While Big Brother fans continue to mourn legend Rachel Reilly’s controversial elimination from season 27, houseguests still in the game are also reeling from the shocking turn of events, which aired on Tuesday, September 9.
“[I] can’t believe you’re gone,” houseguest Keanu Soto says to himself in Luxury Handbag Shopping’s exclusive first look at the Wednesday, September 10, episode. “It was supposed to be me and you in the final two seats, man.”
Keanu’s emotional moment comes in the Big Brother kitchen as he looks at the memory wall, which displays photos of each houseguest. Those already out of the game, including Rachel, are shown in black and white.
Keanu, 33, and Rachel, 40, had a turbulent relationship in the Big Brother house, frequently getting into fights but always seeming to come back together and make up. They aptly named their alliance The Frenemies.
“I never thought it’d be that hard losing Rachel,” Keanu says in the diary room. “I really took for granted her being here. She was my final two. We were The Frenemies. We might have been combative but we always found a way to bounce back and make it work.”
When the show cuts back to Keanu in the kitchen, the camera zooms in on his defeated expression while clips of his highs and lows with Rachel pop up in a montage around him.
“Why do you make it so hard to work with you?” Rachel asks in one clip. “I don’t understand you.”
“Stop harassing me,” she yells in another. “You’re obsessed with me.”
Then, a video plays of Rachel bringing Keanu a muffin.
“Look how sweet I am, I made you a muffin and I brought it to you,” she says.
“I adore you. I love you,” Keanu tells a crying Rachel in another clip.
Cutting back to the present, Keanu is seen wiping away a tear and saying, “I don’t want to beat them. I wanted to beat you.”
Instead, Rachel became the first member of the Big Brother 27 jury that will vote on the eventual winner. Her elimination was the first time that a Big Brother contestant has left the game via a competition and without a vote, other than a handful of night one twists in seasons’ past.
Big Brother alumni, fans and even current houseguests have criticized the twist for moving away from the show’s core as a social strategy game.
Big Brother airs on CBS on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays at 8 p.m. ET. Fans can watch live feeds from the house anytime on Paramount+.
