Evicted Big Brother 27 houseguest Zach Cornell left the game with an unactivated power, but he now reveals that, if he had more information, he would’ve used his $10,000 prize to save himself from the chopping block.
Zach, a 27-year-old marketing manager from Cartersville, Georgia, was evicted by a vote of 8 to 2 over one of his closest allies, Vince Panaro, after Keanu Soto won the BB Blockbuster competition. Head of Household (HOH) Ava Pearl had nominated Zach after telling him that he was safe.
Zach began his Big Brother 27 journey by winning one of the first competitions of the season when he saved host Julie Chen Moonves from the Mastermind. He received a $10,000 prize, and a secret power called the BB Buyout. The power allowed him to save himself any time before Jury by giving the $10,000 to the HOH if he was still on the chopping block at the end of the Power of Veto ceremony.
Zach revealed that he didn’t use his power because he didn’t want to see another one of his allies, Morgan Pope, chosen as the replacement nominee. Julie smacked him on the head with her cards for that move when he was evicted.
Zach made other selfless decisions during the game, including voting out Adrian Rocha to prevent HOH (and his crush) Lauren Domingue from having to break a tie and giving Will Williams a trip to London during the Power of Veto ceremony, while accepting a punishment for himself.
In an interview with ScreenRant, Zach revealed how he feels being outside of the Big Brother 27 house, what circumstances would’ve prompted him to use his power if he knew about them, why he chose Rachel Reilly as his punishment partner and if he could’ve seen himself working with her in the future, whether he’ll pursue a relationship with Lauren outside of the house, and how he felt about Ava’s betrayal.
Big Brother 27 Houseguest Zach Cornell Says It Feels Surreal Being Outside Of The House
ScreenRant: I have to say I’m shocked to see you evicted so soon. Now that a few days have passed, how are you feeling?
Zach Cornell: I’m coming back to Earth, coming back to reality, right? I really did think I was blindsided in both scenarios of being put on the block first and then actually being sent home. But it’s one of those things where everything happens for a reason.
My family and friends have been so incredibly supportive through the process. And so now it’s really cool being a fan of the season. Being able to be on the other side, seeing all the perspectives of who really everyone likes in the house. Who is America’s favorite right now. And really trying to pull for specific people in the house. So it’s cool being on both sides.
ScreenRant: It must be really weird to see everybody you were living with on TV.
Zach: I’ve been watching the feeds, but I watched the episode last night and seeing my face on the TV, and then I’m sitting drinking a bottle of wine … I’m like, ‘What is happening right now? This is kind of like surreal in this moment, right?’ But no, it’s cool.
It’s really cool because the first day I got back, still seeing them on live, it kind of felt like I was still there, which was a very cool moment. Like there was one moment where Will was just chilling there on the red sofa with his glasses, and I’m like, ‘Dude, that was him.’ That was literally his couch. That was Will’s couch the entire time. And so it’s still a great experience. And I love all of them to death.
Zach Would’ve Used The BB Buyout Power If He Knew About Vince’s Betrayal
ScreenRant: A lot of people have questioned your decision not to use the power. You explained that you wanted to protect Morgan. So, now that a little time has passed, how do you feel about the decision?
Zach: I mean, look, hindsight is always 20/20. Granted I had no idea Vince threw me under the bus when it came to the whole Adrian situation. In the way that I perceived it, it was a 50/50 decision. And so he kind of did throw me under the bus in that aspect. I will say this … if I had known that, I would have used the power.
If I had known a few other things that obviously you guys knew, I would have used the power as well, right? And so, if I had known that people were 50/50 instead of like two days before the actual live episode, I would have changed my decision as well. But it’s just that perception at that time, especially after I gave the London trip to Will, I really did think that I was good in that moment. I really didn’t want to throw Morgan up because she was one of my three closest people in that house.
ScreenRant: That makes sense. So why did you choose Rachel to do your punishment with? Could you have seen yourself working with her later in the season?
Zach: Yeah. So, you know, first off, we were in the Heavy Hitters alliance initially. But it was the type of thing where it felt like she was on a different side of the house to me. And so, we really never had that like personal conversation like that. And so when I was deciding who to pick for the competition, she actually off the camera was really volunteering. She’s like, ‘Zach, pick me! Pick me!’ She was like going insane behind the screen.
I actually looked at a couple of other people, and they looked at me, got wide-eyed and, like, looked the other way. Like they darted their head because they obviously didn’t want a punishment. So I was like, if I could have an icon like Rachel do the punishment with me, that would be such a cool experience. And I really found out a lot about her in the eleven hours that we were in there that I never knew before that in the house.
She’s just a great person. She has a deeper, depth side to her that I didn’t realize beforehand. And we talked about some really cool things. And so the decision to choose Rachel … obviously, she was trying to get closer to me. I was interested in working with her, but where my alliance was, they were kind of gunning for her to get out. So it was one of those things where if it did come to this week and Rachel had won HOH, I could have easily been on the block. But who really knows.
Zach Plans To Pursue A Relationship With Lauren Outside Of The Big Brother 27 House
ScreenRant: I remember the conversation you had with Rachel about her love story with her husband Brendon Villegas and how you said that you were there for the money, but, if you found the love of your life in the process, that would be great too.
Zach: Yeah, yeah. It was very funny.
ScreenRant: I know you had a connection with Lauren. Are you going to pursue that when she’s out of the house?
Zach: Yeah, I mean, look … she is a fantastic girl. I told everyone she’s the sweetest girl in that house, and one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met in my life. And so, I’m really pulling for her right now. I want to see her go all the way. And I’m staying true to my word. I really do want to fly out to Louisiana. We had already kind of planned a date. And I wanna take her out, and we’re gonna go to Bourbon Street, so we’ll eventually see what happens if that does actually come to pass. But I am really pulling for her.
ScreenRant: Good luck with that! You know, everybody always says that Big Brother has more romance than The Bachelor, so you never know.
Zach: You’re 24/7 with the people. That’s really what it is.
ScreenRant: Right. So it could work out. It definitely could work out.
Zach Was Blindsided By Ava’s Betrayal
ScreenRant: You were very loyal in the game. Obviously, you protected Morgan. You saved Lauren from having to make that decision between Will and Adrian. You gave Will the trip. How did you feel when Ava nominated you after she said that she wasn’t going to?
Zach: I was very frustrated. Very, very frustrated. I will say this ‘cause I had seen the episode and what people said. The reason I did not use the power was not because I did not want to give Ava the $10,000. That was just in that moment, I was so frustrated, and that just kind of came out. That wasn’t the true reason. It really was to protect Morgan.
I was definitely thrown off. I was blindsided. I find out after the fact that it wasn’t fully her. You know, there were some other people at play, at work. And I was a bit surprised that Will was one of those people that did try and get me on the block. But there’s no hard feelings. It’s a game, at the end of the day. I love these people to death. I’m going to see them after the fact.
Will said he’s gonna FaceTime me when he gets to London. With his Chocolate Drop [Will’s nickname for his wife]. So I feel the same with Ava. I mean, she’s one of those people where whenever I fly out to New York, she’s gonna be one of the first people that I see. Her and Ashley. So, I’m very excited.
Sources: Zach Cornell/X, Big Brother/Instagram, Big Brother/Instagram, Big Brother/Instagram