'Big Brother' recap: Cameron Hardin wins "Pressure Cooker" HoH, nominates Blue Kim and Jag Bains for eviction

Big Brother featured Cameron Hardin winning the iconic "Pressure Cooker" Head of Household competition and nominating Blue Kim and Jag Bains for eviction during the Season 25 episode that aired Sunday night on CBS.


Cameron, a 34-year-old stay-at-home dad from Eastman, GA, won Head of Household and decided to put Blue, a 25-year-old brand strategist from Riverside, CA who currently resides in New York, NY, and Jag, a 25-year-old truck company owner from Omak, WA, on the chopping block heading into the next Power of Veto competition.

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The Big Brother broadcast began on Day 23 following Hisam Goueli's eviction from the Big Brother house through a unanimous 11-0 vote instead of Cameron, who had been the other nomination on the chopping block.

The houseguests -- except for Felicia Cannon, who as the outgoing HoH was deemed ineligible to compete -- were competing in Big Brother's iconic "Pressure Cooker" challenge.


The participating players, standing in a circle inside a dark room with the lights off, were required to press down a button for as long as possible. They were not allowed bathroom breaks, nor could they sit or kneel.

The houseguests were allowed to squat, but that was it. If, at any point, a houseguest moved his or hand off the button, that person would be out of the competition.

Once a person was eliminated, he or she was asked to pick one card from a collection of cards numbered 1-12. Each card had a reward inside or some type of punishment.

Back on Season 6, the very first "Pressure Cooker" competition lasted over 14 hours.

But this season's challenge had a "Scary-verse" twist. As the hours passed, certain numbered cards revealed punishments such as a pit of snakes in the center of the circle and heavy metal music being blasted accompanied by flickering lights.


The room was also extremely cold, and flies were unleashed to bother the players. At one point, a smell of sewage was even sprayed into the room.

Since the "Professors" alliance was done post-Hisam, this was going to be a crucial challenge to win.

Since Cameron and Red Utley had a Final 2 alliance with each other, Cirie Fields said she wanted anyone to win Head of Household except for one of them.

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Cirie, however, was sitting pretty in several different alliances.


The iconic Survivor player shared how Felicia  and Izzy Gleicher were in all of her alliances. Their main alliance -- which included America Lopez, Jared Fields, Mecole Hayes, and Cory Wurtenberger -- was called "For Real, For Real."

Cirie was also a member of "The Seven Deadly Sins" alliance with Izzy, Felicia, Jared, Blue, Jag, and Matt Klotz.

And finally, Cirie had formed "Legend 25" with Felicia, Izzy, Bowie Jane, Matt, Red, Mecole, and Cameron.

"But this is just a fake alliance to placate Red, Cameron and Bowie -- because I don't trust them as far as I can throw any of them," Cirie explained in the Diary Room, before joking how she needed some CliffNotes to "keep up with this nonsense."

Cirie said although she had many allies, she was only focused on saving herself and Jared, along with Izzy and Felicia.


Jared was hoping to prove he's a competitor and helpful ally in the house, but he was the first person out of the competition after one hour and 17 minutes.

Cirie admitted she was a little disappointed her son took his hand off the button since she predicted he was going to last until the end and show his grit.

Cirie -- who tried to pull her shirt over her cold fingers -- was out next after one hour and 22 minutes, and she won a six-pack of beer. Izzy was out soon after just under four hours into the competition.

Meanwhile, America shared how she liked flirting with Cory and trusted him more than anyone else in the house.

"Am I becoming America's sweetheart?" Cory questioned to the cameras.


After eight hours and 35 minutes, Bowie Jane was out of the competition, and she won an actual pressure cooker for her home.

Once nine hours and 40 minutes elapsed, Matt intentionally dropped out, but he allowed his allies to think that it was an accident.

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Over 10 hours into the competition, Red fell asleep and was eliminated. He won a home theater for himself and a year-long subscription to Paramount+ and Showtime.

Cory lasted over 12 hours in the competition and became a Have Not for the week, and then Blue was eliminated about 45 minutes later.

"This isn't cute! I didn't even know my hand came off the buzzer!" Blue lamented in the Diary Room.


Blue won $1,000 for lasting a long time in the "Pressure Cooker," and then Jag fell asleep and was out of the competition five minutes later.

The Final 3 in the "Pressure Cooker" were America, Cameron and Mecole.

Mecole dropped out of the competition after 13 hours and won a dinner party in the Big Brother house, and then Cameron promised America that he'd keep her safe and keep the blood off her hands.

America asked for safety for Cory as well, and so Cameron agreed.

Although Kaysar Ridha had taken a deal and then went home on Season 6, America agreed to take Cameron's deal. America thought it was too early to pick a side and so letting Cameron win made sense.

So after 13 hours and 49 minutes -- four minutes less than the winning time on Season 6 -- America pretended to slip and let go of her button.


Cameron therefore became the new Head of Household. Izzy and Cirie agreed that was "worst case scenario" for their alliance, but Cameron was thrilled.

Once all the houseguests returned to the game, Cory told America that she had done the right thing by taking the deal and not becoming the new HoH.

"I hope he follows through with this and I don't get Kaysar'd," America told the cameras of Cameron. "I don't regret taking the deal... but I hope this doesn't come back to bite me."

Red could tell Izzy was upset by the competition's outcome, and so he realized Izzy probably didn't have their best interest in mind. Red let Cameron know how he was feeling, and it sparked mistrust within the "Legend 25" alliance.

But Cameron warned Jag that he was going to be one of his Nominations. Cameron essentially told Jag that he was going to be "ruined" later in the week.

Cameron also let Blue know that she was going up on the block, and he asked her to fight hard for the Power of Veto.


And then at the Nomination Ceremony, Cameron nominated Jag and Blue for eviction because he thought they were "dangerous loose ends" in the Big Brother house. He also considered Jag to be a big threat.

Cameron didn't provide a good explanation to his fellow houseguests for his nominations other than saying, "I love you both very much, and you're both tremendous, multi-faceted competitors, which is why I'm giving you the opportunity to play in the Veto. I wish you both all the luck in the world, and I look forward to playing this game we all love very much."

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Izzy called Cameron's decision "pretty basic," criticizing the HoH for being "all bark with no bite."

Cameron ultimately shared in the Diary Room how Jag was his main target for the week but Izzy was going to stay on his radar.

"Who knows! The options are limitless!" Cameron boasted.







About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski