In a shocking turn of events, Ashley Hollis was crowned the winner of Big Brother 27. She cut Morgan Pope at the final three after winning the final Head of Household competition, and took Vince Panaro with her.

Ashley only won a Veto in week one and the final HOH, so making it to the end was no easy feat. She attached herself to Rachel Reilly and Ciffton “Will” Williams. After making the Judges’ Alliance with Rachel, Will, Morgan, and Vince, Ashley aligned herself with players outside of it, like Keanu Soto and Ava Pearl in order to ensure her safety.

She knew taking Morgan to the final two, despite being her friend and ally all season, would give her second place. So, she took Vince instead and won in a six-to-one vote.

Ashley talked to TV Insider about winning the game, being a lawyer, and how she made it to the end.

Congratulations! How are you doing?

I am on cloud nine right now! So happy.

How confident were you coming into tonight to the finale?
Oh, my gosh, I wasn’t. I thought, “Oh, I have to compete against beast Morgan,” who was my best friend in the house, but let’s be real, she was the strongest competitor. She was a comp beast. She comped out towards the end of the game. And so I thought, “No way am I beating her in this competition.” But I knew I was going to give it my all. I was going to focus, and I was going to let God do what God does. And if it’s meant for me, it’s meant for me, and if it’s not, it wasn’t. And luckily, it was.

Were there any votes that surprised you? You won six to one, with just Morgan voting against you.

Yes, Lauren [Domingue]. Lauren’s vote shocked me just because her and Vince were very, very close the entire game, and Keanu [Soto], I was like, 50/50 on, I thought maybe I could get his vote, because he’s been trying to get Morgan out for a while, and I finally did it, and I made that move, and I made it happen. So I thought he’d respect that, but he and Vince had a very close relationship with the entire game as well, so I wasn’t sure. And then Kelley [Jorgenson] was my third surprise. I thought me and Kelley never really saw eye to eye necessarily in the house. We were friendly, but we weren’t each other’s favorite people in the house. I think Kelley’s a nice girl, but we just never got on. Maybe we’ll get on really well outside of the show, I don’t know. And so I wasn’t sure if she would vote for who she liked more, and I wasn’t sure who she did, because I knew she didn’t really like Vince, so I wasn’t sure where she would go. But they had a game working relationship for a lot of the game. So yeah, but Lauren was the vote I was the most surprised about.

So you were a lawyer in the Judges’ Alliance being voted on in a jury that can’t be lost on you.

I know it’s fate, right?

What’s the first thing that you think you’re gonna do with your winnings?

Oh my gosh, that’s a good question. Well, I’m gonna take my whole family out to dinner, for sure. I think I’m definitely gonna go on a trip, take my family on a trip, and then I think I’m gonna save. I’m a big saver. I don’t plan on living beyond my means. As a lawyer, I was very good with money, but I definitely think I’ll take care of my parents. I will give them a large chunk of my money, because they have given me the entire world. I mean, they would give the clothes off their back if it meant making me happy and propelling me in life. And so I want to give back in any way I can to them, in whatever way I can. So definitely that, and then probably buying a house eventually. I think use that money to invest. First, I’ve got to get a new job, but use that money to invest in a life, and I think also just sustain my life, my lifestyle, without having a job right now. So I quit my job for the show, but I’d love, I’d love to get into acting. I’d love to get into commercial modeling, or maybe doing what you’re doing, like a TV hosting gig or something. I would love to get into things like that, and be able to go on auditions and really go for my dreams, and so this money will allow me to do so. So I’m really excited.

Do you think not telling your house guests that you were an attorney helped or hurt your game?

Oh, I think it helped my game, because people in that house thought I was dumb. I mean, they thought I was slow, but it allowed them to spill a lot of valuable information for me that I was able to use and either weaponize or use to gain new allies in the game. So it worked out to my benefit, because people were always loose lips around me because they thought I didn’t really know what was going on and that I wasn’t playing the game when, in fact, I was playing it, since I walked in. So I think it worked to my benefit. I started to get a little worried towards the end, though. I remember Keanu, we had a conversation in the wine room, and he was basically saying, “You’re playing for second place because you’ve done nothing in this game. You have no alliances. You’re not with anyone.” Ever since Rachel left, I was thinking,
“That’s not true,” but if I hear things too soon that could also blow up my game. So I started to use my goodbye messages, and really utilize that as a tool to explain my game. So that way, if I made it to the end, I’d have to explain a little bit less.

So you just Keanu said you did nothing. You won a veto in week one and the final HOH.  What do you think got you that far in the game with only winning week one and then the end?

My social game, I would like to say it was very, very good. I was able to align myself with some of the biggest targets in the house. I was able to adapt in the game every single time a close ally of mine went home, which was a lot. I mean, Amy went home week two. Mickey went home, and Rachel went home at the very beginning of the jury. I was able to really attach myself to people to strong duos, to shield myself, and to also have outside allies, like even though I was in the Judges, I still had Ava [Pearl]. I had Keanu on the side. I had Lauren eventually wanting to work with me in a three-person alliance with Ava. So I was really able to continuously reposition myself in the game. And I think that’s what got me farther.

Did you ever consider taking Morgan into the final two to loyal to your alliance? Or were you always going to take Vince?

I was always going to take Vince. On an emotional level, I wanted to take Morgan because I knew how much this game meant to her, but also I knew what I came in here and my mission was, which was to win the game. And I knew my chances were not good next to certified competition beast, Morgan, who also had an impeccable social game as well. She ran a lot of vetos, HOHs, and controlled a lot of his game. So I thought that, if I took her, I’m basically guaranteeing myself second 75,000. If I take Vince, did I really think it was a toss-up?  That was me being nice. I thought I would win next to Vince, but I definitely didn’t think it’d be a landslide vote. I thought it’d be maybe four to three. And I was right, and I’m very glad that I trusted my gut and my instincts and my instinctswere right.

So you are now the fifth person of color to win in a row on Big Brother. What does that mean to you?

Oh my gosh. It means the world because I’ve been watching Big Brother for years, and I mean, people of color were actually usually some of the first people evicted in a lot of the seasons. They didn’t even really have a chance to make it far, and not necessarily having anything to do with race, that was just the circumstances that they were under. So it means a lot being in this winner’s circle with these incredible legends, and also to make my community proud, and to show that we can play this game and we can win this game. And I hope I inspire any and all people of color, regardless of race, everybody, they can accomplish their dreams. And I think representation is so important, and CBS does a really, really great job at having people of all races and all colors in all of their series and TV shows. And I think it really just showed the young kids at home that if someone that looks like me is on there, I can do it too. I think that’s what’s the most important thing about diversity and representation is inspiring other people to fill your shoes. So it’s really a blessing. I feel extremely honored, and I’m extremely grateful that CBS put me on here, and I won the game. I can’t believe it.

Big Brother, streaming, Paramount+