By John Powell – GlobalTV.com

One of the keystones of the Big Brother game is that there can be no unauthorized contact from the outside world. No phone calls. No letters. No videos. Unless Big Brother permits it, of course.

When Hope admitted to some of the other houseguests and later to Big Brother that he was in possession of a letter from his girlfriend, a letter from home. The letter made its way in after Hope was already in the house through additional clothing from home. The breach of the rules touched off a firestorm of accusations, recriminations and eventually an abdication.

Things touched off when Hope won the Power of Veto and broke away from his allies Zach and Ty. Despite pressure from them he refused to remain vulnerable by leaving himself on the block.

“Why are you so down? This is what you wanted. To pull yourself off the block,” said Ty to a downcast Hope.

“I wanted my moment,” answered Hope.

Ty, Zach and Dan then decided to use the information Hope had given them about his girlfriend’s letter against him by alerting Big Brother of the violation.

“When do we make the move? I am telling you, waiting too long is a mistake. If he goes now they have one less number,” Zach told Ty and Dan in the storage room.

Zach then suggested if their demands aren’t met that they should all walk out of the game and the house.

Zach was called into the Diary Room to explain the situation.

“Hope snuck a letter in from the outside world and he has been carrying it around and he has been looking at it,” said Zach admitting that he became aware of it a week previous.

Hope was later questioned by Big Brother and admitted to not informing Big Brother of the letter and in turn violating the rules.

“Yes, I didn’t bring it up because I thought I would get into trouble,” he said sheepishly turning over the letter.

While the issue was being addressed in the diary room, Zach, Ty and Dan mocked Hope from the kitchen.

The trio’s strategy infuriated some of the other houseguests who thought it was an underhanded move.

“Cheating is cheating,” Ty argued to Kuzie.

“That isn’t cheating. You are saying it gave him some advantage,” she argued back.

“It could have,” said Ty speaking about the letter’s potential great emotional value in the house.

“The way you have played is so freaking dirty,” Kuzie fired back contending that the trio purposely waited to use the information to their advantage.

“You are saying that because your plan is falling apart,” he responded.

Eventually, Big Brother rendered a verdict.

“As you all know, a letter from the outside world found its way into the house without Big Brother’s knowledge or approval. As per the show rules you all agreed to, all houseguests are forbidden from having any contact from the outside world and any prohibited items in the house should be brought to Big Brother’s attention immediately,” host, executive producer Arisa Cox announced to the house.

Hope was stripped of his vote for this week’s eviction and he couldn’t play in the next HoH competition. All the rest of the houseguests were then given their letters from home to “even the playing field”.

Big Brother’s decision didn’t sit well with Zach though.

“His vote doesn’t count this week,” said Ty to Zach in the storage room.

“It doesn’t matter. Either way, his vote wasn’t the difference. They (the producers) just allowed him to cheat. Bro, we’ve got to walk,” Zach insisted.

In a last ditch effort to rally the votes Zach, Ty and Dan reached out to Shanaya and Claudia. When they didn’t bite, Zach decided to self-evict. Ty, after rereading his letter from home, decided to stay.

In light of Zach’s departure Big Brother has cancelled this week’s eviction.

Next week will be Whodunit Week in the house.

“It all starts with our next Head of Household competition: The Inheritance. It is unlike anything we have ever done here on the show. Absolutely anyone can win it. The houseguests will be faced with the ultimate dilemma. More power or more money? And get this, everything in our Whodunit Week will be anonymous,” announced Cox.

You can watch Big Brother Canada episodes here and the latest Digital Dailies here.

Big Brother Canada airs:

Tuesdays at 7 PM EST
Wednesday at 9 PM EST
Thursday at 7 PM EST