'Big Brother' HoH James Huling nominates Shelli Poole and Clay Honeycutt for eviction

Big Brother's Head of Household James Huling blindsided two houseguests by nominating them for eviction during Sunday night's broadcast on CBS.


The eighteenth episode of Big Brother's seventeenth season began with James being crowned the new HoH after promising Shelli Poole he'd keep herself, Clay Honeycutt and John McGuire safe from eviction. Vanessa Rousso was disappointed Shelli didn't include her in the deal, so it showed Vanessa that maybe she wasn't that important to Shelli and Clay.

Shelli dropped out of the HoH competition because she wasn't sure winning the title three times this season would be in her best interest. She thought James would keep his word since he made the pact in front of everyone in the house, but it ended up being the biggest mistake Shelli could ever make in the game.

James told the cameras he simply provided Shelli with what she wanted to hear. He had no intention to keep anyone in her alliance safe after they targeted Jason Roy behind his back. James planned to seek revenge for all of his "fallen comrades" and go after the biggest targets. He wasn't concerned at all about getting blood on his hands.

Vanessa was really worried about her position in the game since she had been ultimately responsible -- as the outgoing HoH -- for getting rid of Jason, who was James' best friend and ally. Vanessa had also been behind Jeff Weldon's eviction.


Meanwhile, Austin Matelson tried to do some damage control with Julia Nolan. Julia didn't understand why Austin had revealed the "Twin Twist" to Jason, and she certainly wasn't happy about it.

Her sister Liz Nolan stood up for Austin, saying he was just doing his best to keep them safe but his plan backfired. Austin explained Jason had manipulated the twin information to eventually get Julia out, but Julia wasn't buying it and stopped trusting Austin.

Shelli was feeling bad about herself because she believed if someone ended up going home from her alliance, it would be her fault. Clay comforted her, insisting she did what was best for her own game and it would be better in the long run if she didn't get more blood on her hands.

Clay and Shelli therefore determined they needed to convince James to target Austin or the twins. Shelli told James that Austin had been campaigning for Jason's eviction in order to keep himself safe. James didn't really care because he thought the best move would be to put Clay and Shelli on the chopping block against each other.

James talked about making the big move of breaking up the power couple with his allies Becky Burgess, Meg Maley and Jackie Ibarra. The group agreed that most people probably wouldn't change the nominations if given veto power. James sought revenge and called Shelli the "Queen" he needed to take out of the game.


James' group decided to keep their gameplan a secret and tell people instead that they were going after Steve Moses or Liz. Becky soon warned Shelli and Clay their deal with James probably meant nothing, sparking some additional paranoia.

James then had a serious chat with Vanessa. He asked if she would be against Shelli or Clay going home, and Vanessa said that if it was the right move for his game, she'd be fine with it. To protect her vulnerable-self, Vanessa also made a deal with James to never nominate him or his closest ally up through the Final 7.

Vanessa's idea was one that James couldn't resist. He called her "a straight-shooter" and realized Vanessa had never lied to him. For those reasons, he was ready to take full advantage of that plan and go forward with nominating Shelli and Clay.

At the Nomination Ceremony, James put Shelli and Clay on the chopping block because he was blindsided by Jason's exit. James also said he could see Shelli going to the end with Clay, so he needed to put a stop to their streak.

Shelli and Clay were furious. Shelli pointed out that James had made a promise in front of the whole house so it was clear his word meant nothing to him and his word was no good. Shelli also announced that she and Clay had nothing to do with Jason going up on the block last week, so if anyone wanted to learn how things went down, they should come talk to her.


Clay acknowledged he was probably naive to believe people were going to play an honest game like himself and Shelli. Vanessa told the cameras it was a mistake for Shelli and Clay to throw her under the bus.

The episode concluded with Shelli saying she or Clay absolutely need to win the Power of Veto, with the hope they could sway votes afterward.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski