'Big Brother 27' Winner Ashley Hollis on How She Pulled Off the Season’s Biggest Upset (Exclusive)
Ashley Hollis came into finale night of Big Brother season 27 confident and ready. The 25-year-old attorney from New York City had been rehearsing her jury speech for days, determined to make the most of her shot. While fellow finalist Vince Panaro spent the final stretch spiraling after his loss to her in Part 2 of the final HOH competition, Hollis stayed focused — and it paid off.
After defeating Morgan Pope, the season’s "competition beast,” in the final HOH, Ashley made the bold decision to evict her biggest competition. She chose to sit next to Vince, delivering a stellar performance in the jury Q&A that earned her a 6–1 win and the $750,000 prize.
“I feel incredible,” Ashley exclusively tells Men's Journal right after her big win. “I feel like this is the true underdog arc, and I honestly am on cloud nine. I can’t believe it. It doesn’t feel real.”
The most emotional moment of Ashley's victory came when she had to send Morgan packing. “She was my best friend in the house, which made it hard,” Hollis says. “There wasn’t real hesitance — it was more about having to say the words out loud in front of her. But I knew what I had to do. I felt like I could win next to Vince, and I couldn’t beat Morgan.”
Even Morgan respected the decision. “She’s extremely caring and kind and loyal and a ride or die,” Ashley tells MJ. “She was loyal to her allies until the end, and I knew cutting her was the only way to win.”
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When it came time to face the jury, Ashley flipped the switch on her persona in the house. “I was back to attorney Ashley before the show, and I felt like I could win the game,” she explains. “I wanted every single vote. I don’t care if I already had some — I wanted everyone to see I deserved to win.”
Ashley says one of the biggest surprises of the night was getting Lauren Domingue’s vote. “Lauren and Vince were extremely close the entire game, so I was shocked,” she says. “And Keanu [Soto]'s was 50/50. My whole strategy was for people to underestimate me — to think I was a little ditzy so they’d tell me information I could use as a weapon. It worked, but I worried I leaned too hard into the Elle Woods thing.”
In the end, her preparation and delivery trumped anything Vince could articulate in his speech. Ashley secured six jury votes, with only Morgan casting her ballot for her No. 1 ally.
Now, the aspiring actor is ready to celebrate, but also thinking about the future. “I definitely want to invest in property,” she tells MJ. “I’ll take my family on a vacation, and I want to give a chunk of money to my parents. They’ve been there for me my entire life. They would give anything to champion my dreams, so if I can give back just a little, I’m going to do it.”
And she’s open to a return to the game. “I would absolutely play again,” Ashley says. “If there’s an All-Star season, I’m there. I’d love to play with some of the legends and really get my feet wet from the beginning.”
For now, Ashley is basking in her unlikely but well-earned victory: “I’m so happy. This really was the underdog story — but I knew I had to be prepared, and it worked.”