Entertainment

This Possible ‘BB20’ Showmance Had A Controversial Beginning

by Rebecca Patton
Monty Brinton/CBS

With the numbers slowly dwindling on Big Brother 20, it's only natural that friendships would be tested and confrontations would have to be made. Sam, the current HOH, is the latest candidate to make enemies in the house. On Sunday's installment, the Virginian welder had called out Kaitlyn and Haleigh for being too handsy with the men in the house. So when Sam and Fessy flirted on BB20 during Wednesday night's episode, audiences called out the HOH for her hypocritical actions.

To recap, on Sunday night's episode, Sam made a somewhat controversial choice when she nominated Kaitlyn and Haleigh for eviction. She chose them, she said, because the competitors' flirty actions were the opposite of female empowerment. Obviously, audiences — not to mention Haleigh and Kaitlyn themselves — were upset by what they perceived to be slut-shaming comments.

The Virginian clearly has a different view of female empowerment than some of her fellow houseguests — in fact, the current HOH admitted to being old-fashioned. "I don't get by batting my eyelashes and or asking for hugs," she said in a DR interview. "I command and demand respect because I give it." However, Sam wasn't commanding much respect from fans on Wednesday's episode.

Here's what went down: Presumably in an attempt to get on Sam's good side after her eviction nominations, Fessy got touchy with her during their one-on-one chat. She was clearly into it and made no moves to stop his advances. "You make me so happy, Fessy," she told him, laughing. While there's nothing expressly wrong with the HOH getting handsy with the substitute teacher, it was bizarre to see her change her tune so quickly.

Earlier in the episode, Kaitlyn and Haleigh were in tears over Sam's harsh words, and yet she turned around and did exactly what she criticized them for. "I have no problem with Fessy but when he was trying to get on Sam's good side by using cuddling and physical affection in the Hoh room I was screaming," Reddit user cupcake_catastrophe said. "Sam just called out the girls for using the same tactic and here is Sam helping herself to extra large helpings of smash hugs and hypocrisy. Why isn't she calling out Fessy and telling him to respect himself if that's really how she feels about flirtatious gameplay."

Bikinigirlout likewise said on the Big Brother subreddit, "Haleigh is a 21 year old college student who isn’t allowed to flirt but it’s okay for [Sam] to flirt with Fessy? Kudos to Haleigh for being able to hold herself together." Indeed, the youngest houseguest held her composure this week — even when she and Fessy argued about whether he would choose her if he won the veto.

Also, did Sam put Kaitlyn and Haleigh up for eviction because she was jealous of their close relationship with Fessy? The substitute teacher is often seen spooning with, hugging, or otherwise touching one of the two women. Perhaps Sam just had the hots for him and was upset that they got the bulk of Fessy's attention. Whatever the case, it will be interesting to see if Sam realizes her hypocrisy as the season progresses.

Something else to think about: Fessy is also at fault here, but he's not getting any flak for being a casanova. The fact remains that he's flirted with three different women now on Big Brother. If anyone should be called out for his/her provocative actions, it should be him. In the previous episode, Sam said that manipulating people with touch is the cheapest sort of gameplay. However, it looks like Fessy is the master, easing tension situations with his tree-trunk biceps.

As for the rest of the episode, Fessy ultimately won the power of veto and decided to save Haleigh from eviction instead of Kaitlyn. In doing so, he made enemies with the life coach, who is now furious with him. One love triangle has finally ended, but has another one just begun?