“Big Brother”’s Haley Thogmartin Shares How She Really Feels About Getting Eliminated in Surprise Twist (Exclusive)

Lily BrownThu, September 3, 2026 at 7:33 PM UTC

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Haley Thogmartin on ‘Big Brother’Credit: CBS -

Haley Thogmartin was eliminated during a surprise medieval-themed twist following Big Brother’s 1,000th episode

She tells PEOPLE the hardest part of her exit was not getting to say goodbye to her fellow houseguests

Thogmartin also reveals who she’s rooting for as the season continues

Haley Thogmartin knew to “expect the unexpected” on Big Brother, but that didn’t necessarily mean she wanted to go out in the way she did.

The Big Brother 28 houseguest, 29, was eliminated in a surprise twist following the show’s 1,000th episode after a medieval-themed string of competitions.

Instead of a traditional Head of Household competition or Power of Veto, the remaining houseguests competed in a series of challenges, with the final winner getting to decide who went home. After Dee Valladares won the first safety competition, she chose to save fellow Survivor star Rick Devens and send competitors Drew Campbell and Thogmartin into the next challenge. And after a saga of frustrating losses for Thogmartin, fellow houseguest Yash Patel won the final competition and chose to eliminate her.

“I mean, ‘expect the unexpected.’ We knew there was going to be some twist going on,” Thogmartin tells PEOPLE. “I would like to have gone out the traditional way.”

Haley Thogmartin on ‘Big Brother’Credit: CBS

While Thogmartin may have preferred a more familiar eviction, she says the hardest part wasn’t necessarily how she lost the game. “Not being able to say goodbye to some of the people that you were close with in the house was probably the hardest part because I did feel like I had some really strong, good connections with people,” she says. “And just to kind of give them that encouragement of like, ‘Hey, you got this. Keep going. You know, you only have a couple weeks left.’ I think that was just hard.”

Still, Thogmartin says she’s proud of how she “fought hard,” even with the unexpected twist. As one of 17 houseguest who entered the Big Brother house in July, she acknowledges that she struggled at times to separate her emotions from the game itself this summer.

Even when her side of the house was in power, she would often say she was having a tough time. “It had nothing to do with the game. I had a hard time separating the emotional and the mental aspects of the game,” she now explains. “I just took a lot of things personally, so, for me, it was definitely a me thing.”

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She adds, “I know we were in power, but there were just a lot of things that I just was trying to navigate through. I just didn’t feel like I could find my footing for the longest time.”

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Haley Thogmartin on ‘Big Brother’Credit: CBS

As for who she wants to see take home the $750,000 prize, Thogmartin is rooting for Devens, 42, praising his social game. “I think that he has played the best personal game. He has done so well socially.... He’s also not scared to shake things up. I just have a lot of respect for him, so I hope he pulls it out.”

Since her exit, Thogmartin has been reconnecting with her family and former houseguests as she adjusts to life in the real world. Now out of sequester, she’s aware that houseguest and drag performer Jason De Puy had impersonated her after his own eviction, and while she hadn’t seen him in his Haley drag quite yet, she’s willing to give him credit for any performance. “Honestly, he is such a unique and fun individual. He’s a character, and he’s awesome. He truly is one of the most unique people I’ve ever met,” she says. “And his drag stuff is amazing, so I give him nothing but praise.”

And then there’s her nickname. While Thogmartin was in reality TV isolation, fans and the show began referring to her “Thog,” a shortened version of her last name. As it turns out, the nickname is one she was given by just about “every coach” throughout her life, as she knows her last name is a “mouthful.”

“I just kind of thought it was funny,” she says of the nickname making its way to Big Brother.

Big Brother airs on Sundays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on CBS, with Big Brother: Unlocked airing Fridays at 8 p.m. Episodes stream the next day on Paramount+.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”