BB final three interviews

Big Brother Network: "Big Brother 15′s Andy Herren Interview" and 2 more


Big Brother 15′s Andy Herren Interview
Big Brother 15′s GinaMarie Zimmerman Interview
Big Brother 15′s Spencer Clawson Interview

Big Brother 15′s Andy Herren Interview

Posted: 20 Sep 2013 11:54 AM PDT

Andy Herren - Big Brother 15 HG

Andy Herren pulled off the win on Wednesday night with a 5-2 victory over GinaMarie for the title of Big Brother 15 winner. As a quiet, unassuming HG from the start I think he surprised many of us by making it so far in the game with so little attention on himself despite so many alliances and roles in the season.

I spoke with Andy about his achievements in the game but also why there was so much negativity and hateful things said in the house. Read on to find out what he had to say on all that and more.

Big Brother Network: Congratulations on your big win! Jumping right in to it, a lot of viewers, myself included, were shocked when you evicted Spencer and took GinaMarie to the Final 2. Did you see taking GinaMarie as a risky move?

Andy Herren: No, not at all. I knew that GinaMarie was the last card that I needed to play because I thought the Jury was going to rag on me for not being loyal. I wasn’t loyal to any of the members of the Jury. I voted all of them out when I said I was on their side. So I thought if I could prove that I pledged my loyalty to GinaMarie on night one and then held it up the entire game that that was the last card I needed to play to have a well-rounded game.

It was a little bit of a stretch. I mean let’s be real. If I had had to vote GinaMarie out at some point then I would have had to, but I really did want to keep my word to her. She was someone I trusted and she was really good at comps. So if someone is really good at comps and is never going to put me up then why would I want to get rid of that person?

Even though I wasn’t really aligned with GinaMarie until the Exterminators I was still weirdly aligned with her because I did want her going anywhere. So I needed to do that and I thought I could kick her ass in the debate.

BBN: I didn’t think anyone would want to go up against the speech communications professor for that.

Andy Herren: I knew if I made the debate and did terrible then I should quit my job. So I had to hit a homerun when I got to that point.

BBN: Do you think the votes would have turned out any different with Spencer?

Andy Herren: Spencer claims that they would have, but I think he’s full of it. I don’t think he could have beat me whatsoever. So I still think I could have won. I don’t know if it would have been as wide a margin, but I still think I would have beat him.

BBN: You were so dedicated to McCranda for so long. You turned down Helen and others time after time to go after Amanda. What finally convinced you to flip on them?

Andy Herren: I always knew I was going to flip on Amanda and McCrae, I just needed it to be at the right time. Why would I want to get out Amanda and McCrae when there were still eleven people in the house when the power couple was protecting me? The group of us, we were all so strong for awhile that I didn’t think we needed to turn on each other. Then Helen and Jessie were coming to me and wanting to turn, I thought these women have got to go. They were throwing a wrench in my plans and it is not time to on Amanda and McCrae yet.

I saw Helen and Jessie were so prone to flipping, but Amanda never came to me and wanted to flip the house. Once I realized that I knew Amanda and McCrae were the ones in this larger group that I could trust. So I knew at that point that I had to go with them.

I’ll be honest with you. For awhile I thought of going to the end with Aaryn, Amanda, and McCrae because I thought Aaryn and I could beat Amanda and McCrae in comps. Then when Aaryn got closer to Amanda I got worried that I was going to be playing for fourth place. So I knew I needed to get GinaMarie and Spencer because I knew I could beat them in comps at the end. Then when Judd came back it was absolutely perfect. It was exactly what I needed. I pulled Judd aside, planted the seed that he could trust GinaMarie and Spencer, and then the Exterminators was formed.

Andy and McCrae are superheroes on Big Brother 15

BBN: Early in the game you seemed to have a fun, playful relationship with Elissa. Then as the season went on and she was evicted, you seemed to really go after her. What was going on there?

Andy Herren: Here’s the thing. I turned in to kind of a spoiled brat in the game. No one was ever coming after me. Elissa started to get suspicious of me and I could not shake her. She would listen at the door when I was having conversations. Basically after I voted Helen out I never had Elissa’s trust anymore. So Elissa started to really irritate me because I could not manipulate her like I could manipulate other people. As a result I just started to hate her. She wasn’t giving me what I wanted.

There were also a lot of things about Elissa that bothered me. She acted like she was better than other people. She threw in a lot of little digs at people and then would claim she never fought with anyone. Stuff like that that bothered me. I feel like all of my frustration came to a boiling point and I released it after she was evicted. I mean I regret a lot of the things I said. What you saw was me joking with Elissa for most of the season because that is how I truly feel about Elissa. I hope that she can forgive me because I know that I said some pretty terrible stuff.

BBN: Yes, it did get rough there extending it to family. Have you talked with her or her family?

Andy Herren: In my head, I don’t feel like I ever made comments about her family. I talked about her kid’s paintings. All I was trying to insinuate was that they were from a long time ago. I wasn’t trying to say her kid was an idiot for painting these pictures. I was trying to say I thought he was in third grade, but there was a “K” on the back of one that I thought signified kindergarten. I was like “why do these look like a kindergartner painted them?”

BBN: I think it was taken in the “kid is an idiot” context.

Andy Herren: That is definitely not what I meant. So that’s frustrating to me to hear that. I did not like when people talked bad about her family, because we didn’t know her family. They weren’t there to defend themselves. I feel bad that that comment was taken like that because I very much made a point to not talk bad about Elissa’s family.

BBN: BB13′s Shelly Moore asked us on Twitter to ask you why you were saying you weren’t talking to people in hateful ways, but then there were a lot of hateful things we heard said. Is there anything else you want to say to de-conflict that?

Andy Herren: Yes, I want to say I’m sorry. Anyone that you talk to in my personal life will tell you that I have the biggest heart of anybody so I hate that people think I was this hateful person when I was in the house, but at the same time I said those things and I have to fess up to it. The tension was so high and I really did not mean them. From the bottom of my heart I hope that Elissa knows that I’m sorry and people know that I did not mean to upset or offend anyone including Elissa’s family.

BBN: With all that about Elissa, how do you feel about her winning America’s Favorite and the $25K?

Andy Herren: We all knew it was coming. Just knowing everyone in that house and how badly they needed that money and what good games everyone played, I was frustrated because I didn’t think Elissa played the best game and I thought Elissa had an unfair advantage with all these predetermined followers that I just didn’t want her to win. It wasn’t anything personal. I didn’t think she deserved it.

Andy is the renom on Big Brother 15

BBN: What’s going to be your favorite memory, other than winning, that you’re going to take away from Big Brother?

Andy Herren: I feel bad saying it, but I think my favorite memory is the second double eviction when I voted to evict Amanda and then framed Elissa for it. It all worked exactly as I wanted it to. I planned that so hard core and meticulously. It was the biggest sign of my hard work paying off.

BBN: Down the road, CBS calls and offers All-Stars. Would you do it again?

Andy Herren: Heck ya! I would have to play a totally different game because I think people might suspect me now. I don’t think I could be as low key as I was this time around.

BBN: Let’s talk about “Pop-In Andy.”

Andy Herren: I thought that was brilliant. I hate that I just called myself brilliant. I would put personal items in every room of the house so I could walk in to any room like I was doing something.

Anytime I walked past the cockpit room and the door was closed I popped in. I knew if people stopped talking or told me to go away that I was in trouble.

BBN: You’ve got your big check. What’s the very first thing you’re going to buy for yourself?

Andy Herren: Alcohol. I’m going to get really drunk when I get back to Chicago for sure.

BBN: What’s next for Andy out there?

Andy Herren: I’m not going to frivolously spend this. I’m going to use it as a stepping stone for my future. I think it could really do me some good if I’m smart with it.

BBN: There was definitely a dark side to this season and that took away from a lot of the fun. But when it wasn’t on that dark side we enjoyed it a lot and appreciate you all putting yourselves out there and entertaining us for the summer.

Andy Herren: It was my pleasure.

BBN: Congratulations again on the win.

Follow up this season with a look back at Andy’s preseason interview with us to see where things went from his initial take and plan for the summer ahead.
Andy Herron Big Brother interview:

Big Brother 15′s GinaMarie Zimmerman Interview

Posted: 20 Sep 2013 09:29 AM PDT

GinaMarie Zimmerman - Big Brother 15 HG

GinaMarie Zimmerman left Big Brother without a job and a rough reputation but she also left with a great big check for $50,000 as the season’s runner-up. I spoke with GinaMarie her time in the house, that final night of surprises, and even about some of the vicious comments she made directed at the other HGs and beyond. Oh, and of course I asked her about Nick. Read on to see what she had to say.

Big Brother Network: Congratulations on your second place finish.

GinaMarie Zimmerman: Thank you so much. It’s surreal. I’ve gotta tell you, I’m happy. I’m so happy.

BBN: I thought that was great, watching that because we’ve seen people come out after getting beat and being so down, but you really were a great sport about it.

GinaMarie Zimmerman: Andy’s a really great guy. He’s awesome and when we made it to the third round of the HoH and we had a deal to take each other. I was guaranteed a check so even if I didn’t win the big prize I was getting fifty grand and it’s still money in my pocket and a big honor. So you know people can’t be greedy and I was super happy even though I got second.

BBN: Talking about that deal with Andy, are you saying that if you had won Round 3 you would have taken Andy as well?

GinaMarie Zimmerman: Yeah, you know what, it was a big toss-up. I won part one, I want to see where part two lands. With Spencer I thought I’d be able to beat him and have more Jury votes but when the time came that me and Andy were in it together it was a win-win situation, “you take me, I’ll take you.” Obviously guaranteed money. He kept his word and took me to the end. So hey, I’m happy about that.

BBN: Before the Jury votes were revealed, did you think you might have it?

GinaMarie Zimmerman: You know what, I knew I might have some, but I was kinda thinking some. I really thought he had gotten over me. I probably could have spoke a little better, maybe, but when the Jury asks you questions you kinda get bombarded and you think of a good answer and your brain just goes blank for a second. Some of those Jury questions were pretty rough. You’ve gotta be on your toes and think as fast as you can. Hopefully I made my point. Obviously it wasn’t good enough and Andy won, but I’m happy.

BBN: Speaking of getting caught off guard on some questions. Amanda’s question. Take another shot at that now that you’ve had time to think about it. What was your biggest move before getting her out?

GinaMarie Zimmerman: The only moves I made before that was to get Candice out. It wasn’t such a big move, but at the time she was a target for many people. I wouldn’t say that was my huge move so that’s why I went back to the Amanda thing. I guess you were my huge move, Amanda. It was a twisted question because I guess I could say I didn’t make big moves if that’s what she wanted me to say. It was kinda like, Amanda, you know what my big move was. Any of my other moves were obviously something because you never got HoH!

GinaMarie Zimmerman - Big Brother 15

BBN: You were the first one to take a concrete step against McCranda. Why do you think that was?

GinaMarie Zimmerman: I think it was a couple of things. A) For others it wasn’t the right time. B) People didn’t have the power to get them out. C) No one else had the balls.

Obviously everyone else wanted her out. She got voted twice for MVP nomination by America. In the long run, me and her are friends. We talked and things happen in the house only for game reasons, but I still think she’s a great person. Like I said, only game moves.

It was the right time. I couldn’t do it without the Exterminators. I have to tell you. It takes one to nominate, but you also need a team to back you up with votes and to continue to win competitions. It was pretty much just good timing.

BBN: Were you surprised to find out America was voting as the MVP?

GinaMarie Zimmerman: Ya know what, people think of crazy stories in the Big Brother house. Usually there was a little bit of a pattern and then it switched gears. Everyone thought it was America or evicted HGs. In the back of my mind I thought it might be America and that I was on America’s side since Amanda got voted and not me those two times.

BBN: With Elissa winning the America’s Favorite and you all clearly not being Elissa fans there in the last few weeks with all the rough talk at her, what are your feelings on that?

GinaMarie Zimmerman: You know what, I guess everyone was a little bitter saying she came in with a big fan base. Not to say she’s not deserving of it, but I really think she’s a great woman to be honest with you. I met her husband last night and really a straight up gentlemen.

I learned a lot with her. She did my hair, taught me about nutrition, but I think it’s because maybe the money could have helped out someone. I mean, we could all use money so don’t get me wrong, but I guess we kinda new it was going to her. But ya know what, she’s got a great fan base. I applaud her and if she won then I give props. I congratulate her. I’m actually happy for her.

BBN: Looking back over the season, other than Nick’s eviction, what’s something you would change?

GinaMarie Zimmerman: I think I played a great game. I kept my honesty. I kept my deals. I always tried to do great in competitions even if I got stitches and broken bones. The only thing I’d regret or take back are the words I said when I offended or hurt anyone’s feelings in any which way. If I did do that then I apologize and I’m sorry. I would probably take that back.

GinaMarie crying

BBN: We’ve got to touch on that because that’s a big thing this season. There was a lot of hate in there. You talked about being a very loving, heart of gold person, but then there were flip moments when you were a pretty cruel and vicious person. I was hoping to get your insight on that. What was going on there?

GinaMarie Zimmerman: I guess you could say someone pushes your buttons. The Candice fight where I nominated her, she was on the block, and pretty much knew she was going home. I figured she’d go out a little bit classier and just speak but not yell at Aaryn and myself. Then she was leaving and do low blows jabs at me living with my parents for financial reasons. So I guess if someone strikes at me then I just strike back. So nothing personal, it’s only game.

Ya know we’ve apologized about it. I’ve seen her mom and I’ve apologized about it. I want everybody to think positive and be friends. So ya know if that was the only thing that I flipped the script a little bit. If I got some low blows then I just kinda brought it back to them. I shouldn’t have done that. I probably should have just kept my mouth shut but I’m sometimes a little hot head Italian. I got a big mouth and I’m from New York. Sometimes I don’t like to sit down when people yell in my face. Hopefully in the future we can all kinda laugh at ourselves cause we were all kinda, I was kinda stupid I guess you could say.

BBN: Tell us about Nick. We’ve heard he’s already bought tickets to the monster truck rally in October. Are you planning to accept his inviation and what else is in store for you guys?

GinaMarie Zimmerman: We had planned that date because I’ve got the 90-day rule for if he’ll kiss me after the show cause we didn’t want to kiss or nothing crazy on camera. Ya know what, I’m excited. Nick’s a great guy and I don’t know what the future holds for us. If things work out and we date, fantastic. If they don’t then I’m really great to be friends with him. He’s super smart and amazing and if I get to be in his life by being friends then it’s all good. I wish him the best and I know he’s always had my back wishing me the best as well.

BBN: What’s your favorite memory from your time on Big Brother?

GinaMarie Zimmerman: There were so many. I think there were more happy memories than sad and angry memories. The one that sticks out for me was when I gave up my seat at Helen’s BBQ and we had the GinaMarie impersonation contest. I thought that was hilarious.

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bb15-bblf-ginamarie-off-30-jessie-nick bb15-bblf-ginamarie-off-27-mcc-wins bb15-bblf-ginamarie-off-25-elissa

I know people make fun of my accent, but I take it as a compliment. So if they could re-enact the way I act and people laugh and I can have a good time it’s all in good fun. I think that’s one of the brighter side memories. I like things that bring the house and groups together cause it takes you away from the game and makes you smile, laugh, and not think about it.

I generally do have a huge heart. I always try to be friends with everyone. I’ve got a of great friends and family back home and ya know, things that I might have said that were stupid that came out of my mouth, it was stupid of me and I’ve apologized several times. I hope people see the bright side of me and accept my apology and see the better things I do in life and the happy times.

BBN: What is next for GinaMarie?

GinaMarie Zimmerman: Oh my goodness. So obviously I’m out of a job right now. I still love dealing with kids. Hopefully someone’s out there that wants a hard working girl. Maybe it’s Hollywood or New York, if you need a hard worker give GinaMaria a holler. I work hard and I’m loyal. As long as you pay me, I’m happy!

BBN: Despite all the ugliness in this season you were an entertaining Houseguest and I appreciate all the fun you made for us and kept everyone watching.

GinaMarie Zimmerman: Thank you so much.

BBN: Thank you and good luck out there.

Watch our preseason interview with GinaMarie and see how the season turned out compared to what she talked about before heading in to the house this season.
GinaMarie Zimmerman Big Brother 15 interview:

Big Brother 15′s Spencer Clawson Interview

Posted: 20 Sep 2013 06:41 AM PDT

Spencer Clawson - Big Brother 15

Spencer Clawson was a frequent lightning rod for controversy on Big Brother this season as an often unfiltered, outspoken houseguest. After 8 rounds of nominations he fell one step short of making to to the Final Two where I expected him to end up with a guaranteed fifty thousand dollars.

Following the finale I had the chance to speak with Spencer and ask him about the season, the moves he made, and even about the consequences he faced outside in the real world with his job, his employer, and more.

Big Brother Network (BBN): If you had made it to Round 3 and won, would you have taken Andy or GinaMarie to the F2?

Spencer Clawson: GinaMarie. Absolutely. I think I could have beat her in the F2. I believe I could have plead my case more eloquently than she had and I think I would have stood the best chance of beating her.

BBN: When Andy voted you out, did it catch you off guard or did you see it coming?

Spencer Clawson: No, I saw it coming. I knew Andy well enough to know when he was lying to me. I knew for two or three days that there was no way if he was final HoH that he was going to take me.

BBN: After Andy voted you out, was there any feeling of bitterness that made you consider not voting for him to win or had you already resolved that?

Spencer Clawson: There was a part of me that wanted to say, “Andy, you jerk. You voted me out and I’m not going to give you a vote.” But at the same time I’m a huge fan of the show and I think he played a phenomenal game and the fan in me could not be a bitter Juror. There’s nothing I dislike more than someone that’s mad that they got got. So I had to give credit where credit’s due and he deserved to win the game.

BBN: What was your best move all season?

Spencer Clawson: It wasn’t a solitary move, it was more like an evolution of my game. I realized I was going to be this pawn all the time. This was due to some of the weaker minded players they wouldn’t think for themselves. They were too afraid of Amanda and McCrae to go after them or Helen or Elissa. So they’d put me on the block because I didn’t have any allies or means to come after them the next week even if I wanted to and I could get their target out.

I wanted to come in and play a social game, but I was forced to get really good, really quick and being on the block. I wouldn’t say I mastered it or perfected it, but I’ve come as close as anybody. I certainly have had more practice than anybody at doing it. Just getting good at that was a huge game move.

Spencer Clawson - Big Brother 15 chicken

BBN: After being on the block for 8 rounds, did you ever lose your fear of the block or was it just as intimidating every time as the first?

Spencer Clawson: I kinda lost my fear of it because I knew what to do. That’s not to say I didn’t lose my Thursday jitters because of it. Once it’s eviction day I’d go around and ask if anything’s changed. Nothing changed each week. So I yeah, I did. I would wonder who I was going to give my shout out to when I had my turn to plea to the HGs who were going to vote.

Well, let me rephrase that a little bit. The fear that everyone else had, they were scared. When it was my sixth or seventh time I was just more aware, not scared. Their fear is what got them out of the house. When you’re on the block, there’s three things you don’t do: don’t talk any game, stay calm, and be likable, build your social game at that point.

Everybody who was on the block against me would break one of those cardinal rules. If you didn’t seem calm, if you seemed panicky they’d want you out of the house. If you were going around griping, causing trouble, then they’d want you out for that reason. If you talked a lot of game and said, “if you keep me inside the house then I’ll go after Amanda,” then Amanda would get her cronies and you’d be gone. That’s the thing not to do. So I learned that very quickly and none of the other HGs I was nominated against did.

BBN: When you were HoH, why was Andy seemingly never even a consideration for noms or the renom?

Spencer Clawson: You know, it was a consideration. In all honesty I did toss around the idea in my head, but I don’t know if I shared the thoughts with anyone. Here’s the thing. I didn’t trust Judd. At that point I was trying to be really gung-ho Exterminators. My fear was if I got Andy out then Judd would align with McCrae and get me out. Then Judd, McCrae, and GinaMarie would be Final 3 because they thought they could beat GinaMarie in the Final HoH. That was the fear of mine. Judd was sneaky. I didn’t think he could be trusted the entire game. I don’t think he had a grasp of what was really going on which made him dangerous. He’d make any move at any time that he thought it’d benefit him.

BBN: What’s your favorite memory walking away from the game?

Spencer Clawson: Favorite memory is Day 77. The double eviction where the Exterminators got out Amanda and Elissa and I won Head of Household.

BBN: There was a LOT of talk about Elissa inside the house after she was evicted. What are your thoughts on her winning America’s Favorite and getting the $25K?

Spencer Clawson: That’s something we expected the entire season. She came in with an established fan base and that’s why we thought the MVP wasn’t fair. I know when you play Big Brother you are an uneven playing ground. Some players are going to have advantages that others just don’t have.

The fact that she got it, that’s fine. [sigh] I think that the way the system works with America voting I think she obviously has a very dedicated fan base and they were going to make sure she was going to win that money. We all knew it all season and we were kinda frustrated with it during the game.

Now that we’re out of the house, if America thought she was their favorite player then by all means she deserves that money and that’s good for her and I’m happy for her.

Spencer Clawson - Big Brother 15 regrets

BBN: There’s been a lot of real world fallout from the game this season. As for your job, have you actually lost your job or are you worried that you might?

Spencer Clawson: I’m worried that I might. I’m protected by union and so they can’t just fire me especially since I was on unpaid leave. I may have said things that were completely out of line with Union Pacific’s mission statement and their core beliefs as a company. The things I said were completely out of line and I’m ashamed of them. I would like to put them in the past and move on and hope the people that I did offend can forgive me. I do hope that my employer can forgive me. I know that when I was in the public eye I represented them as well as myself and I feel terrible that I gave them a black eye, so to speak.

I love my job. I love what I do. I want to get back at it as soon as possible. Hopefully the union will argue and find that I did no wrong as far as that would leave to my termination. I’m more than prepared to make a full apology to the company and to anybody that I may have offended with my thoughtless words. If it all works out I hope to have a job. As of right now I know I have not been fired. I do have an investigation coming up that will establish whether I did indeed do anything that would be worthwhile of termination and then go from there.

BBN: What’s next for Spencer?

Spencer Clawson: I’m going back home. I’m going to try and handle this fallout. Hopefully it won’t be as bad as I fear. Hopefully I can put everything behind me and start back to work as soon as possible.

If any other opportunities come my way then I’d sure be interested to hear what they are. I’m not like a famehog or have any desire to be an actor or anything like that. Hopefully I’ll only be known within the Big Brother world and my town. Hopefully people will remember Spencer as a good social player and any of of the negative stuff will fall away and only the good stuff will be remembered.

BBN: There was certainly some ugly fallout from this season, but it was an entertaining one for us and you guys kept us watch. Thank you for that.

Spencer Clawson: Thank you. I certainly do regret some of that boneheaded stuff I said. I don’t have any excuse for it. I’m glad to hear that despite the negative stuff people enjoyed watching and I hope it doesn’t mar the season for next season. I hope that next season can be bigger and better than ever.

BBN: Thank you, Spencer.