*Caution: Spoilers ahead!
Mecole “Meme” Hayes can describe with one word on how she feels about her surprise Big Brother eviction — devastated.
In an ET exit interview with Big Brother 24 winner Taylor Hale, Mecole opened up about the experience and what it was like to have the carpet pulled from under her when she was not expecting it. That being said, the eviction may have been a blessing in disguise.
“Oh, I am devastated,” Mecole says. “But part of me is also really excited that I get to see my husband. I left him just a month after my wedding. So you know, obviously I would have loved to have stayed in the house, but I’m gonna see my man so I can’t wait!”
Mecole quickly learned that life comes at you fast in the Big Brother house, and sometimes you can get blindsided by a surprising vote flip. This season has been filled with a lot of frantic, frenetic gameplay, last-minute switch-ups, weak alliances, and surprising (some might say game-breaking) twists. And on Thursday’s live eviction night, one contestant didn’t feel like leaving on good terms.
Earlier in the week, Head of Household Cameron Hardin nominated Felicia Cannon and Mecole for the chopping block, with the understanding that Mecole was a pawn, and Felicia was the bigger target (or, Mecole could be a way to backdoor Cory Wurtenberger.)
However, after Mecole almost won the Power of Veto comp, a few of the houseguests — namely Matt Klotz and Jag Bains — realized how formidable she could really be, and began trying to get the house to flip their votes.
As it turned out, Cory and his showmance/ally America Lopez had similar sentiments, and soon it seemed that fate had been decided. And when it came time for the vote, the decision was unanimous — by a 7-0 vote, Mecole was evicted.
Looking back on the eviction, Mecole second-guesses the strategy to keep Felicia in the house.
“I don’t think that it was smart for the flip to go against me and keep [Felicia] in the house. And that was the characterization that I was trying to paint to Matt, Jack, and Blue,” Mecole says. “They are really seen as a strong trio in the house. And I think that they know — or at least they should know — that having four strong players is better than having three strong players, and that was really my pitch to them, but they decided to keep Mama Fi. I guess they believe that she is more beautiful and they trust that she will have more blowups between now and whenever she leaves the house.”
Mecole says she had no idea Matt and Jack were the ones “who were secretly plotting my demise.”
“And it’s so interesting because the day — or the day of the eviction, earlier that morning — I was going into and I was like, ‘Listen, Cory is a manipulator. He’s a liar. He’s going after you guys, he’s told me all of these things about you. You can’t trust him. I know that he’s responsible for the flip. He came to pitch this alliance to me that I declined which is why he came there and tried to flip the boat. You guys shouldn’t believe him.’ And they’re probably like, You dummy.’ So …”
While exiting the house, Mecole didn’t have any interest in pretending not to be upset with Cory or America, refusing to say goodbye or hug either of them, and then trying to make sure to sabotage their game as best she could by “revealing” the alliance between Cory, America, and Bowie Jane.
“They’re planning to target you, you and you, and they’re gonna try to use you to do they’re bidding,” Mecole told the other houseguests, although it was unclear who exactly she was telling this to.
Speaking in ET’s exit interview, Mecole opened up about the way she chose to exit the house.
“I wasn’t trying to protect anyone. Because I didn’t feel like anyone was trying to protect me,” Mecole explained. “If anything, I was just throwing a little shade and helping the people scramble more than they already are. I know that Corey and America are easy targets in the house they are already seeing as two untrustworthy competitors. And I want J Mat and Blue to know that they are coming after them so that they can then go after Cory and America. And I also wanted my Mama Fi to know that the reason why she was kept is so that she could be in the middle of this crossfire that is going to happen between both sides. I hope that people are scrambling right now.”
Mecole’s exit is also particularly painful as she is the last houseguest to get evicted before the start of the jury — meaning her time on the show is truly over, and she won’t have a say in selecting the champion at the end of the season.
After her exit interview with host Julie Chen Moonves, it came time for the next Head of Household competition — which was revealed to be a convoluted memory game. As it turns out, the house may have underestimated Felicia, as she and Bowie tied for the win — although Bowie managed to snag victory with a tie-breaker and become the new HoH.
Fans will have to tune in Sunday to see how Bowie handles the scheming and pressure of the position.
