Big Brother featured Michael Bruner and Brittany Hoopes winning the Power of Veto and the Head of Household, Matthew Turner, changing his plan with the goal of backdooring Ameerah Jones during the Season 24 episode that aired Wednesday night on CBS.
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Michael, a 28-year-old attorney from Saint Michael, MN who currently resides in Rochester, MN, and Brittany, a 32-year-old hypnotherapist from Atlanta, GA who currently resides in Austin, TX, won the Power of Veto competition and planned to remove themselves from the chopping block.
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Meanwhile, the HoH, Turner, a 23-year-old thrift store owner from North Attleborough, MA who currently resides in New Bedford, MA, devised a plan with a new alliance called "The Leftovers" -- which includes Public Enemy No. 1 of the house, Taylor Hale -- to backdoor Ameerah, a 31-year-old content designer from Westminster, MD, who appeared to be the head of the Girls' Girl alliance.
The Big Brother broadcast began with the following "Festie Besties" having been formed: Joseph Abdin and Monte Taylor, Mike and Brittany, Taylor and Nicole Layog, Alyssa Snider and Indy Santos, Daniel Durston and Kyle Capener, Ameerah and Terrance Higgins, and Turner and Jasmine Davis.
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Turner was going after one of the girls he thought was responsible for Joe "Pooch" Pucciarelli's blindside, and so he nominated Brittany, who is a package deal with Michael. Turner also had his eye on Taylor.
Brittany said the girls in the house never really embraced her and so she felt like Michael was all she had.
And Nicole said in the Diary Room, "It is important that Michael and Brittany win the Veto. That way, Taylor and I can be the replacement nominees. Hopefully we're in a position to finally send Taylor packing, and when she gets evicted, I can get whatever power [Julie Chen[ has in store."
Taylor called the Nomination Ceremony stressful, especially because Michael and Brittany had been there for her since the start of the game. She didn't like seeing her friends on the chopping block, but she was also relieved that she wasn't in jeopardy of going home at this point.
Ameerah then told Turner that she backed his plans and assumed Michael was going to win the Power of Veto. Ameerah pitched taking out Taylor, "a complete Wild Card." Ameerah said she had heard Taylor talking about how a guy needed to go next, which was the truth.
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Ameerah said Taylor was having a hard time making friends and she was also rubbing people the wrong way. Ameerah therefore said the goal was to take Michael and Brittany off the block and then backdoor Taylor -- but if that doesn't happen, Brittany goes home.
Turner said backdooring Taylor would result in the least amount of blood on his hands and so that seemed to be the best decision for his game. He decided to share his plan with Taylor's "Festie Bestie," Nicole, who was going to find herself on the chopping block as well, but not as Turner's target.
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Nicole was totally onboard, and she was actually thrilled about the plan being in motion. But Nicole hoped she wouldn't get picked for the Veto competition so she wouldn't have to throw it.
Meanwhile, Taylor recognized she was an easy target that wouldn't ruffle feathers, but she was continuing to form a bond with Monte.
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The men then discussed how they needed to start chipping away at the women in the house. Monte assumed the women were working towards getting the numbers in order to be the majority, and so Kyle pitched the idea of taking Taylor under their wing and using her as a loyal ally down the road.
Monte began to wonder if targeting Taylor was helping the girls' games rather than their own.
Joseph then pointed out how Ameerah almost beat Turner in the last Head of Household competition and she could go on to win the entire game, or Nicole.
The men talked about making a big move, such as Turner nominating Ameerah and Terrance as replacement nominees instead of Taylor and Nicole. Kyle said he could guarantee Michael's vote and they could bring Taylor in.
"We have the option -- the head of the girls, the head of the dragon," Kyle announced.
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"Dude, we're going to flip the script!" Joseph bragged.
Turner agreed that Ameerah is a huge competitor in the house and she clearly had all of her ducks in a row and had been playing everybody in the house. Turner therefore considered changing his plan and backdooring Ameerah instead.
Monte suggested the four men should be an alliance -- which Turner called "The Pound," in honor of Pooch -- and then they could name the bigger alliance, with Michael and Taylor in it, something else.
Kyle told the cameras how blindsiding Ameerah would be "insane" but awesome.
It then became time to pick players for the Power of Veto competition. In addition to the HoH Turner and his bestie Jasmine as well as the two nominees, Michael and Brittany, one more "Festie Bestie" pair was picked via random draw.
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Turner hoped to pick Monte or Joseph so they could help him take out Ameerah, but he selected Nicole and Taylor instead.
Nicole hated the idea of throwing the competition, but she wanted to guarantee her spot on the block next to Taylor. Turner said Nicole had no idea that she was about to help him backdoor Ameerah.
Nicole then ran to her room sobbing over the idea of not being a competitor and throwing a competition.
Nicole said she never had an issue, personally, with Taylor, although Daniel told his closest ally that Taylor was affecting his own game. Daniel felt he and Nicole were connected with every single person in the house except for Taylor.
Taylor attempted to comfort Nicole by telling her that if she wanted to stop fighting and quit, it would be okay. But Nicole felt Taylor was coming at her with passive-aggressive behavior, and Daniel didn't like the idea of Taylor allegedly manipulating his friend for her benefit.
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Nicole was in a vulnerable state, and Daniel said Taylor had probably done the same thing to Paloma Aguilar to get her out.
Daniel then told Taylor to stop with her "fake bullsh-t" and not speak to him again until finale night. Taylor didn't even think Daniel was serious at first, and so it was a pretty explosive moment.
Taylor confronted Daniel to talk things out, but he yelled, "Stop! I will never forget what you did to Paloma. You don't think that she spiraled because of you -- and you didn't add to that?! And now you're trying to do it to Nicole? Mind games."
Ameerah believed Taylor was just trying to give Nicole a little support, and she pointed out how no one really knew what was going on with Paloma before Paloma quit the game and left the house.
Ameerah therefore thought Daniel's actions were uncalled for, and Joseph couldn't recall a single instance when she had disrespected someone.
Taylor also insisted in the Diary Room that she wasn't trying to hurt or manipulate anybody, but Nicole told Taylor how she felt and how it's not okay for someone to tell her it's fine to quit.
Nicole advised Taylor to fight for her life in the Veto competition because she didn't know what else to say. Taylor knew in that moment she had to win the Power of Veto and play for her life in this game.
The Power of Veto competition then commenced, and the participating players -- Nicole, Taylor, Michael, Brittany, Jasmine and Turner -- were required to work in their "Festie Bestie" pairs to assemble a woodstack puzzle on top of their tree.
The grounded bestie must run on the ground and bring back the puzzle pieces one at a time to their partner. Once the partner retrieved a puzzle piece, he or she would fly into the air and build the puzzle on top of the tree.
Communication was critical because the grounded bestie would have the job of suspending his or her partner in the air in order to build their puzzle.
The first "Festie Besties" to finish the puzzle, land on the ground, and hit a buzzer would win the Power of Veto and safety, for both of them, for the week.
Suddenly, Jasmine, who is very afraid of heights, said she was about to pass out. She dropped to the ground and her fellow houseguests rushed to her aid.
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Jasmine completely fainted, but she ended up being okay. While doctors medically cleared her to compete, she decided to sit out due to her anxiety and fear of heights. Jasmine promised Turner that she would make it up to him, but he was fine with sitting this one out considering he thought Jasmine's health comes first.
Nicole and Taylor struggled to find a rhythm, and in the end, Michael and Brittany won the Power of Veto. It was Michael's third Veto win in a row.
Nicole hoped Turner would follow the plan and put Taylor on the block so they could send her packing, but Turner couldn't wait "to make the biggest move so far" and go after Ameerah.
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Joseph and Monte proceeded to pull people into "The Pound" alliance, including Michael and Taylor. Brittany was also pulled in, and the whole group prepared to flip the house.
Joseph and Kyle told Taylor that the house bullying her was going to end that day. The group called themselves "The Leftovers" and planned to take over.