Big Brother’s Rachel Reilly Shockingly Eliminated in Season 27 Twist, Sparking Outrage Among Fans and Alumni

Floaters, you’d better grab a life vest — and a pitchfork.

Reality TV fans were up in arms over the weekend after Rachel Reilly was shockingly eliminated from Big Brother 27 during a series of events that eventually aired during the Tuesday, Sept. 9 episode, when her game was “sacrificed” following an unexpected and eventful competition.

While live-feed viewers were already in the know on some of what went down, the latest episode filled in the blanks on Tuesday. It all started when the season’s antagonist, the Mastermind — basically an anonymous person in a mask stirring things up in the BB house — informed the nine remaining Houseguests that “in a matter of hours” someone would become the first member of this season’s jury, hinting that “your competition skills could save you or perhaps your social game will be the key to your salvation.”

Clearly a play on the hit HBO series The White Lotus, the Mastermind said of the challenge, “One thing’s for certain, you may have all checked into The White Locust, but one of you won’t be checking out.”

The competition essentially ended up being handled in two parts, the first of which saw players slide totems on a table. Whoever finished that the fastest (in this case, Houseguest Ava Pearl) got to pick who they wanted to send first to a fate-determining maze game.

The maze required the selected Houseguests to walk on a wheel and help a ball find its way to the end — but they had to complete the challenge within a set time, with each subsequent Houseguest being given less time than the one before them.

Tyler Crispen, season 20 runner-up who hosted the challenge, explained that the first Houseguest would have six-and-a-half minutes to complete the maze. If they completed, they’d then pick the next Houseguest to take on the maze with one less minute on the clock — and so on and so forth. If a player didn’t complete the maze, they’d be eliminated.

After Ava’s win, she picked Houseguest Vince Panaro, who finished the challenge in 6-and-a-half minutes. Vince then picked Lauren Domingue, who finished in 5-and-a-half minutes. The next two to try were Morgan Pope and eventually Rachel — who was unable to complete the maze in her allotted 3-and-a-half-minute timeframe.

She was then “sacrificed to the White Locust” and eliminated from the game.

There was no second chance for the three-time Big Brother vet in a season that has allowed players a Head of Household competition, a Power of Veto competition and a BB Block Buster competition to fight for their safety.

Rachel’s fellow Houseguests appeared shocked by the news of her “sacrifice,” as she gave Tyler a teary hug before a send-off to her housemates.

“Don’t think I’m gonna make your jury roundtable easy, because that’s what you want,” Rachel told the remaining players. “You’re gonna have to work to win this game. You are gonna have to fight and get blood on your hands because I did. And I’ve done it three times now.”

“So don’t think that you can show up in those final two chairs, and I’m gonna let you guys get off easy. Because if you want to be a legend like me, then you have to work for it and earn it.”

Rachel’s elimination sent shockwaves through the Big Brother fandom, with notable alumni speaking out in her defense over the weekend.

Ragan Fox, a fellow season 12 alum who admitted to once calling her a “red-headed parrot from hell” and notably was at odds with her in one of the show’s most epic backyard verbal clashes, wrote on Instagram that he wished she could “properly finish her game.”

“There’s a reason so many of us — even her once-sworn enemies — have rooted for her during her return,” he wrote. “She brings so much joy and energy to the game. It blows my mind that, in eight weeks, nobody put a former winner on the block. That achievement shows how much she’s evolved as a person and social gamer.”

“Woke up at 3am to the awful news. Cancel the whole f—— show! No one cares about anyone else winning. Rachel is BIG BROTHER. I’m disgusted 🤢,” Big Brother icon Janelle Pierzina tweeted. “What in the actual f— #bb27.”

Rachel’s husband, fellow Big Brother alum Brendon Villegas, shared a lengthy statement about Reilly’s elimination as well, noting that he didn’t think the show “could have fumbled this one harder if they had tried.”

“I look at the remaining cast and have trouble finding a single winner I could get behind,” he wrote. “Without Rachel this season would have been a dud, FACT!”

“I will not be surprised when the ratings start tanking because you removed the heart of your season,” Villegas continued, adding that he “could not be prouder of Rachel and how she played this season.”

Big Brother airs Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.