Morgan Pope ultimately cast her vote for Vince Panaro to win Big Brother 27 and made a last-second attempt to help his case with the rest of the jury.
“I feel like when you have somebody that nominates half the house and is still able to not touch the block, still create ally ships and move forward in the game,” Morgan, 34, exclusively tells Luxury Handbag Shopping of why she voted for Vince, also 34, following the season finale on Sunday, September 28. “I mean, come on, he put up half the house, and he’s still in the house. Like, how, how is he still here?”
Morgan explained that Vince and Keanu Soto had similar resumes in the game, and Keanu appeared to be a frontrunner.
“We want to talk about Keanu [being] a cat with nine lives. Why not Vince?” she continued.
One thing Morgan wished Vince had owned up to was the fact that he never needed to win a Power of Veto because he had aligned himself with strong competitors like herself and Lauren Domingue.
“I wish he would have really nailed on this, but he did not have to win a veto,” she said. “He didn’t have to, because he always [told] me, ‘Morgan, I’m so jealous. You want all these vetoes.’ I’m like, ‘Vince, you didn’t have to win a veto, though you had allies that were in power. You were in power, you didn’t need to win a veto.’ And I really wish he would have, he would have hit on those kinds of things, because that would have been something that could have been thought about.”
Morgan and Vince formed a strong connection in the game and became two of the most powerful figures in the Big Brother house. They dominated the season with Vince taking home the most Head of Household (HoH) competition wins with a total of four, while Morgan won the most Vetos with five. Morgan lost the final HoH to winner Ashley Hollis and became the final jury member. Even on the other side, Morgan confessed she tried to aid Vince in his plea to the jury.
“There were so many angles that I tried to help him with. Because, I mean, I don’t know if anyone saw but like, we were helping each other, it was kind of, it was so fun to play with him, because it’s like, when you have a best friend in the house, you want them to do just as good as they want you to do,” she explained. “I was hoping, with the question that I asked him, which was the chance I gave him, like, ‘What do you feel that you did [that earned] you [the] final two?’ And that’s where I was really hoping he was going to go.”
Morgan shared that she wanted Vince to highlight his social game at that moment, which might have helped in the end with the other members of the jury.
“I was trying to get him to really dive into his game, but that’s the thing, that’s why I was the strongest ally, because I would do that for him in the game. So it’s like, I can’t do that for him,” she told Us. “Now, in the final two speeches, I tried to give him an alley oop, and he didn’t take the ball. So it’s OK.”
In addition to winning competitions, Morgan was also seen as one of the strongest strategic players this season. As houseguests were evicted, they credited their demise to Morgan. Morgan admitted she didn’t give herself as much credit as others did.
“I feel like I did play a great game, and it’s crazy being outside of the house now, because when I was in there. Vince used to always tell me, like, ‘Oh, you’re down playing your game.’ And I’m like, No, it’s not that. It’s just like, I’m not a cocky person,” she said. “Yes, I’ve won these Vetos and yes, this but anyone can still win this game. Like, I’m trying to still stay focused.”
Morgan shared she felt immense pride when past winners Derrick Levasseur, Taylor Hale and Chelsie Baham gave her props for the game she was able to play this past season.
“To step outside of the stage, and when we’re all mingling, and I have, Big Brother greats like Derrick, Taylor and Chelsie coming up and just commending me, and be like, ‘Oh my God, you’re like, one of the best players to ever not win this game.’ I’m sitting here like my jaw dropped and trying to pick it off the floor,” she confessed. ‘Like, I’m sorry, would you just say to me? That’s insane. Third place was not what I wanted, but I’m so proud of what I did, definitely.”
