SPOILER ALERT: Do not read on unless you’ve watched Wednesday night’s episode of Big Brother.
In the final episode of the season, Nicole Anthony, Jackson Michie and Holly Allen competed in the three-part Head of Household (HOH) competition.
Season-long frontrunner Michie managed to pull off the victory, leaving Nicole and Holly to battle it out in order to face him.
Holly beat Nicole in part two of the HOH competition.
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In the final round of the three-part HOH competition, the showmance had to battle it out, which resulted in Michie winning over Holly.
Michie decided to bring his showmance partner Holly to the final two and battle it out in front of the jury members.
After fielding questions from the jury members, Michie was crowned the champion of Big Brother, defeating Holly in a vote of six to three to win the title and $500,000.
Although she didn’t take home the winning title, Holly was still awarded the $50,000 runner-up prize.
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Global News spoke to Holly and asked her about her time in the Big Brother house after she won the second place title for Season 21.
Global News: How does it feel to be out of the house after a long 99 days?
Holly Allen: Oh my gosh! I’m overwhelmed and sleep-deprived but feeling fantastic. It’s very good to be out. It was a very long summer. I don’t know what to do with all of this freedom. I’m excited about it.
Were you surprised by the vote of six to three during the finale?
I figured it would be five to four. I was sort of surprised but I figured it would probably go in Jackson’s favour regardless of who was sitting up next to him. I think if any single houseguests were up next to him, they wouldn’t have won. I wasn’t surprised that he won but I was a little surprised with a couple of votes that I didn’t get.
Were you surprised by the votes that you did get?
I knew that I would have Kat (Dunn) and Nicole (Anthony). I wasn’t sure if I Jess (Milagros) would vote for me or Jackson because she’s such a lover of the game so I wasn’t sure if she would vote for me or not. And then there’s a couple others that I wasn’t sure and they all clearly voted for Jackson.
Did you think you were going to make it that far?
Yeah I did, actually. I just visualized it so much from the beginning. The second I walked in the doors, I got this, like, calm sense of confidence and from the get go I always saw myself at the end.
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Do you think your showmance with Jackson helped you to get to the end?
I would like to think of course that I would have gotten to that point with or without him. Everybody was saying before I went on the show, ‘don’t get in a showmance’ and ‘it’ll be detrimental to your game.’ I always said that I would only get in a showmance if it would better my game and if I could use it as strategy. Granted, then I entered the house and realized that this showmance is a little more than a strategy; it’s also real feelings. That happened regardless. But it definitely bettered both of our games. We worked really, really well as a team. It ended up being very beneficial for both of us.
One day at a time (laughing). But we’ll have to see, I [have] literally only known him inside of those walls. Regardless of anything, we always have said that whether we continue on romantically or not we will be best friends forever.
You both experienced so much together so that also makes that bond hard to break. Were you shocked to hear how fans of the show viewed Jackson when Julie Chen brought up the racism comments during the finale?
Yes! It’s hard being locked inside of there because you really just don’t see what the world sees outside. And I didn’t view his decisions as racist whatsoever. I knew that it was completely game-based and a lot of people in the house shared his decisions. That caught me off guard, the bullying thing — I don’t know if there’s something specific that I just haven’t seen that was pinpointed just on him and a couple other people. I don’t ever think he was ever really a bully. But the whole alliance of ‘grateful’ was very arrogant and powerful. I was part of it, though, and I certainly didn’t stand up and I was not up an up-stander in those situations. I worry that I’m as guilty as anything because I didn’t stick up for it because in that situation you can’t. You’re on Big Brother; you don’t want to make waves. My whole M.O. was to fly under the radar so I certainly didn’t want to stick up for anybody and get myself in trouble, which is silly. It’s unfortunate, but I didn’t think that Jackson was a bully.
There’s always a difference between what’s shown on the actual broadcast compared to the Live Feeds. A couple things went viral from the Live Feed viewers tweeting videos around.
Oh! I’m very curious. I will definitely be watching it back. I still have to see all this stuff; I’m not really sure what everything’s in reference to. Well, I guess the racism stuff I definitely did not see at all. The bullying I can definitely see from a lot of people within ‘grateful.’ And then Jackson just has such a strong personality, like very unique.
If you had the choice, would you have brought Jackson or Nicole to the finale two?
My head was telling me Nicole on a game level. It would have made a lot more sense and I adore her so much and I would have loved to stand next to her in the final two. But my heart and my morals were telling me I couldn’t turn my back on the one person who had been by my side throughout the entire game. So it would have been an insanely hard decision had I had to make it. But I think I would have had to stick with Jackson. I was a little glad I didn’t win because I didn’t want to be in a position, to be completely honest.
What would you say is the biggest lie you told in the house?
I mean… that I didn’t know Kat. That was quite large. That was really where I had to pull up my acting chops and I don’t know how people believed me. I truly don’t.
Who was the hardest to live with and why?
Christie Lynn (laughing). I love her, but…
Would you do anything differently?
Oh, yeah. I did not sleep last night because I was thinking about a million things that I could have done differently. I went in knowing that I just had to follow my gut and trust my instincts and go with what felt right and I did that. If I did it again I think I would still make the same decision. Even though now I have a laundry list of things I would change, I don’t think I would really change them if I had the opportunity.
What’s the first thing you’re going to do after you finish your press day and step into the real world again?
Go see my dog! I’ll probably take a road trip up the California coast to go see my friend’s new baby, too.
(This interview has been edited and condensed.)
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