Mike – Big Brother

By starrymag | February 21, 2014

Q.  Since we got to see you last on the show, what’s been going on?

A.  I went right from the finale to New York City on The View.  Rosie O’Donnell raked me over the coals.  I went with Janelle and Erika, she is very pro women.  She was very rude to me but I went and did that and came back last night.  I had a party at Dulce, lots of the other house guests are in town as well as past house guests.  I haven’t slept much.

Q.  Have you been keeping since we got to see you on your season?

A.  I’ve been opening up my restaurants and still acting here and there.  I’ve been staying very busy, I have five restaurants now and I’m opening a few more in Atlanta next month.  I keep pretty busy! 

Q.  Was your speech to the jury something you planned out or was it off the cuff?

A.  I thought a lot about the speech to the jury.  I knew that I had an advantage but I thought if I had a good speech I could gain a vote or two.  I knew that Erika was not the best public speaker and that I was.  I think ultimately made the difference! 

Q.  Erika said you convinced her to even be on the show!

A.  Yeah, she was having some second thoughts.  I knew she would make a great addition to the show, I wasn’t even sure I would make it.  I knew that she would and I just really encouraged her to be a part of it.  Ultimately, I don’t think she’s really happy with the experience but hopefully she’ll feel better about it later and gain some acceptance for it. 

Q.  With being friends, is that part of why you chose her over Janelle for the finals?

A.  I knew it would be hard for the other house guests to get past the fact that Janelle had won so many competitions.  I felt like it would be very tough to beat Janelle in the finals.  I knew that if I evicted Janelle, she would still vote for me.  So, that was my opinion, if I sent Janelle to the jury I could get her vote.  I knew I would have Will’s vote, I figured I’d get Howie’s vote.  I knew I would have a really good head start on the jury. 

Q.  Even with Howie being ticked off at you?

A.  What’s funny is we spent so much time just laughing and having a good time.  I knew he wasn’t going to let that one minute taint our experience.  At the end of the day Howie respects the game and is a true All Star unlike Marcellas.  He voted for the best player, I knew that it would. 

Q.  That seems kind of funny since Howie has been known for his immaturity.  I figured he’d definitely hold a grudge. 

A.  I thought there was a chance he wouldn’t vote for me and I was concerned about that.  At the end of the day, Howie is a true All Star and he set his feelings aside and voted for the best player.  I respect him a lot. 

Q.  What made you want to return to the show?  Were you just aching for the All Star crown?

A.  Yeah, I wanted to prove to not only myself, but to the network, the producers and America that I could be good at this game.  I liken myself a bit to Boston Rob from “Survivor.”  In that he went out pretty early in his original season but he was incredible on All Stars.  I wanted to show people I could be good at this game.  I didn’t necessarily think about winning, but I thought about going far in the game.  I made it happen!

Q.  What was the hardest question you were asked by the jury and who was it from?

A.  I thought the most intense question was from Danielle.  She said you said you’d be my Jason and Jason would have never done that to me.  I think that was not only the most intense question, but it was my best answer.  In me saying, if I go home and I’m the only Jason I see on the tapes, then I’ll give you half the money.  She had a few Jason’s working and it was satisfying, I knew I would do very well with the question and answer portion of the jury.  I handled myself very well and I think they respected that, that’s why I got their votes.  She’s straight forward, that’s the way I wanted to handle her and I did.

Q.  Do you have any regrets from the game?

A.  No, I think maybe my one minor regret would be that I wish I had intervened with Erika and Janelle and try to get Will to be able to stay.  That would be my one regret.  I think it would have been tough for me to beat him in the end because people would have voted based on his past reputation.  Not necessarily the way he played this year, I think he played better five years ago.  He played about the same, but five years ago I think there was more pressure because his back was against the wall every week. 

Q.  You said Rosie bashed you, but do you think women will have a hard time trusting you in the future?

A.  You have to understand, it was an edited television show.  A lot of mean things I said were in the twenty-four hours after Janelle and Erika evicted Will.  I am not ashamed of anything I did, I have no regrets and it’s a television show.  My actions speak louder than words, I was always loyal to Erika.  People can’t really judge me.

Q.  What was the most surprising part of the game?

A.  The most surprising part was my win.  My ability to go so far against the biggest names in this game.  They were the best of the best and I was able to win.  It just blows me away!

Q.  Did you do anything special to prepare for the show before re-entering the house?

A.  No, I met with Will and had dinner with Marcellas.  I had dinner with Erika, just I had some pre-existing relationships.  I won’t call them alliances, but I definitely was getting together with people.  The thing for me too was that I didn’t think I was going to get on.  I wasn’t sure that I would actually get picked.  So, I wasn’t totally prepared. 

Q.  Some people have said that they didn’t feel the show was really All Star caliber.  Not from the house guests, but from a competition standpoint.  There weren’t many physical or endurance challenges. 

A.  I totally agree with that and that’s why I was so happy that the competition where I won the car was more physical.  I favored more physical or endurance stuff.  That’s why Janelle did so well, because the competitions were definitely more suited for her.  One of the biggest flaws in “Big Brother” is the lack of space for big competitions.  I think that they should have an extra backyard or something where people can go and do the competitions.  Because, it’s tough with such limited space to do anything on a grand scale. 

Q.  Do you have any tips for the next season of house guests?

A.  I would just say keep their mouth shut at first, settle into the game and figure out the best people to align with.  Just have your opinion, but know when to keep it to yourself.

Q.  The term floater has really been used as a stigma.  Why do you think people view it as such?

A.  The funny thing is that I became the ultimate floater.  That’s why I won the game.  Floating is a perfectly valid strategy and that’s a good question.  I really don’t know why it has a negative connotation, but at the end of the day, it’s a very effective strategy.  But, the thing is you can float to second place, but you really have to play to win.  You have to think about that if you are going to float.  I think that Erika played the perfect second place kind of game. 

Q.  What would you like to say to your fans and supporters?

A.  I would just like to say thanks for watching and just always remember you’re watching a television show.  Try not to judge people because of if your lives were watched twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, you might do some things you wouldn’t be so proud of as well.