Although Felicia Cannon and Cirie Fields were linked together as the two moms of the Big Brother 25 house, it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows between the two.
We’re rapidly approaching the finale of the 100-day reality competition battle for $750,000, but both women are out of the running. Cirie, a four-time Survivor player and winner of The Traitors US, was sent to Jury in fifth place during week 13’s live eviction episode. And Felicia, a real estate agent and the second oldest contestant in Big Brother US history at 63, followed Cirie out the door the next week, placing fourth overall.
Cirie and Felicia forged an alliance right at the start of the season, but it was a turbulent relationship and both players weren’t fully loyal to the other. Cirie attempted to eliminate Felicia in week 6 when she sat in an eviction chair opposite Cirie’s closer ally, Izzy Gleicher. But, the house flipped on Izzy and Felicia stayed instead.
The same sort of thing happened when Felicia was nominated alongside her closest ally, Mecole Hayes, in week 9. But, “Meme” was ultimately voted out instead of “Mama Fe.”
With few allies remaining in the game, Cirie tried to garner trust with Felicia the next week by electing to remain on the chopping block when they were nominated together by Bowie Jane Ball. Jag Bains won the Power of Veto and a backdoor plan was put into place to oust Cameron Hardin. So, Felicia was saved and Cameron joined Cirie under the guillotine until the “Space Cowboy” was evicted unanimously.
Cirie’s offer to reside on the block wasn’t enough to fully win Felicia back over, however. In week 12, Felicia spent days throwing Cirie under the bus by telling the other houseguests her secrets — some real, and some fabricated and misrepresented. Cirie eventually became aware of Felicia’s campaign to sink her ship and she countered Felicia with her own line of fact and fiction, but none of it actually mattered in the end.
The two survived the double eviction later that week but, because they couldn’t secure a competition win, they were the next two out.
Felicia believes outing her end-game pact with Cirie was a big part of their up-and-down alliance
Felicia was voted out by Jag on Nov. 5, and she spoke with Parade the next day about her 94-day stint inside the Big Brother 25 abode. She was asked about her relationship with Cirie, and Felicia said that although they connected on day one and were in several named alliances together, like the “Brown Sugar Babes” and “The Professors,” she believed she lost Cirie’s loyalty when it got back to the Survivor icon that she spilled the beans about their final two pact.
Unbeknownst to the other houseguests (besides Izzy), Cirie entered the game alongside her son, Jared Fields. And when Felicia told Jared about her deal with Cirie earlier in the game, her son inevitably reported back.
However, Felicia went on to say that even before that incident, Cirie began “undermining” her game even though in her eyes, they maintained a tight friendship throughout.
“I’m not sure why that started. But we did still genuinely have a friendship that went outside of the game. And I could tell that that was real. So I had to really work hard to separate game and true human friendship. I do believe Cirie is a wonderful person. And again, I do look forward to meeting her outside of the house and being friends with her outside of the house where we can just be completely ourselves without strategy. But, yeah, it was a lot to maneuver. Like I said, I learned off and on throughout the game that she was feeding information that wasn’t true with regards to me. And so that that kind of was hurtful. But I realized that was her gameplay, and so I had to just not take it personally. And I would be down for a couple of days; I’d go silent for a couple of days. But I always came back in, because I actually liked her as a person outside of the game.”
Cirie had a much harsher take on Felicia
A week before Felicia’s exit interviews, Cirie ran the gamut. And when asked by Parade‘s Mike Bloom about Felicia, the 53-year-old surgical director didn’t pull any punches. Interestingly, Cirie claimed Felicia was “undermining” her, the same word Mama Fe used to describe Cirie’s actions.
“Felicia knew everything. And regardless of what experience I had, or what information I had from those experiences actually living them, Felicia still knew more about it than I did. So it was kind of like pick your poison. Do I want to fight this fight with Felicia over how I make my bacon that I’ve been making for 30 years? Or do I just want to let it go?
Cirie also said that Felicia was constantly betraying her and even though she tried to be a good friend, their relationship was the possible catalyst for her downfall.
Regardless, once the dust settles and Big Brother 25 officially wraps on Nov. 9, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the moms bury the hatchet. They shared a lot of fun moments together in the house, including when they were stuck in a kayak together for days.