions and how she answered them, I don’t think so. I think she was manipulating me and was using me, and if that is true, so be it. Because at least I can say that I was a good person and that I was true to myself. And whether that is making me now a naive 22-year-old because I thought I had a really good friend and a really good ally in this game, so be it, because I still won that last HOH I got to win. I got to make the decision, and I got to make a decision for my game that showed who I was.

For the record, I asked her and she says she would’ve brought you to the end. Now, that’s easy for her to say now, but that is what she says. She does say she would’ve brought you. But we’ll never know.

Well, thank goodness because she said that she would’ve, and I hope that she would’ve. But yeah, I mean, who knows what would’ve actually ever happened. We’ll never get that moment back. Cam definitely would not have taken me. I think Cam was lying to me the whole time, which is so funny. But that’s why I did take him to the final three because I knew I could beat him.

Yeah, you would’ve beaten him. I don’t think there’s any question.

Yeah.

Makensy, could you sense it slipping away during the journey questions and sort of after Chelsie gave her final speech? Is that when you could sort of figure out the way it was going to go?

I did. When Chelsie got asked the questions that she did, and she answered them the way she did, it really allowed them to understand her game. And it did allow her to show that she had very complex sides of her game. And for me, I’m so proud of her, I’m so glad. But for me, it really did make my game a one-sided game. It was winning. That was the game I had to play. I was pushed into a corner, first week. I was seen as a threat as soon as I did start winning.

So nothing I did in that house allowed me to get better socially, because already everybody had their groups, everybody had what they wanted, and all I had was myself. And that’s exactly why I continually won. And continually winning also puts an even bigger target on you as a threat. So I continually had to win even more! So it was a great game, but it was a very one-sided game for me. And it’s been seen before. Taylor did an incredible job having the same type of survival game, and she won. But again, it’s been seen, it’s been done. And so be it.

Of your 10 comp wins, which one was your favorite?

Either AI Arena two, getting Tucker out, the comp beast himself! He said “Somebody beat me!” and I did. And he apparently loves puzzles, but apparently I’m better at them. And voting him out was great and allowed me to then move on and become the huge comp beast of the season, which led me to one of my favorite comp wins, which was OTEV in one round. So crazy, so amazing. And that’s what people get for wanting to give me the boot first week. I’m telling you, I won that competition because nobody wanted to play with me in the first HOH.

It’s not $750,000, but it is $75,000, so any plans for that money?

Maybe pay off my car note, put some in savings because I went [censors herself with a BEEP! noise] before coming here trying to get all my expenses figured out, and then buy me some coffee, because it has been a long hot minute before I’ve had some good coffee and I’m excited to buy many, many, many coffees for the next days going forward. And then the rest of it will probably be spent on my family.

I know it was a long time ago at this point, but you were in a bit of a showmance at the start of the season, I don’t how much you and Matt got a chance speak on stage, but any thoughts on that whole situation?

No, we did not get to speak a lot on stage or after. I’ve been super busy, but a conversation hopefully is to be had very, very soon. Matt is an amazing man and I would be very lucky to have a conversation with him. So stay tuned on how that conversation goes and what it means.

Would you do it again? Would you play again if they asked you?

Would I play again? Absolutely, I would. I need a break. I need a quick little break, a little mental vacation, because being in there is stressful. I’m 22 and I grew grays! I’m just going to let everybody know right now I have gray hairs at 22! So, a difficult experience, but one I wouldn’t trade for the world, and one that I probably would do again.

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