Tate Wins Celebrity Big Brother

Former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate won Season 3 of Celebrity Big Brother (CBB) on CBS, beating out dancer/singer Todrick Hall in the reality show final by a vote of 7-1. The victory sent “Cupcake” home with the $250,000 grand prize.

Tate, 35, became the first athlete to win the whole enchilada during her record-setting run, snagging four “Head of Household” competitions as well as two “Power of Veto” challenges, cementing herself among the all-time best players in any version of the program.

“I love to set records. Nothing fuels the fire more than then smashing glass ceilings and setting records. So that is music to my ears,” Tate told Parade.com. “I did believe going into the game that it’s rare for someone like me to win. And I thought that my best strategy going in was to be so honest that people knew exactly where I was going to be. And build trust with people, even people who were not in my alliance. Because if I could be straightforward, that may have some value. It may take the heat off of me a little bit.”

In addition to outlasting Hall, Tate defeated NBA star Lamar Odom, TV personality Teddi Mellencamp, former Miss USA Shanna Moakler, style guru Carson Kressley, Real Housewives star Cynthia Bailey, Olympic ice-skater Mirai Nagasu, NSYNC singer Chris Kirkpatrick, Diff’rent Strokes actor Todd Bridges, and Saturday Night Live alumnus Chris Kattan.

“And if for no other reason, as the game went on, to intimidate the crap out of people, I was like, ‘I am coming for you,” Tate continued. “‘And I will tell you when I’m coming for you just so you don’t sleep tonight. I’m going to tell you right now so that you lose sleep. And when that next mental comp comes like you’re a little groggy, you’re a little tired because you know I’m coming for you.’ So it was part of my strategy was to be big, bold, honest, and let everyone see that. Here I am; I’m already a target; I don’t have a choice. So I might as well embrace it and make them fear me a little bit.”

Tate (19-8), no stranger to reality show programs after her stint on The Ultimate Fighter (TUF), is expected to make her 125-pound debut opposite flyweight veteran Lauren Murphy at the upcoming UFC “Fight Night” event on May 14 at the promotion’s APEX facility in Las Vegas, Nevada.