‘Big Brother’ 21: First Veto Competition Crowns Surprising Winner

Big Brother Season 21 showed its first veto competition of the summer, with a potentially game-changing result. After a pulse-pounding competition for the power to change the week’s nominations, the CBS reality competition series saw truck driver Sam Smith dominate the competition, and make use of his power.

Tuesday’s episode saw alliances being to crack as the houseguests prepared to play their first veto. The Gr8ful alliance seemed on the same page about the possibility of putting Kemi Faknule as the blindside nominee depending on the outcome of the competition.

The houseguests playing the game included nominated Kathryn Dunn and Cliff Hogg, Head of Household Christie Murphy, Nicole Anthony and Jack Matthews.

“It would be great to have some bargaining power in this house to make some moves,” Smith said after being picked to participate in the competition.

The backyard was covered with food and mess, a perfect decoration for the competition — hosted by Big Brother 20 winner Kaycee Clark — in which the players had to survive the intense food fight, and rescue Clark’s favorite foods from falling on the floor.

Hogg was the first to compete and seemed overwhelmed by the massive amounts of salad thrown during the game. He also struggled in the entrée section, when he made Clark spill her drink from laughter after he got hit by a “meatball.” Murphy and Dunn also struggled during the salad portion, with the episode showing plenty of slips from the houseguests.

Smith seemed to be the most confident of the players, and his hard work ended up paying off, as he won the competition. The final results saw Smith winning by one point over Mathews, who was picked by Hogg to compete.

The veto power proved very useful for Smith, as he decided to use the Power of Veto to save Hogg from the chopping block. Since Head of Household Murphy’s plan was always to get rid of Dunn, the moment was not a huge blow to the game. There was still drama among the Gr8ful alliance, however, as some members wanted to evict Faknule instead.

Rather than putting too big of a target on her back, Murphy decided to put Ovi Kabir as a pawn, tentatively assuring Dunn will be evicted during Wednesday’s live show. We’ll have to wait and see how her decision will affect the big alliance moving forward.

Who will be the first houseguest evicted from the game? Big Brother will air Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.