Big Brother’s Janelle Pierzina Weighs In on Zach’s ‘Dumb’ Veto Move

It doesn’t take a Big Brother legend to know that Zach Cornell should have used his secret veto power to keep himself safe this week, but that didn’t stop Janelle Pierzina from weighing in on the most shocking move of Big Brother 27 so far.

“It’s a pretty dumb move,” Janelle, 45, told Us Weekly exclusively on Wednesday, August 13, the day before Zach’s eviction, as part of her partnership with GamblingSites.com.

On the season’s opening night, Zach, 27, won $10,000 as part of a competition. What his fellow houseguests didn’t know is that the money also functioned like a second Power of Veto. It came with the option of trading it at any point with the current Head of Household in exchange for taking himself off of the nomination block.

So when Zach found himself nominated for eviction in week 5, many assumed that if he did not win the Power of Veto competition, he would offer HoH Ava Pearl the money and buy his safety. Only, Katherine Woodman won the veto and decided not to use it, and Zach kept himself on the chopping block anyway.

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When he failed to win the BB Block Buster competition on Thursday, August 14, his fellow houseguests voted him out 8-2.

“I think he’s just feeling so safe because he’s got all these alliances and all these women, you know, that are kind of with him or whatever,” Janelle continued. “So he’s thinking, ‘Let’s roll the dice. Maybe I can use it next week if I don’t win power.’”

Zach Cornell CBS

While Big Brother fans panned Zach’s decision, pointing to Marcellas Reynolds’ similar blunder in Big Brother 3 as a warning, Janelle had some sympathy for the marketing manager and former baseball player.

“I know the fans are like, ‘That is so stupid,’ and I agree the correct move would be to get yourself safety because you’re on the block,” she said. “You don’t know if it’s a bad move until it’s all the way behind you.”

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While this has been a season full of strategic blunders, even before Zach’s fatal error, Janelle understands the paranoia that runs rampant through the Big Brother house — even when it leads to the Head of Household targeting one of their own allies.

She pointed to former HoH Mickey Lee spearheading ally Jimmy Heagerty’s eviction the prior week, saying the situation “struck home with me” because her alliance was in a similar position in her first season, Big Brother 6.

Big Brother historians will remember it. Janelle wasn’t the HoH that week, but her close ally Howie Gordon was, and he was convinced to target James Rhine in what is still viewed as one of the worst moves by an HoH in the show’s history.

“When you’re on a newbie season and you don’t understand [your alliance member’s] game, it can be scary to hear that they are creating other alliances,” she said. “So I can see why Mickey would do that. I don’t, obviously, agree with it, but I can see it so easily happening.”

Big Brother airs on CBS on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays at 8 p.m. ET. Fans can watch live feeds from the house anytime on Paramount+.