Every season, future Big Brother houseguests tell us how much they have studied the game, but maybe the Big Brother exit is one part of the experience they should be studying too. They have watched old seasons, learned the competitions and studied alliances, blindsides, backdoors and jury management. Some have spent years imagining exactly what they would do if they ever walked through those doors.
Maybe there is one more thing future players should study: the Big Brother exit interviews. Because Big Brother eventually ends, and some of the comments we’ve heard after evictions this season are a pretty good reminder that how you leave the game can matter too.
Look, we get it. Put somebody inside a house for weeks or months, take away their phone, separate them from their family and friends, surround them with people who are lying to them, and then put $750,000 on the line. Tempers are going to flare. People are going to say things they regret. Someone you love on Tuesday might be the person you can’t stand on Wednesday. A nomination can feel personal. A betrayal can feel enormous. And when you are living inside that house, Big Brother probably starts feeling like the entire world.
Then suddenly Julie Chen Moonves tells you that you’ve been evicted, you walk out the door, and people immediately want to know what you think about the people you just spent months living with. We get it, but maybe that’s exactly why future players should pay attention to what happens next.
You can criticize the game without making every Big Brother exit personal
Nobody wants boring Big Brother exit interviews. PLEASE. If somebody destroyed your game, tell us. Think somebody made a terrible move? Say it. And when someone betrays you after promising you Final 2, we absolutely want to hear about it. If you’re furious, be furious.
But there’s a difference between criticizing someone’s Big Brother game and reducing the person themselves to an insult. We’ve seen some of that line get blurry this season.
While speaking with Parade after her eviction, Lala was asked to give rapid-fire descriptions of the remaining houseguests. She described Dee as “maniacal,” called Drew a “weasel” and took a shot at Melody’s inability to win competitions.
Now, context absolutely matters. Lala was specifically being asked to give quick reactions to everyone. This wasn’t an unsolicited five-minute speech attacking her former housemates, but it’s still a good example of something future contestants might want to remember. Those words don’t disappear when you leave the house.
Yash actually showed us the other side of a Big Brother exit
Yash had plenty of frustration with Drew during his time in the game, and he didn’t exactly become president of the Drew Campbell Fan Club after leaving. While speaking with Parade, Yash was asked for his rapid-fire thoughts about the remaining players. His description of Drew was certainly memorable: “Spineless. Period.”
Ouch. But here’s where we think Yash also provided an important lesson. Despite his anger over the game, he distinguished between Drew the Big Brother player and Drew as a person outside those strategic battles, and THAT is really what we’re talking about.
You can think somebody played a terrible game or lied too much. Maybe you believe they betrayed you or that their HOH was one of the worst you’ve ever witnessed. None of those things automatically make somebody a bad person.
Melody’s Big Brother exit interview had plenty to say
Then we have Melody and Drew. Oh boy. We’ve already had some fun with this one.
In an interview published by AOL, Melody said Drew ultimately has to be considered a great player because of how far he made it, but she also said portions of his game were difficult for her to respect and questioned whether he had a backbone.
While speaking with Parade, Melody also acknowledged that she wanted Drew out of the house multiple times and had considered voting him out. She said he made her angry and hurt her game at points, and yet there is another side to their relationship.
Speaking with TV Insider, Melody acknowledged that Drew was her closest ally, never nominated her and never voted her out. She explained that despite feeling betrayed by some of his actions, she still wanted to remain loyal to him.
That’s important context. We can disagree with Melody’s assessment of Drew’s game. Lord knows we’ve already done that. But Melody has also made clear in her interview with TV Insider that she likes Drew personally and wants a friendship with him outside the house. In other words, things aren’t always as simple as one spicy quote makes them sound.
Angela wasn’t exactly leaving quietly either
When Angela left the house, she had some strong opinions about what Barrett had done to his game. Speaking with Parade about Barrett putting the three returning Icons on the block, Angela said she believed he had opened the “door to hell” and predicted the move could ultimately cost him the $750,000 prize.
That’s certainly strong language, but it’s also much more clearly criticism of a game move, and that’s an important distinction. Angela believed Barrett had made a catastrophic strategic decision. She said so. Then Barrett eventually followed her to jury.
Whether somebody agrees with her analysis or not, that’s the kind of post-game criticism we have no problem with. Tell us why somebody’s move was terrible. That’s Big Brother.
Dee’s exit interview brought another perspective
Dee certainly didn’t leave the game without opinions either. While speaking with Parade, Dee discussed the advantages that came with being one of the returning reality-TV players, the powers that affected the season and the targets the returning players carried simply because everyone already knew who they were.
When the subject turned to those powers, Dee’s response included the memorable line, “Blame America if you want to!” Some of those comments had us pushing back, and that’s okay too.
Because we’re not saying former houseguests suddenly have to become emotionless the moment they walk out the door. We’re saying something much simpler: remember that you’re walking back into the real world.
Maybe the Final 3 deserve a little credit
And here’s something that has stood out to us as Big Brother 28 winds down. For all the criticism we’ve thrown at Taylor, Devens and especially our Mr. 48 Lives himself, Drew, the three remaining houseguests haven’t spent the endgame simply taking personal shots at everyone who left.
Have tempers flared this season? Of course. Have they gotten angry with people? Absolutely. Have they criticized other people’s games and questioned moves? It’s Big Brother. Of course they have. And there have undoubtedly been moments when one of them couldn’t stand another person in that house. We get it.
You can hate somebody’s guts at 2 p.m. in the Big Brother house and be eating dinner with them at 7. That’s what happens when you’re living inside a pressure cooker, but there’s something to be said for remembering that those feelings don’t necessarily have to follow you forever.
Exit interviews don’t tell the whole story
This might be the biggest thing future contestants should remember: you don’t have the live feeds. We do. You don’t know every conversation or who defended you when you weren’t in the room. The person you think betrayed you might have actually saved your game three weeks earlier, while your closest ally could have been lying to you since Day 3.
And sometimes you don’t learn the truth until you’re home watching everything back.
Melody is actually a perfect example. She acknowledged to Parade that she wanted Drew out at various points. Yet Drew ultimately voted to keep her at Final 5.
Inside that house, your perception is your reality. Outside? Suddenly you get receipts.
Nobody expects perfect behavior
And we certainly don’t. We don’t want Big Brother contestants walking around terrified to say anything controversial because somebody on social media might get angry. That would be awful television.
Argue. Fight. Make ridiculous alliances. Break them 48 hours later. Get angry because somebody ate your food. Tell your closest ally you never want to speak to them again and then make up before bedtime. Give us Big Brother.
But when the game ends, maybe take a second before turning game frustration into something genuinely personal. Because once you walk through that front door, the person you’ve spent three months calling your enemy isn’t your enemy anymore. They’re somebody who played a television game with you.
Future houseguests, study the Big Brother exit too
That’s really our point. If you’re lucky enough to become a future Big Brother houseguest and you’re studying old seasons, don’t stop at competition statistics and voting charts. Study the winners, the blindsides and jury management. Look at how people destroyed their own games, and maybe spend a little time studying the Big Brother exit interviews and what happens when somebody walks out the door.
Because unless you win the final HOH and earn one of those Final 2 chairs, chances are you’re eventually going to hear that your game is over. You might be furious, feel betrayed or still be trying to understand what happened. Say what you want about the game. Just remember that the game isn’t real life.
Eventually the cameras stop rolling. Everybody gets their phones back. Families reunite. Former enemies discover they actually like each other. People learn things happened inside the house that they knew absolutely nothing about, and suddenly that person you couldn’t stand three weeks ago is sitting next to you at a finale party laughing about the whole thing.
Maybe that’s one final Big Brother move worth studying: knowing when to leave the game inside the house. And judging by some of this season’s Big Brother exit interviews, future houseguests might want to add that one to their notebooks.
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