Zach Cornell says he is still in shock after his eviction on Thursday night’s episode of Big Brother. The 27-year-old marketing manager from Cartersville, Georgia, was voted out 8-2 over Vince Panaro after being put on the block by someone he thought was an ally — Ava Pearl.
“I’m numb. That’s the best way I can describe it,” he told Gold Derby. “I was there for 38 days, so everything you’re thinking about is game sense, game strategy, how to improve relationships, and how to get two minutes to yourself. I had a dream last night, and I was still in the Big Brother house.”
The week leading up to eviction sent Zach spiralling, beginning with Ava’s surprising nominations. “She promised me that she was not going to put me up,” he said. “I saved Ava Week 1 by giving her immunity as a Have-Not. We’ve had a good game relationship. We voted the same way. We had a lot of deep talks. When somebody gives me their word, I’m thinking, I’m totally fine. It was a shell shock, but I still thought I would be fine this week. I thought I was a pawn.”
Despite being ousted by Ava, Zach harbours no ill will. “I love that girl,” he said, joking, “I’ve never smoked a cigarette in my life, but I will be smoking one cigarette with Ava Pearl because she’s just that type of person to me. She has a great heart. She grew into this beautiful butterfly — but she still has that New York flavour.”
Zach also explained why he chose not to use his secret power to pull himself off the block. It wasn’t only about protecting Morgan Pope. “I definitely thought I was safe,” he admitted. “Nobody said I was potentially going home. My game plan was to win the Veto, give the Veto to Vince, and then use the power on myself. Then, Morgan would have been the only person in our alliance on the block, and we would have been fine. That was my thinking. Clearly, I played the game too selflessly and then ended up going against the comp beast, Keanu Soto, in the BB Block Buster.”
“If Keanu was sitting up against either myself or Vince, we would’ve been one hundred per cent fine,” he continued. “There was only one road this entire week that could have killed me and, unfortunately, it was exactly the road I went down.”
On the Eviction Night and Julie Chen Moonves’ Moment
Zach remained somewhat hopeful up until the eviction was announced. “I knew there was a group of four in the middle that were deciding between me and Vince. I was still hopeful, but Ashley Hollis came up to me that morning, freaking out, saying, ‘I don’t think you have the votes anymore.’ When she told me that, I thought, ‘I really have to win this Blockbuster.’ Then, when I was hugging people before my final speech, they were literally telling me, ‘Good job,’ so the writing was on the wall.”
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And then came the unexpected moment of being smacked in the head by host Julie Chen Moonves. “I can say that I’m only one of the few to ever have that opportunity,” Zach laughed. “It was a high-risk, high reward — high-risk, high-stupidity — whatever you want to say. But I thought if I was able to make it out of this week with Vince, our alliance would be one hundred per cent set. We would literally be rolling into this upcoming week. But I love Julie. My mom and dad love Julie. I was able to save her on Day 1. So it’s like I get the full experience with Julie. I was able to save her in Week 1, but I was also able to get smacked upside the head at the very end.”
Looking Ahead: Rachel’s HOH and the House Dynamics
With Rachel as the new Head of Household, Zach sees potential trouble ahead. “Vince, Morgan, and Mickey Lee are going to be the three nominees. It just depends on who she wants to backdoor. My assumption is Vince, but I think that if Mickey stays in the game, she wins the game. I would not be surprised if Rachel backdoors Mickey. I’m excited to see how it turns out.”
Since his exit, Zach has already seen sparks fly. Vince approached Rachel, asking if she planned to backdoor him, to which she replied, “I love how you think you’re a big enough threat to backdoor.”
“That is iconic,” Zach said. “Rachel. Oh my gosh. It felt like she was kind of on her own island, and she was kind of grasping for straws. But that’s what’s crazy about Big Brother. You just put somebody in the HOH spot, and then everything turns on its head. She’s iconic. I give nothing but respect to Rachel. She was one of the reasons why, if I had won HOH, she would’ve been my backdoor. And it’s because of these moments, right? She’s able to flip the house upside down. And as a fan of Big Brother, I’m going to be tuning in this week one hundred per cent.”
Who’s in the Best Position to Win?
Zach believes Mickey currently holds the strongest spot in the game. “She has her hand in every single pot, but it’s in a way that’s not mischievous, like Vince. She comes off as a motherly type for a lot of people. She has a lot of sway in the house. Now the thing is, once you have somebody like Rachel as HOH, like I said, she can flip the house upside down, and she can see that Mickey’s in the best position. Mickey could be going home this week. That’s a very real possibility at this point. But my guess is still Mickey. If Mickey’s able to make it through this week, she’s in the best position.”
Who He’s Rooting For to Win Big Brother
When asked who he wants to win, Zach listed his top picks: “Vince, Morgan, Mickey, Lauren, or Will. Those are the five. I hope any of them win. Everybody else — I have a reason why I don’t think that they should win, but those five I’m pulling for to win. It’s crazy, though, that three of them are about to be on the block, so we’ll see what happens.”
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