Big Brother legend Rachel Reilly has spoken out about her elimination -- not eviction -- from Season 27 after falling victim to a safety chain "Maniacal Maze" competition.

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"So being eliminated by a twist in a hamster wheel, it was really frustrating. I felt that if I would've had a chance to talk my way out of something or have another shot to win another competition, maybe I could have," Rachel told Entertainment Weekly in an interview.

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On Tuesday night's episode of Big Brother, the "Mastermind" forced the houseguests to compete for safety in a Head of Household competition. Each player had to move a ball through a maze by rotating a large hamster wheel within a time limit.

If a houseguest was successful, he or she would get to choose the next person to compete, but each person to follow had one less minute to complete the same maze.

"I think when I originally saw the hamster wheel of death, as we like to call it, I just freaked out a little bit and unfortunately I wasn't able to pull it through," Rachel explained.

"You really need to focus in these competitions, especially when you're fighting for your life in the BB house."

Ava chose Vince Panaro to kick things off with 6.5 minutes on the clock. He subsequently chose Lauren Domingue, who had 5.5 minutes to finish the maze. Morgan Pope was next with 4.5 minutes.

Morgan then chose Rachel, who couldn't get the job done in only 3.5 minutes, resulting in her immediate elimination from the game.

Rachel didn't get to compete in the Power of Veto or the BB Blockbuster to try to save herself, and many fans -- including memorable Big Brother players of the past -- have expressed rage on X over the twist that sealed Rachel's fate.

"So I think that if I would've been able to focus a little bit more and pull it out, not have overthunk what I was doing, I might have been able to do it in the three and a half minutes," Rachel noted.

"But, yeah, absolutely if I would've had a chance to strategically play or socially play the rest of the week, or even a few more hours, I think that I would've been able to talk my way out of it."

But Rachel said she took her shot and tried the best she could.

"I did my best and I'm here now. So I am definitely frustrated about that, but what are you going to do?" she said.

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Rachel admitted it was "extremely frustrating to play such a good game all season" long only to be kicked to the jury house without a vote from her peers or second chance of any kind.

Rachel had never even seen the chopping block up to this point.

"I made this whole jury of people that would've voted for me," she told EW.

"I worked really hard socially to become friends with all these people and to form relationships and to strategically play this game and to navigate through the game in a better way that I feel that I ever played Big Brother before... I really did see myself there [in the Final 2 chairs]."

Rachel thought her game, socially and strategically, was superior to how she had played on Seasons 12 and 13 of Big Brother. She apparently took pride in evolving so much over the years.

"[I won an HoH] competition when I needed to. And I think that over the past 15 years since playing Big Brother the last time -- I'm such a fan of the show, and so I've really studied the show and studied what I needed to do, interviewed the winners, and I think I did play a great game," Rachel said.

"So to be taken out by a twist -- like this was not expected, but as they say in Big Brother, expect the unexpected."

But looking back on how things unfolded during that "Maniacal Maze" competition, Rachel said she was "very disappointed" in Ava Pearl for not picking her to go first.

"I was trying to explain the strategy of this hamster wheel to her, because we did see this on the Reindeer Games, right?" Rachel recalled, adding how it was important for Ava to choose her allies to go first since they'd have a better shot of completing the maze in time.

"And she and I had a Final 2, right?... And I truly did believe with Ava that I could see myself sitting next to her in the Final 2 chairs... I became good friends with her, so I thought that she would listen to me, especially in a clutch moment like this."

Rachel blamed Keanu Soto for getting in the way of her chat with Ava before the maze portion of the competition commenced.

"I think that that made her frustrated and that's why she picked Vince first instead of myself... but she didn't want to listen to me," Rachel reasoned.

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And then Rachel said she was also "extremely frustrated" in Vince for picking Lauren second instead of Morgan.

"I think that showed where his true alliance was," Rachel pointed out.

"It showed his cards and it showed that, like, did he even respect Morgan that much?... Because Morgan had done so much for him in this game, and then to put her at a one-minute disadvantage as opposed to Lauren -- I thought that that was kind of a slap in the face to Morgan."

Rachel acknowledged that if she had another minute or two for the maze, she may have survived.

"I just think I would've been in a different headspace," she said.

"I was just in such a frenzy of a headspace thinking that I wouldn't be able to complete this maze... I went into the maze already doubting my abilities. And you can't doubt your abilities in a competition, especially when you're fighting for your life, because that is all you have in this game."

Rachel said it's crucial for a player to be "focused and completely present" in every challenge.

"Otherwise, you're just not going to be able to pull out that win. And that's what happened to me," Rachel said.

Rachel, however, said she's glad she showed up and played an aggressive game.

"I love this game and I'm such a fan of the show... I wanted to actively take a role in this game and I wanted to have other people that I brought along with me for the ride. And I think that I was able to do that," Rachel shared.

Rachel, unfortunately, still feels like she let a lot of people down, including herself.

"I did try my best, and that's all you can do. And at the end of the day, I came and I think I did make great television and play a great game, and that's what this is about, right?" Rachel concluded.

"So I hope that everyone enjoyed watching and I hope that they really enjoyed this season. And I think that we will get a good Big Brother 27 winner. And I'm excited to go back and watch the season."

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Rachel made the jury on Big Brother's 12th season and then won Season 13. Rachel also competed on three seasons of The Amazing Race; however, she never finished higher than third place.


About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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