'Big Brother' recap: Cameron Hardin wins Power of Veto, Jag Bains named replacement nominee

Big Brother featured Cameron Hardin winning the Power of Veto and removing himself from the eviction block, which forced the Head of Household, Jared Fields, to pick a replacement nominee during the Season 25 episode that aired Wednesday night on CBS.


Cameron, a 34-year-old stay-at-home dad from Eastman, GA, won the Power of Veto and announced at the Veto Meeting how he had decided to remove himself from the chopping block.

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Jared, as the HoH, therefore nominated Jag Bains, a 25-year-old truck company owner from Omak, WA, as his replacement nominee.

That leaves Jag and Red, a 37-year-old salesperson from Gatlinburg, TN, on the block heading into the next live eviction of the season.


Last week on Big Brother, the house had unanimously voted out Jag instead of Blue Kim, however, Matt Klotz used a special power to make Jag "invincible," and so the 10 votes against Jag didn't count and he could not be evicted.

At the subsequent Head of Household competition, Jared Fields became the new HoH and set his sights on targeting "The Chillers" duo of Cameron and Red Utley. Cameron proceeded to throw Red, his best buddy in the house, under the bus.

At the Nomination Ceremony, Jared nominated Cameron and Red for eviction in the hopes of solidifying his relationships with the people who could trust him in the house.

"It's really tough being backstabbed by someone you considered your friend," Red said in the Diary Room through tears during a previous episode. "I should've known coming into this house that you can't put trust into people like that."

Wednesday night's Big Brother broadcast picked up on Day 31, shortly after the Nomination Ceremony was adjourned.


Jared revealed how Cameron was "definitely" his target, especially after Cameron had made it known he'd be more than ready and willing to jump ship from his original allies to save himself.

Meanwhile, Red, was very upset and couldn't help but cry.

Cirie Fields didn't trust Cameron at all, and so she tried to gain Red's trust so he could potentially work with her alliance to send Cameron out the door.

"I can't wait to see Cameron -- and his hair -- leave the Big Brother house," Cirie said.

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Cory Wurtenberger was proud to have a Final 2 alliance with the HoH, but Jared admitted to the cameras that Cory was his No. 4 after his mom, Izzy Gleicher, and Blue.

Cory attempted to reassure Jared that he'd be okay with getting rid of America Lopez and that Jared was going to remain his No. 1 ally. Secretly, however, Cory wanted to keep America Lopez around as long as possible since she'd be loyal to him over anyone else in the house.

Jared said he didn't trust America after she had thrown the Pressure Cooker competition.

"It really sketches me out, because we don't really know what deal she had made with Cameron during that Pressure Cooker competition. So, if she's not trying to win these competitions to potentially get out someone who could threaten my game, I really have no use for her," Jared explained in the Diary Room.

Jared told Cory that America could build trust by winning competitions and then working with them to take out targets.


Jared also said if America was going to go after his allies, then he'd have no need for her in the house.

It then became time to pick players for the Power of Veto competition. In addition to the HoH, Jared, and the two nominees, Cameron and Red, the following houseguests were selected by random draw: Cirie, America, and Matt.

Matt happened to be Cameron's "Houseguest Choice."

If America won, she planned to keep nominations the same.

Jared warned Cory that if America threw the next competition, he'd be sending her home. Cory promised Jared that wasn't going to happen, but Jared was feeling pretty fiery about the situation.


"If she throws it, I'm putting her ass up -- just letting you know," Jared told Cory.

Cory didn't understand where this resentment or anger towards America was coming from, and he wished he had never brought up America in his conversation with Jared to begin with.

Cory insisted to Jared that America was going to fight for the Veto. He hoped Jared would become a better Final 2 ally and make choices that would benefit them both going forward.

Cory then warned America to try her absolute best in the Power of Veto competition, and America thought the idea of throwing it would be ridiculous. Cory explained how Jared thought America would throw the competition in order to keep Cameron safe.

"I'm pissed! Why would he think that? That's so f-cking stupid!" America vented.

"I don't know where Jared is getting these thoughts from -- probably from himself because he has such a big ego and thinks he's right all the time about everything. But it's not true. I was already [prepared] to go into this Veto competition giving it 100 percent."


America said with this new knowledge, she was actually going to give the competition 1,000 percent.

For the Power of Veto competition dubbed "Sludge Stackers," which was inspired by the Comic-verse, the participating players were required to stack tiny barrels into a pint-sized pyramid using tweezers. They had to stack 36 barrels with eight on the bottom row.

The first houseguest to correctly stack his or her pyramid of "toxic sludge barrels" would win the golden Power of Veto.

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In the end, Cameron won the Power of Veto, and so he said his plan was still on track to save himself from the chopping block.

"The plan is to make sure both me and Red stay this week," Cameron shared.


Red, however, was very disappointed to hear Cameron would be staying in the house another week after the backstab.

"I'll be damned if I'm going home on my birthday week!" Red said.

America complained about how Cameron was the last person she wanted to win this competition. Her loss would allow Jared to think she had thrown the competition, and Jared wasn't happy either.

"Now I've got to pivot and consider, 'Who is the best choice for my game to sit on the block next to Red?'" Jared questioned to the cameras.

Jared later explained to America how he couldn't risk her taking another deal in the house. He had also heard that America wanted to nominate Izzy, Cirie or Felicia Cannon for eviction.

America said that wasn't true and didn't make any sense, but she was lying.


Jared said America lying to his face didn't make anything better and was really rubbing him the wrong way.

When Cameron eventually tried to talk game with Red, Red didn't seem interested at all. Cameron realized that Red was breaking up with him, and he didn't understand why.

Now that Red was no longer in a bromance with Cameron, Cirie questioned if getting rid of Red was really the smart move to make.

Since Jag had a reason not to trust Cirie after Jared had "screwed things up" by talking about the "Power of Invincibility," Cirie threw out the possibility of targeting Jag again to her closest allies. Felicia thought it was a great idea since Jag would never expect being a back-to-back target.

Cirie also told Jared that he'd never be able to come between Matt and Jag.

"Why leave that person here for [Matt]? You take his No. 1 away so that you know who has to become his No. 1? You or me," Cirie explained to her son.


"You putting up Jag is also going to solidify Cameron for you, because he'll feel like you're finishing his HoH."

Cirie insisted that America was going to be a waste of a nomination, and Jared was still upset about a lie Jag had told him in the past.

Jag, meanwhile, still trusted the people who had previously attempted to evict him, and he was hoping America was going to get sent home.

Blue then shared how she thought nominating Jag as a pawn was a great idea.

"Jared would have the least amount of blood on his hands, Red and Cameron would feel comfortable this week, and it would show the rest of the alliance that Jag is really loyal to us and is trying to be a team player," Blue explained in the Diary Room.

Jag announced how he didn't want to be a pawn, but he told the group how he'd be a team player. Felicia also reminded Jag how they had the numbers.


"I don't think she realizes it, but this little idea of Blue's just sealed her best friend's fate," Cirie told the cameras.

At the Veto Meeting, Cameron used the Power of Veto on himself, and then Jared named Jag the replacement nominee.

While Jag thought he was going to be safe and could trust his allies, Cirie said Jag was "a loose end in this game" that she needed to tie up.

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"I've been cleaning up Jared's messes for 25 years, so getting rid of Jag is no different!" Cirie said with a laugh. "This boy!"

In order to make sure his power wasn't wasted, Matt intended to do everything he could to keep Jag in the house -- again.







About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski