BB28Jul 25, 6:55 PM

Evening Update: Lyric Wins Veto, Backdoor Swings Open

Lyric won the Power of Veto, giving herself a path off the block and Kamu the opening for his planned Jason backdoor. Lala spiraled after the loss, Jason kept campaigning, and Devens privately explained his hidden replacement power to Dee.

Lyric Medeiros walked into Saturday's veto competition as one of three nominees. She walked out — well, wobbled out, in a tutu — holding the only piece of hardware that matters this week. Lyric won the Power of Veto, which means she can pull herself off the block at the ceremony and hand Kamu exactly the opening he's been waiting for: a clean shot at backdooring Jason. Nothing is signed yet. The ceremony hasn't happened, Jason isn't nominated, and there's still a secret power floating around this house like a loose ball in a spinning pickle. But as of 6:41 p.m., the week's lever belongs to the woman who was supposed to be in danger.

The Board

HOH: Kamuela "Kamu" Kirk
Nominees: LaTrice "Lala" Verrett, Lyric Medeiros, Mallory Aurichio
Veto winner: Lyric Medeiros
Evicted: Ashley Trail, Rome Seymour

Tutus, Pickles, and Five Years of Pickleball

The day started with the player pick. Feeds came back at 9:45 a.m. as the ceremony wrapped, and by 9:49 a.m. we had confirmation: Haley and Jason were the two extra players drawn, joining Kamu and the three nominees for a six-person field.

Feeds dropped to animals around 12:06 p.m. and stayed down a full three hours, returning at 3:07 p.m. to reveal houseguests in tutu and bowl-a-rina costumes and a competition that, per later chatter, involved spinning, a pickle, and balls. Eight minutes after feeds returned, Chuk was already calling Lyric the "veto queen," and by 3:19 p.m. a receipt identified her as the winner, with a flat “Lyric won the power of veto” landing at 3:36 p.m.

The house joke of the evening: Lyric apparently came pre-trained. At 5:52 p.m., Angela marveled that she hadn't known Lyric played pickleball for five years — a résumé line that suddenly explains a lot about a spinning-pickle competition. Chuk repeated the bit at 6:14 p.m. Meanwhile, credit where due: Drew said at 4:40 p.m. that Mallory completed three rounds and finished second. Close, but the pickle only crowns one queen.

The Fallout Hits Fast

Lyric went straight to Lala at 3:18 p.m. to reassure her, but the pep talk didn't take. Once Lyric left the room, Lala told the camera she wanted to go home and be done. She's felt blindsided by the nomination all week, and losing veto to a fellow nominee did not improve the mood. Angela later stepped in with a pep talk, pointing out that the two oldest women hadn't left first or second and weren't about to leave third — go socialize.

Mallory got more practical advice: at 3:21 p.m., Melody told her to campaign and sell herself as an asset. By 3:51 p.m., Mallory and Lyric were counting votes under a hypothetical Jason renom and a hypothetical Blockbuster result, reading Mallory as likely safe against Lala if Jason won Blockbuster. That's their math, not a confirmed vote — nobody has cast anything yet.

And then there's Jason, who is running the classic play-both-sides special. At 3:28 p.m., Dee and Chuk compared notes on his pitches: to Dee, Jason offered himself as a weapon against Chuk, Haley, and Kamu; to Chuk, the target list became Angela, Dee, and Devens. The feeds cut immediately after, which is about the reaction you'd expect. Jason, apparently unaware his sales pitches were being cross-referenced, was coaching Lala at 3:37 p.m. on improving her relationships with Drew, Barrett, and the girls.

Kamu's Backdoor Stays Live

Lyric's win is, on paper, the best possible outcome for the HOH. If she pulls herself off, Kamu can name a replacement — and everything on the feeds says that replacement is Jason. At 4:36 p.m., Drew told Kamu and Devens that Jason had asked him and Barrett to jump ship, and Kamu's response was blunt: he'd tell Jason "an eye for an eye," since Jason had mentioned his name. Devens advised putting Jason up without any explanation at all.

To be clear: that's a plan, not a nomination. And the house isn't unanimous. Dee summed up the competing currents at 4:56 p.m.: Chuk says backdoor Jason, Melody wants Lala out, and Drew and Barrett want Mallory to stay. Haley staked out her position early, saying at 3:16 p.m. that either Lala or Jason would go and she'd prefer Lala, since Jason can always be targeted later.

Devens Spills His Secret — to Exactly One Person

The evening's quiet bombshell came at 5:00 p.m., when Devens told Dee he has the secret power and plans to keep denying it to everyone else. Pressed for details at 5:03 p.m., he claimed he can take someone off the block and put up anyone he wants — including a big target. He then described the spinning-chair pattern game behind it, and a follow-up receipt recorded that his cover story is that he lost.

That's his private claim to one person, so file it accordingly. But it's worth noting Lyric was already fretting at 3:54 p.m. that the mystery power might somehow interfere with her veto. Mallory reassured her that powers usually save people rather than strip vetoes — a comforting theory, not a rulebook citation.

What's Still Unsettled

Everything past the veto win, honestly. The veto ceremony hasn't happened, so Lyric hasn't used anything yet. Jason isn't on the block, however loudly the feeds telegraph it. The Blockbuster result is unknown, the vote board is pure speculation, and one houseguest is walking around with a nomination-scrambling power he's actively hiding. Lyric holds the lever. Whether Kamu gets to pull the trigger — and whether Devens lets the week end the way it's drawn up — is Monday's problem.