Russell: PT. 1

Pt 2:

And Kevin: Pt 1

Pt 2!

via The Insider

Enjoy!

And part two!

We loved him (Ok, I loved him, because I felt I understood him to some degree), hated him (Yeah, I did a bit of that too!), debated his tactics, gasped in horror, and even laughed sometimes and sympathized others – but one thing is certain: Ronnie Talbott will NEVER be forgotten! And here’s what he had to say about his stay in the Big Brother House. Enjoy!

[As with all our interviews and articles here at Big Brother Craze, they are (c)BigBrotherCraze, thus copying and pasting this interview is NOT PERMITTED – you may link directly to this entry wherever you like. Here’s the direct link: http://bigbrothercraze.us/2009/10/07/the-square-root-of-bb-evil-an-interview-with-ronnie/.]

BBCraze: So let’s start at the beginning! What did the casting process involve for you? We know you’re the uberfan – how many times, how long did it take, etc? What advice would you give to those considering trying out for season 12?

Ronnie: Well I am limited in what I can say about the process, but what I can tell you is that I have auditioned to be on the show since season 8. It seems the 4th time was the charm for me, LOL. My advice for anyone considering auditioning for season 12 is to do it, first and foremost. It is an amazing once in a lifetime experience that I know I will treasure forever!! The other piece of advice I have is to be yourself!! They can tell if you are faking or just trying to be controversial. Robyn and her team are AMAZING!!! I love them all and they know what they are looking for when they see it, so just be yourself and know that you have something special to offer.

BBCraze: How was your reception when you got home – friends, family, work, fans? Do you have a funniest fan freak-out moment? What did Michelle have to say about you’re stay in the house? (I interviewed Michele and you’re friend, Robert, at the beginning of the season. Michelle’s adorable – you’re a lucky guy!)

Ronnie: My reception when I got home was incredible. I live in a small town so everyone already knew me anyway !! I help teach theatre at my wife’s high school and I have always volunteered at the local community theatre so a ton of people were watching the show rooting for me. A lot of the faculty at the high school are actually HUGE BB fans..and I had no idea.

The funniest fan freak out story I have is from when I went to Cedar Point in Sandusky, OH. I had just been home from my eviction like 3 days and whenever I was in line to ride the rollercoasters the people in line would try to sneak pictures of me on their cellphones. It was really odd for me because I mean, I am a really down to earth guy. I am just Ronnie as far as I’m concerned, lol. I kept thinking, “If you just ask I will take a picture with you!” lol.

Michelle had A LOT to say about my stay in the house lol. More than I thought she would. It seems she missed me just as much as I missed her. She even would turn on the feeds to hear me snore when she missed me. She would position the laptop with the feeds running beside the bed so it seemed like I was still home. She said she never got used to seeing me on television, it always seemed like I had been photoshopped into the show.

BBCraze: As I’m sure you know, one of the biggest problems houseguests have when they go back and watch the season is that they feel they aren’t accurately portrayed by CBS on the network episodes – the age-old conflict of the good edit vs. the bad edit. How do you feel you were portrayed on the show? Do you feel they portrayed the other houseguests accurately? And do you think houseguests will EVER get the memo that we live feeders see EVERYTHING, so they can’t pull the wool over our eyes once they get out?

Ronnie: You know I don’t want to say anyone was accurately or not accurately portrayed. Rather I would say there are certain aspects of each person’s personality that were highlighted. For instance, yes I used a lot of lies and manipulation in the house…BUT I also had a lot of fun and humorous conversations with Jeff, Jordan, Lydia, Natalie, well…everyone for that matter that just weren’t on the show. The flip side of that coin is also true. The people who had a “good” (only for lack of a better word) edit also had negative traits that weren’t shown. I just ask that everyone please remember that we are all people. We are more than the sum of our parts, you know?

In response to the live feeders seeing EVERYTHING….once it gets down to the final 6 or so…sure, but with 13 people living in a house and only 4 feeds making it to the air there is no way that EVERY convo and EVERY piece of strategy talk will make it to the feeds. I know for a fact there are a lot of wonderful convos that Lydia, Kevin, and I had that were never seen by anyone except us and BB, LOL.

BBCraze: Could you describe each of the houseguests for us – both as you knew them in the house, and any changing opinions since your eviction as you watch the show and hear of the house happenings?

1. Braden – funny, random, and always entertaining.
2. Laura – Great person and kind, wished we had gotten along in the house
3. Casey – funny, interesting, great spirit
4. Ronnie – that is me !
5. Jessie – good friend, misunderstood, owes me a rematch for beating me in the racing game in Vegas !!!
6. Chima – loyal, outspoken, never backs down
7. Lydia – one of a kind, extremely generous, and friend for life !
8. Russell – loud, actually has a really funny prank side to him
9. Jeff – funny
10. Michele – smart, kind of quiet
11. Natalie – played the game hard like me !! lol …totally the only one who actually tricked me.
12. Kevin – awesome, funny, unforgettable, and like Lydia friend for life !
13. Jordan – sweet, genuine

BBCraze: Had you made it to the jury and gotten to vote for a winner – would you have voted for Jordan or Natalie for the win, and why?

Ronnie: I would have had to vote for Jordan, only because i can support floating and throwing comps as a strategy but not in the final HoH. Jordan won when she needed to and Natalie did not.

BBCraze: While you were in the house, you were the center of a LOT of controversy outside, as I’m sure you’ve been made aware. The biggest brouhaha was over you’re audition tape for Solitary, and the admission of what many folks called ‘cyber-bullying’. One woman even dedicated a sight determined to have CBS do something about it (what she thought they’d do is unclear at best.). Would you like to address those allegations, the situation, etc?

Ronnie: I have absolutely no problem discussing this issue and I have already in several interviews. This very issue was discussed by myself in the house before my eviction.

Number one it was not “cyber-bullying”. That is a term that someone attached to the practical joke in order to sensationalize the prank. First cyber-bullying is legally defined as requiring all parties involved to be 17 years of age or younger and we were 19. Second, to be bullying the nature of the action must be derogatory, hurtful, spiteful, or intended to cause harm in some way shape or form. There was nothing malicious in the prank. I did not hurt anyone’s psychological state nor was anyone inconvenienced in any way shape or form. Yes, it was a cyber-prank…but cyber-bullying, no.

This was a prank that was done 11 years ago. Am I proud of it, no…come on you would have to be a incredibly cruel person to be proud of something like that. But as I said while still in the house…I lost a friend because of this prank, even though an apology was given at the time and accepted, it was one of the main reasons I changed how I behaved. At 19 we are still young and immature in some ways.

Something also that everyone who saw the video has to understand is that when you audition for a show, whether reality TV or otherwise, you have to sell yourself. Yes be yourself but you have to come across as dynamic and interesting. The question I was asked and answered with this prank story was, “What is the wildest lie you ever told?” So by mentioning this story does it mean I am proud of it? No..but is it an interesting story” Sure…

The bottom line is this… it was a stupid prank that happened 11 years ago when I first started college and the person I was at 19 has no resemblance to who I am today… We have all done stupid things in college and I really don’t think people would enjoy being judged based on one stupid mistake they made in their life..and yes we all have made mistakes, LOL

BBCraze: Knowing what you know now – if the cliques hadn’t had been a factor, who would you have aligned with and why?

Ronnie: If cliques had not been a factor, I would have aligned with Lydia, Kevin, Michele, and probably been more loyal to Jordan.

BBCraze: At this point, having been able to watch it all go down, what do you think was your biggest mistake in the game?

Ronnie: My biggest mistake in the game was not backdooring Russell in week 2. I should have simply asked for Lydia, Kevin, and Chima’s support and just backdoored him.

BBCraze: We saw you apologize to Michele during the finale, and her gracious acceptance of it. Were you two able to talk, and can you tell us what on EARTH she did to make all of you hate her so much? You guys were downright vicious at times, and as someone who’s been on the wrong side of that kind of criticism like yourself, how do you justify the way you treated her?

Ronnie: My apology to Michele on finale night was absolutely sincere. The thing that only those of us who play this game can understand is that when you are in the house, you develop these passionate feelings for people good AND bad. Michele simply refused to talk to people in the house about much of anything. I know that was her strategy, but it didn’t come off well. Even Michele herself admits she is a very socially awkward person. This awkwardness did not come off that way…rather it made the bulk of us feel like she was refusing to get involved and also that she was a little left of center.

Again, I would say that those of you sitting at home saying, “how could they say that?”..You very well could easily be on BB12 and having people say that about what you say and do. Like I said, when you are in the house you can only go off of what you actually see and hear and what you feel about the things you are told. My eviction speech was based 20% on comments made by Michele during a fight we had earlier that day and 80% on strategy to try and cause doubt in people’s minds even after my eviction.

BBCraze: And finally – though I know the answer to this, it’s the biggest question of all – would you do it again, and would you play the game differently if you did?

Ronnie: I would definitely do it again!!!!!! I would play the game differently. I have a much better strategy this time taking the lessons Ive learned from actually playing the game. I call it Ronnie V 2.0…The same hardware but much upgraded software and I promise it is a lot more user friendly !!

BBCraze: Any last words?

I would like to just say thanks to all of the fans out there, you are the reason Big Brother rocks so hardcore! Anyone who is able to, please support your local high schools theatre and speech and debate programs. These are wonderful programs that enable young people to become very loquacious and confident.

Also I will be attending the Toys 4 Tots in New Hampshire this December 4-7 with a lot of other houseguests. I also will soon be selling Ronnie theme t-shirts, etc on my own website. Details will be coming soon and you can follow me on twitter – @rjrobot or facebook – www.facebook.com/BB11Ronnie. Thanks for having me do the interview and thanks for reading !

BBCraze: Thanks so much, Ronnie! I appreciate the time you’ve taken to answer our questions!

Alright BBCrazies – Got comments? Have at it, and who knows, maybe Ronnie will stop by and answer any additional questions you might have!

PS – Other BB11 houseguests! We want to hear from YOU! If you’re willing to do an interview with us – please drop me a line at lessasdesign[at]gmail.com!

Stay tuned!

6:08- there we go, it’s working, and we’re talking about Russell’s attacks and if they were real or planned. Russell says every fight had a purpose, and Jessie and Michele were the only two that figured it out. He switched sides a lot, he was playing the game, his tactic was intimidation.

What did he think of the chest bump?
Russell: Michele saw me smile – I started to laugh, and tried to bring it back, but she was so cute and sweet, for me it was funny.

What did Michele think about natalie throwing her rings in the garbage – Michele says that she didn’t know until after, but it’s one of the reasons she won’t talk to her again. if she can’t let it go, there’s no need to talk to her. And she heard her talking about bleach in the solution – and those are just things, you shouldn’t be thinking of harming people int he house. That’s one of the reasons she didn’t vote for her, she’s too nasty.

There’s a question for Missy – is Russell as hot in person as he is on TV.
Missy: absolutely, positively the hotest houseguest in years…
Russell: can I give you a hug right now?
Missy: later. Lots of hugs.

How has the feedback from friends and family – positive, negative?
Michele: a lot were shocked about how blunt I was, they’ve been supportive of how hard I played, and happy I was strong and made it to the final four
Russell: they’ve been overwhelmingly kind, and thank you for that.

Russell then tips his hat to all the parents and close family, that had to listen to all the negativity, parents have the toughest time
Russell: i know mine did, and the first thing I did when I got home was say thank you. People need to realize that now that the game is over, don’t encourage that, these are people’s sons and daughters. In the game – blog about it, great. The games over now, so it should just stop. I can take it, but other people are more sensitive, so it’s difficult when some still attack michele, chima, natalie.

Awww!

What’s with the memory, Michele?!
Michele: Well, as a have not, and stress, I wasn’t sleeping well, eating well, and I had memory problems, and things would blur together. When they’d blow little conversations into massive proportions, it was just not something I’m good at, remembering every little detail of every little conversation.
Russell: ronnie did!

Is Russell a lawyer?
Russell: no. When do you get to be whatevr you want to be? It made people nervous.

What DO you do?
Russell: Was a firefighter for 3 years, then wroked in an investment firm, and recently transitioned into commercial real estate.

Did Michele lose her job?
Michele: no, but i’m currently considering other options.

Who would Michele have picked for final two?
Michele: russell if he was still – but of the final four, I would have taken Kevin
Russell: WHAT?!
Michele: you were gone already!
Russell: i’ll remember that for allstars!

Would they do it again?
Michele: I’d do it over and over again until I win! I’d love too!
Russell: …really?
Michele: i’m a massichist! Sorry!

Russell worried about being naked on the web?
He laughs – and Missy says no – “Russell were you upset to see your LOVE muscle was on the internet?”

Jeffgotgot: What is the love muscle…
Chelsia: JeffGotGot is not watching the backyard interviews!

Russell says he wasn’t upset, nothing he could do about it anyway, Missy says she watched it a million times. *L*

Have they watched anything?
Michele: I watched the intro, to see how corny they were.
Russell: i haven’t watched anything except Ronnie the Rat, that was funny! I don’t care to watch it, I just lived it for 3 months. We did it for the money, and I lost, it’s hard to watch it and know I didn’t win. I hate losing.
Michele: what a surprise.

Their favorite moment in Vegas? They don’t remember. *L* Michele said meeting the past houseguests, and fans. They don’t remember much, because they hadn’t drank for so long – and their tolerance is still not out.
Chelsia: it’s kinda pathetic…
Russell: yeah, it’s kinda blur!

Would he still vote for Natalie knowing what he does now?
Russell says yes, because she played the better game, it wasn’t about who he liked or didn’t like. Michele says if Natalie hadn’t gotten so nasty – she just couldn’t do it.

How was the Jury house?
Michele: my day and a half was really good..
Russell: it was BORING. Every day I’d wake up, wait for Jeff to wake up so we could go play golf in the back yard. And there was no alcohol! But my birthday was awesome, CBS sent in a personal chef which was awesome! Thanks CBS!

Is Russell gonna put sutff on ebay?
Russell: who wouldwant to buy it?! I don’t know
Missy: Russell, put your stuff on ebay.
Russell: yes ma’am.

Who will Russell keep in touch with?
Russell: anyone who gives me a call. The house was one thing, that’s not real, I’m willing to talk to anyone, still talk to Natalie.
Michele: I’m the same way, if you want to hang out, i’m down with that – no grudges except for Natalie.

How did you NOT know about her age?
Michele: i called her out right away, are you pregnant? She waslike I’m 18, and I’m like no…I’m sorry! Things didn’t match up, I never thought she was 18. Talking about 90210? It doesn’t make sense. But no one believed what I said.
Russell: SCHEMER!

Did you know Natalie cheated all the time?
Michele: she cheated in chess!
Chelsia: and the final HOH- the rubberband.
Missy: she denied that last night, and said to go back and look at it. She doesn’t know what the live feeders were on..
Michele: She’s a giant liar, why won’t she just confess? you could cheat – I didn’t.
Russell: is still beat her at chess even though she cheated, and I beat her at poker too! I won!

Michele – Did you know how admired you are for your strength?
Michele: i was surprised! But I’m happy to be to be admired for that and thank them for their support.

IF he did it again would he do a showmance?
Russell: I said I’d do anything for the money… so yeah..
Chelsia: I saw something blossoming with Chima..
Russell: She has an amazing story, and it was a good partnership. Problem was, we became such big targets, it was no longer Jeff and Jordan, everyone was watching us.

The fight – they talked about staging one late at night – was it planned?
Russell: no. I was coming in there because I was mad, I’d made an arrangement with michele and was trying to clear the air, it looked like they were discrediting me, and Michele is smarter than I am, and she got me! and I was like CRAP, and then it just spiraled out o control and there was no saving it.

Has he talked to Chima?
Russell: I’m not mad at anyone, I was open game just like they were. I’m not mad at the girl, I don’t take anything personal. I saw her and talked to her the enxt night. Haters will always hate you – if you’re spending your time hating me, I’m doing something right.

How tall is Russell? 5’8″.

Are they going to Natalie’s wedding?
Michele: I was disinvited! I’m the only one not allowed to go, and I was talking in support of it and nice, but I don’t even think there will be a wedding, so whatever.
Russell: if I’m invited, I’ll go.

Was Russell loyal to everyone?
Russell: I was. I was loyal to Casey, until he outed it to Laura. I was loyal to Jessie until he was evicted, and then Michele.

3 regrets?
Michele: Trusting Jeff and Jordan more than Russell, because my alliance with them led to him leaving which sucked. Not standing up to myself and taking on Natalie. I should have been more vocal and should have just voted for Natalie and she wouldn’t have made it to final two and it would have been different. Oh and I should have been more agressive, and instead of playing the victim – I mean I wasn’t that hurt, if I had been a lot more badass with it? If I could have just said some things back to you
Russell: YEAH! BADASS! I like that! 1. not finding the Laura banana, not agreeing with jeff when he came after us, and.. I dunno, if Braden was in the house longer, it would have been a completely different game. IT would have been interesting to see. From my HOH on I thought Chima had the best chance to win. And Braden is pure entertainment.

Russell – Fighting again in the ring?
Russell: I’ve gotten back into training, it’s on the table, I’ll know within the next month or so.

The Green Room Lie.
Russell: It was good – I mean, you have to chalk it up to Natalie, I didn’t believe her. And I know, you end up just saying fine! I did it! and you feel the only way to do it at that point was to spin it
Michele: they convinced ME that it was possibly true at some point. Was I sleep walking?! I cannot lie, um. I never win Poker,
Russell: or Bullshit!

Gabriella -8 years old – gets a special shoutout.

Did you find out Natalie was the vote for Laura?
Michele: after the show. They spun it that it was me, Casey, Russell – so kudos to her, because I never thought it was her.

Why choose to act as a past houseguest than yourself?
Russell: there’s a lot of greats in the past – If I was a lot of people at once, it would have been a better strategy. Playing myself would have been boring! I was gonna switch it up and have a different ending, I wanted the bad guy to win! You don’t remember Superman.. well. everyone remembers Jeff, so.

Who would you ahve taken final two?
Russell: Michele. She was the only person I could have – Jeff and Jordan would win..
Michele: so you thought you could beat me! ouch!
Russell: …no… I thought I’d get the 50 grand, really.
(they’re both laughing *L*)

Last minute Rapidfire:
Russell Shoe size 10.5
Jeff and Russell friends? Yes
Michele – pointers for auditioning: Show them why you’re special, sassy, cool job, why you’re different
Michele – wish you’d have gotten Natalie out? Totally!
You need to be aware she was bashing you last night, Michele – yes, she can’t let go of the game, hopefully she’ll learn to deal in a better way.
Russell – how would you fair in a fight against Ollie or Mega? Who are they?
How do you feel about how you treated everyone? Russell: everyone was a chess piece – it was a game.

Tune in October 15th, with Kevin and Lydia!

And right now? Lydia just called in to Natalie’s BBAD chat, and it’s BIG TIME CAT FIGHT. They’re threatening each other, Lydia screaming at Natalie to come to California and she will K.O her ass! Natalie saying bring it – and then Natalie says that she’s done talking to Lydia. It’s really funny – I believe they archive the chats – so make SURE to check it out.

Lydia hangs up, and Natalie keeps going on – see if this is recognizable.

Natalie: I’m saying things that are true. Lydia is upset that if I want her man I can have him at any second, anytime.

Make sure to check out the replay if you can! The hostesses are a little shocked and apologetic, and Natalie apologizes for getting out of control, she has no ill will toward Lydia and will no longer speak of her. Ha! I only caught about 20 minutes of it, but it was quite entertaining.

I’ll try to cover most of the chat tomorrow as I did for Jeff and Jordan, so stay tuned for that, too!

And – want more backyard interviews? of course you do! Here’s Reality Wanted’s list!

Jordan:

Natalie:

Kevin

Michele

Jeff

Russell

Lydia

Jessie

Ronnie

Casey

Laura

Braden

More after the cut – and don’t forget! Our very own Pumpkin got tickets to the Fan Favorite live event in Seattle! Not only that – but she’s taking our questions with her, and will do her best to ask them. Now, we aren’t sure who all is on the lineup, but she’ll let us know as soon as she does – so keep the questions coming! Here’s the event info:

On Thursday the 24th of September, Real is hosting the first ever Live Audience Big Brother Fan Favorites Live Chat. It’s being held in Seattle, WA and Tickets Are Free!! Space is Limited and preference is being given to Superpass Subscribers, so Please Send Your Request For Tickets to askbigbrother@real.com. If you’re unable to get to Seattle for the event, it’ll be shown live on Superpass at 6pm BBT/9pm Eastern on September 24th.

So add your questions to the comments here for pumpkin!

Now – hit the cut for more interviews!

Also – EW with Jordan:

Jeff:

Natalie:

and Kevin:

Enjoy!

PS – here’s a link for Evel Dick’s interviews, too.

PPS – some ex-houseguests found out that the front door was left unlocked and snuck in… heh!