Morning Update: Lyric Chooses Rome as Devens Loads the Backdoor

The board stayed frozen overnight. The house absolutely did not.

Our evening update stopped at 5:22 PM, after Rick Devens added the Week 2 veto to his HOH key. From there through 6:57 AM, overnight Saturday into Sunday, Devens hardened the plan to put Rome Seymour on the block, changed his mind more than once about which nominee should come down, and watched the two sides start arguing over whether Survivor has taken over their show.

Then, at 2 AM, Lyric Medeiros and Rome supplied the relationship plot twist. One night after Lyric privately said they had never been together, she kissed him and told him she loved and chose him. Minutes later, Rome was alone at the camera explaining how Lyric could help his game.

That is Big Brother in one overnight window: the backdoor plan, the showmance reunion, and the strategy underneath both.

The Board — Still Unchanged

• Week 2 HOH: Rick Devens
• Week 2 veto winner: Rick Devens
• Nominees: Jason De Puy, Lyric Medeiros, Melody Morris
• Planned replacement target: Rome Seymour, if the veto is used
• Evicted: Ashley Trail (Week 1)
• Veto ceremony: not yet held

Rome is not nominated. Nobody has been saved. Everything below is planning, campaigning, and vote-counting until the ceremony makes it real.

Devens Stops Whispering About the Backdoor

Lyric made the first strong pitch of the evening. At 6:56 PM, she promised Devens she would never put him on the block if he saved her. After she left, Devens admitted the pitch landed: at 7:04 PM he said he believed her and trusted her more than Melody.

By 7:17 PM, the larger plan had lost most of its ambiguity. Chuk Anyanwu told Devens the Rome backdoor was still “full steam ahead.” Devens answered that getting Rome out was his number-one priority. He worried about the vote if Rome survived the Blockbuster, and he worried even more about blowing up the board only to have his allies refuse to finish the job.

At 7:46 PM, Devens told Dee Valladares they were backdooring Rome. Two minutes later, with Angela Murray in the HOH room, he said he was putting Rome up—but the rescue seat was already moving. Angela preferred Melody come down. Devens said it would be Melody or Lyric. At 7:53 PM, he leaned Lyric because he found her more believable.

That preference did not survive the entire night. At 12:15 AM, Devens told Kamuela Kirk that, if the group agreed, he would rather take Melody down. At 12:52 AM, Kamu and Chuk were discussing that same version: save Melody, then send Rome or Jason out.

So the overnight plan has one firm center and one loose edge. Devens wants Rome up. The receipts do not settle whether Lyric or Melody comes down.

Lyric Chooses Rome—and Rome Sees the Game Angle

The previous morning update ended with a brutal relationship gap: Rome kept escalating his language about Lyric while Lyric privately said they had never been together. Overnight, Lyric closed that gap in the loudest possible way.

At 2 AM, she told Rome, “I love and choose you,” and kissed him. One minute later, they kissed again and exchanged “I love you.” It was a real showmance beat, not feed-watchers filling in silence for them.

It also arrived after Lyric had spent the evening asking Devens to save her and nominate Rome. Those facts can coexist in this house even when they make no sense anywhere else.

Rome then went to the hammock alone. At 2:08 AM, he talked through how quickly the game’s emotions had hit him and how a shattered game could be rebuilt. At 2:11 AM, the strategic layer surfaced: he said he could use Lyric to gain Kamu’s trust and turn that access against the other side.

That does not prove the affection is fake. It proves Rome is still playing while he feels it—and that Lyric is now both his emotional center and a piece of the recovery plan he is narrating to the cameras.

“This Is Our Show”

The Survivor takeover joke from Saturday afternoon grew teeth overnight.

Around 1:48 AM, Mallory Aurichio and Barrett Pfeiffer worked through the possible veto board. Mallory believed Devens would use it and guessed Melody might be saved. She told Barrett she would rather lose Jason before Rome because Rome had clearer targets and felt more predictable to her.

Then the franchise line appeared. At 1:54 AM, Mallory said she did not like the Survivor players. Barrett said he would never play Survivor. One minute later, he declared, “This is our show,” while Mallory said she wanted the non-Big Brother fans out.

Dee and Devens have won both HOHs, and Devens also owns the veto. The anti-Survivor feeling is understandable. It is not yet power. Mallory and Barrett were talking about protecting Rome while Devens, Dee, Angela, Chuk, and Kamu were building a board designed to remove him.

Jason tried a different survival route. At 9:16 PM, he offered to become Angela’s “minion” because nobody would expect it. Angela asked for three weeks of safety; Jason told her he was hers. It is an attempted deal from a nominee, not a new alliance we should ink onto the board—but it is Jason looking for legs while the replacement plan swirls around someone else.

LaTrice Versus Bedtime

Not every overnight war was strategic.

Just before midnight, LaTrice Verrett took to the backyard hammock for an extended grievance against the loud people keeping the bedroom awake. She threatened to return the favor with loud shoes, clapping, and singing if the house could not discover common courtesy after 10 PM. Rome joined her, and the complaint session expanded into frustration with Haley and the people LaTrice believed were running the social room.

Production supplied the final punchline. The Have-Not bed spun again at 2:30 AM with the lights out. A late-night snack appeared at 3:15 AM. By 6:45 AM the house was mostly snoring—and at 6:54 AM, the noisy rotating bed started up again. Even when the players stop gaming, the furniture refuses.

What Matters Sunday Morning

• The Rome backdoor is the clearest plan in the house, not an official result. Devens has repeatedly said he intends to use the veto and nominate Rome. The ceremony has not happened.
• The saved nominee is unsettled. Devens leaned Lyric in the evening and Melody after midnight. Both women have active advocates.
• Rome still has an escape route. If he goes up, the Blockbuster can still remove him from the final eviction vote.
• Lyric and Rome are publicly back in showmance territory. The reunion is real; so is Rome’s camera-talk about using the relationship strategically.
• The anti-Survivor countercurrent is forming. Mallory and Barrett want Big Brother players to reclaim the game, but the Survivor alumni still hold every major Week 2 lever.

The board did not move overnight. The veto ceremony now has to catch up with the house.

Receipts

• Previous evening update — Devens wins the veto; cutoff at 5:22 PM
• 6:56 PM — Lyric promises Devens safety if he saves her
• 7:04 PM — Devens says he trusts Lyric more than Melody
• 7:17 PM — Chuk and Devens: Rome backdoor is full steam ahead
• 7:46 PM — Devens tells Dee they are backdooring Rome
• 7:48 PM — Devens tells Angela he plans to put Rome up
• 7:53 PM — Devens leans toward saving Lyric
• 9:16 PM — Jason offers Angela three weeks of safety
• 11:50 PM — LaTrice’s late-night noise grievance begins
• 12:15 AM — Devens says he may prefer saving Melody
• 12:52 AM — Kamu and Chuk discuss saving Melody
• 1:48 AM — Mallory and Barrett discuss veto use
• 1:50 AM — Mallory prefers Jason leave before Rome
• 1:54 AM — Mallory rejects the Survivor players
• 1:55 AM — Barrett: “This is our show”
• 2:00 AM — Lyric tells Rome she loves and chooses him
• 2:01 AM — Lyric and Rome kiss and exchange “I love you”
• 2:08 AM — Rome camera-talks about the game’s emotions
• 2:11 AM — Rome says Lyric can help him gain Kamu’s trust
• 6:54 AM — the rotating Have-Not bed becomes the alarm clock