Spoiler alert: this post contains spoilers for upcoming episodes of Big Brother.
Big Brother’s Cedric Hodges thinks his Pentagon alliance is going to have an uphill battle, especially after learning Tucker Des Lauriers was crowned the next Head of Household.
“Brooklyn [Rivera] is gonna have a really hard time because she campaigned for me so hard,” Cedric, 21, exclusively told Us Weekly on Friday, August 16, following his eviction. “I believe that the other two, Cam [Sullivan-Brown] and Chelsie [Baham], kind of spread their lies and deceit so they can roll with it. I don’t know how they’re gonna fare.”
At the time of the interview, Cedric had not learned who won the HOH competition after his exit. Host Julie Chen-Moonves teased it was the iconic wall competition. Us filled Cedric in to let him know that his former rival in the game, Tucker, 30, was victorious, per the live feeds.
“OK. Tucker won the wall comp,” Cedric said while processing what that meant for his allies. “Makes sense. So they’re in trouble.”
Cedric added that Tucker’s win was “surprising and not surprising” at the same time. Tucker has become the “comp beast” of the season so far. In addition to winning the HOH competition, he has earned two Power of Vetoes and two victories in the AI Arena.
“Bro’s a beast, Bro’s a comp beast, and it’s literally a pure physical and mental challenge,” Cedric said. “I understand. I’m [going to] miss [seeing] how the week plays out.”
Cedric aligned with Cam, 25, Chelsie, 27, Brooklyn, 34, and Quinn Martin. The five named themselves The Pentagon and were seemingly running the game. While Angela Murray won the HOH competition that ultimately sent Cedric home, it was Quinn’s doing as he took over the nominations using the Deep Fake HOH power he earned during week one. Cedric volunteered to go on the block to prove his loyalty to the alliance and another group he found himself in called The Collective.
The Collective included all five Pentagon members while adding in T’Kor Clottey and Kimo Apaka. However, Quinn also had a side alliance with T’Kor, 23, and Kimo, 35, called The Visionaries and he revealed to them that The Pentagon was working together. While Quinn’s decision to come clean was meant to build trust, it ultimately backfired as T’Kor and Kimo felt uneasy about them not being included in that group. So they ultimately decided to blindside Cedric to weaken The Pentagon alliance.
Cedric and Tucker became rivals in the game one week before the former marine was voted out. Last week, Cedric was the HOH and put Tucker, Angela, 50, and Kenney Kelley on the block. While Tucker won the veto, he decided to use it to save Angela instead of himself. Tucker approached Cedric with a plan to put up Quinn, 25, as a replacement nomination since the nurse recruiter had the Deep Fake HOH power.
Ultimately Cedric didn’t want to put up his ally and opted for Makensy Manbeck instead, who had the other power America’s Veto. After Cedric put Makensy, 22, on the block, she immediately activated her power, making herself safe for the week. The third nominee was voted on by America, who ultimately chose Quinn in the end. Cedric’s choice to remain loyal to Quinn burned his bridge with Tucker, who declared he was coming after him.
Despite their rocky relationship in the game, Cedric has nothing but love for Tucker as a person. However, he doesn’t think Tucker will last in the house much longer.
“I love Tucker and respect him as a man,” Cedric told Us. “But as a player, it’s still a rivalry [and]he got the best of me … I don’t think he’s long for the game. He’s weighed too much on the competitiveness of Big Brother and lacks the social aspect. So there’s always a front door to leave if you miss a competition like me. But there’s always a back door in Big Brother as well.”
Big Brother airs on CBS on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET and Sundays at 9 p.m. ET.
