‘Celebrity Big Brother’ Winner Tamar Braxton Explains Which Jury Vote Surprised Her The Most

Celebrity Big Brother Season 2 has come to a close, and a new winner has been crowned. As the Inquisitr previously reported, singer and reality star Tamar Braxton was selected by her fellow houseguests to take home the $250,000 prize. The vote was unanimous in Tamar’s favor over former football player Ricky Williams. Once Tamar made it to the final two, she seemed to have the upper hand over Ricky — based on relationships that all the roommates had formed over the season.

A few votes for Tamar surprised viewers, especially those from Tom Green and Kato Kaelin — both of whom had shared verbal altercations with the Braxton Family Values star toward the end of their respective stints in the house. Ricky was an even bigger “enemy” of Tom and Kato’s, and likely the reason they threw their votes in Tamar’s direction.

However, it wasn’t Tom and Kato’s votes that surprised Tamar. When speaking with Entertainment Weekly shortly after her victory, she let fans in on which vote made her jaw drop.

“You know whose vote surprised me? It was Joe [Joey Lawrence]. And that’s because before he left the house, he and Ricky really did bond. And, I was kind of the reason why Joe left the house because I wanted to keep Kandi safe. And so, I thought that he was going to vote for Rick. And so I’m elated. I can’t believe it. I just can’t believe it.”

Joey had absolutely no bad blood with Tamar in the house, but the two didn’t form as strong of a bond with one another as they did with other roommates. The Blossom actor had said from the beginning that it was only one houseguest’s journey to make it to the end, and he appeared to be right when the vote was 9-0.

Kandi Burruss’s vote for Tamar was no surprise after the former frenemies mended fences during their time in the house. Lolo Jones’s vote for Tamar was also expected as she had just been evicted by Ricky several minutes prior to the final vote. Dina Lohan had also just been evicted by Ricky, and she voted for her friend Tamar without hesitation.

Natalie Eva Marie had to choose between two former alliance members — and while she didn’t explain why she voted the way that she did, it’s likely she was remaining loyal to her ride-or-die friend, Lolo, who had just been given the ax by Ricky.

Big Brother Season 21 will return this June, with Julie Chen hosting.