‘Big Brother 17’ Season Finale: Host Julie Chen Talks Final Three, Winner Announced!

A victor of "Big Brother 17" was crowned Wednesday night and no, Vanessa Rousso did not take the title despite some rumors claiming that the show was rigged so that the master manipulator would win. Instead, Steve Moses walked away with the grand prize of $500,000.

In the season finale, Steve trusted his gut and eliminated Vanessa after he won the final Head of Household competition. The jury then selected the winner from the final two between Steve and Liz Nolan. Even though Liz had Austin in the jury, he was not able to conjure enough votes to name her the winner. As runner-up, Liz did win $50,000 whereas Vanessa walked away with nothing.

"How many people are here because of Vanessa's influence?" former player Will Kirby asked the jury in finale. In "How many of you have ever felt personally victimized by Regina George?"

James Huling, who was eliminated in the double eviction a few weeks ago, won the America's Favorite Player prize of $25,000.

Host Julie Chen sat down with Entertainment Weekly to talk about the finale and why she thought the jury made the right decision in picking Steve over Liz.

"I think they did make the right decision in picking Steve. He did it all on his own with no real friends there to help him or watch his back. And he was always strategizing in his head and talking game to himself. He was not asleep at the wheel. Way to go, Steve!" Chen said before revealing that she would have "no doubt" picked Vanessa over Steve if they were in the final two.

"Vanessa has the serious gift of persuasion," Chen said. "She is an excellent BS-er. She knew how to prey on people's weaknesses. She saw the twins were weak in their confidence of having a firm grasp on the game and she zeroed in on that as a good Jedi Knight would."

"Big Brother 18," which will take place in the spring of 2016, has started casting.