BB28Aug 25, 8:38 AM

Morning Update: After the Renom

Tuesday morning the board is unchanged: Taylor, Drew, and Mallory still sit after Monday's veto ceremony. Overnight Mallory cried about a speech against Drew and got mad Barrett was playing pool with Dee. Melody counted votes to keep her. Lala and Devens talked breaking up FAP. Haley and Angela think they have the numbers. Barrett told Mallory the house wants Taylor; Yash told Drew the same.

Tuesday morning, and the board looks exactly like it did when I filed yesterday's ceremony note: Week 7, Dee Valladares as HOH, LaTrice's veto used on herself Monday, and Taylor Brown, Drew Campbell, and Mallory Aurichio on the block. Nothing about the slate changed overnight. What changed is how the house sat with it — and that took from Monday afternoon into Tuesday morning, house time, with a lot of crying, counting, and quiet room-to-room scheming.

The evening: Mallory takes it hard

The afternoon started almost gentle. At 3:16 PM, Taylor told Lala "you are the icon if you ask me," and insisted she's not worried — "Yash is mine, he is my boo." Lala agreed: you've got him, Dee, Angela, you'll be fine.

By 3:30 PM, Barrett came back to Mallory and Melody reporting that "everyone is in there and mad." Mallory wanted to know if things were switching. Barrett's answer was more question than answer: "where do we go from here?"

The evening was rougher. After a 41-minute feed block, Mallory was on the hammock at 8:31 PM, and by 8:34 she was crying: "This sucks, I don't even know what I would say in my speech against Drew. I would just talk about how badly I want to be here." A minute later, the sharper edge: "I'm mad that Barrett can even just play pool with her [Dee] right now."

At 8:38 PM, Melody ran a count of votes for Mallory to stay: herself, Drew/Taylor, Barrett, Lala, Haley probably, maybe Yash. That's Melody's count, said out loud on a Monday night — not a lock, not a whip count anyone else has signed off on.

The other rooms

While Mallory processed, two other conversations mattered more for Thursday.

From 8:41 to 8:44 PM, Devens and Lala talked in the HOH. Lala said she just wants to make it through next week and that "we need to break up those four" — FAP, meaning Drew, Barrett, Mallory, and Melody. Devens called Mallory "a crazy threat." Lala said she loves Barrett but he can float to that second seat and crush them, and that aligning with Devens could be unexpected. Devens: numbers are "real shifty this week" — they have a group that can win HOH. Lala says she's gunning for it.

Then at 10:07 PM, Haley and Angela had their own version of the math. (Angela initially misheard — "Renom? No." — which is very Angela.) Haley's read: as long as everyone stays, we're fine — me, you, Devens, Dee, plus Barrett and Drew. Numbers every time to final five, then play until we win. That's Haley and Angela's claim, not a confirmed alliance anyone else has ratified.

Also, at 10:41 PM Barrett screamed that they got a phone and took a selfie with Angela, because this house contains multitudes.

Overnight: the hammock and the plan nobody knows

The late-night hammock session between Barrett and Mallory is the emotional core of the night. At 11:12 PM, Barrett: "there is no moment in the house that is fun without you." Mallory: "I trust you."

Then it turned strategic. At 11:20 PM, Mallory: "the Icons lied to us, how did we fall for it. Why is Dee doing this. Is Dee in an alliance with Yash and Haley?" Barrett's answer: Haley. He also wondered how they know Kamu was telling the truth. A minute later, Melody: Haley and Dee both need to go, double eviction.

At 11:24, Mallory told Barrett that if she goes home, he can't forgive Dee. Barrett tried to take it: "I spent so much time making you feel good about Dee, be mad at me." Mallory refused — she saw things she didn't trust and went along with it. Then, 11:25: "I think they want Taylor out over me." Barrett said he believes that wholeheartedly.

He might be right. At 11:33 PM, Yash told Drew he thinks Taylor goes — though Yash also admitted he's been in chill mode and doesn't actually know the plan.

After midnight, Mallory told Melody the Icons make her feel cornered and bossed around, and asked again whether Dee made a deal with Yash and Haley (Melody: Yash maybe not, Haley probably). At 12:56 AM, Melody was blunt: she doesn't trust the Icons, they could flip two minutes before the live eviction, and she wants as many numbers for Mallory as possible. Drew bet Haley votes Taylor out; Melody's counter was that Dee and Haley "think they are real b*tches but are cowards."

The house was asleep by around 2 AM. Feeds returned 8:20 AM; wakey wakey at 8:26.

Where this leaves us

Blockbuster hasn't been played, and there are now two competing stories about the target: Barrett and Yash both think it's Taylor; Mallory and Melody are counting votes like it's her. Nobody outside the HOH room actually knows. Thursday will tell.

Receipts