Ika Wong, the 29-year-old hair stylist from Thornhill, ON, was the latest houseguest to be evicted from Big Brother Canada on Thursday night following one of the series’ most shocking episodes.
After winning last week’s Head of Household competition, Rachelle Diamond nominated second-time nominee Heather Decksheimer and the “new girl,” Allison White for eviction. Allison won the Power of Veta, saving herself and leaving Rachelle to nominate Ika as the replacement nominee.
On last night’s episode, viewers saw Ika win the “Letters from Home” challenge where she was sent to the backyard alone to claim her prize of $5,000 but Big Brother gave her a choice: Keep the money or give each other houseguest a letter from home. Ika decided to take the cash and shredded each letter all while the houseguests looked on in shock (and curse words) as they saw it go down on the monitor (unbeknownst to her).
Following her eviction, we caught up with Ika to discuss her letter-shredding decision, her apology for being mean and who should Canada put up for eviction this week in the latest twist as Canada was named this week’s Head of Household.
I think that was one of the craziest episodes ever!
[Laughs] Well, I’m happy that I delivered, honey!
Did you know they were listening in and could hear you?
No! I had no idea. I was not told. I just thought that the doors were going to open and they were going to see the shredded letters along with the cheque. I thought I was going to have to lie and be like, “Oh it was so hard for me!” I had no idea that they saw that on the screen.
Was it a little hard for you to come to the decision to shred the letters? We did see you put down the cheque at one point.
I did, but only because I love Big Brother Canada and wanted to stay in the house so bad. If I thought that keeping those letters would have kept me the house, I would have shredded that $5,000 cheque. I was actually going back and forth, “Will they keep me if I give them these?” I wasn’t going back and forth because I felt bad about them and their families; it was because I wanted to know if they’d keep me if I did this for them. That’s what I struggled with.
There wasn’t even a letter for you in there.
Exactly. There was no letter for me [from my family]. If those houseguests want a letter, then go and win and HoH!
Those reactions from them, things got mean!
They were horrible! But I loved it! [Laughs] I am happy those suckers got to see exactly what I thought and how I felt. They were scum-bagging me out of the house! Forget you! I’m happy I took the letters, kicked them and called them out on every single thing. I’m happy.
It’s been quite a “mean season.” You even apologized to Heather about it this week. Was being mean a part of your strategy?
I definitely wanted to go in and be intimidating, game-wise, but I definitely didn’t want to be mean-spirited. That’s why I apologized to Heather. The things that I said about her were personal, it wasn’t game. So I had to apologize. It wasn’t nice at all. It wasn’t cool, cute or fabulous.
Were you worried that your meanness inside the house would bleed into your life outside of the house? You have two kids that you are setting an example for.
I was not worried about myself, but I was worried about embarrassing my family. I was also thinking that these people, they have families. They’ve got brothers, sisters, kids, moms and dads – just like I do. Being mean to them on TV is embarrassing for them as well. I didn’t want to do that anymore.
Who do you think is the biggest threat inside the house right now?
Andrew and Kenny are definitely the obvious threats but the biggest threat right now would be that troublemaker Arlie! Arlie is definitely with them. He has these big guys who are just overshadowing his scheming. I think that people will figure him out just like I did.
How do you feel about the “First Five” alliance between Kenny, Andrew, Arlie, Sabrina and Sarah?
Looking back, I could believe it now. Kudos to them! Great game and strategy. I tip my hat off to them. Good for you guys. I am not mad at anybody’s game, honey. If I’m mad at anything, it’s the personal stuff.
Kenny was playing the entire house – he’s actually gay.
[Laughs] Kenny’s gay! What! I am still shocked. I cannot believe wildebeest Kenny is gay. When I walked into the house, I was so upset. I was like, “Where is my gay best friend? Where is he Big Brother Canada?” All along he was there, hiding in plain sight.
Why couldn’t you girls work together and take these guys down?
Honestly, the girls couldn’t work together because there was that First Five alliance which two of the girls were already in. The girls’ alliance was fake all along. It wasn’t going to work for that reason and because clearly, I could not stand those girls. I would have worked with them, but I could not stomach them.
Any regrets from your time as HoH? Looking back, do you feel that you should have put up Andrew and Kenny?
Of course! I’m going to be losing sleep over it. I should have put them up. It wasn’t like I was gunning after Heather. She busted her knee and if she left the game, it wouldn’t ruffle any feathers. By keeping Paul, it would give me more numbers in the game to go after big players. I also felt that if I nominated Andrew and Kenny for eviction, I’d have a big target on my back in week three, which is early in the game and I would have had to fight all the way to the end. I didn’t want that. I wanted to keep Paul, have the numbers and have other people do the dirty work for me instead of making myself the obvious threat. What happens when you make a big move like that, even the people who are with you begin to see you as a threat and they will take your ass out!
Your friendship with Adel happened gradually and it was very sweet.
Adel is a boss. He’s admirable. He’s such a leader and stands by people and doesn’t care if others don’t like it. During my HoH, we bonded and I was completely, 100% loyal to him. I would have ride or died with that guy. No word of a lie. I love Adel.
Kyle’s gone, Paul’s gone and now you’re gone. Are you worried that Adel will be all alone inside the house?
Adel will make it work, honey. Canada is HoH this week, so Adel has life in this game. People are voting until 10 p.m. ET tonight! He also has that Power of Veto card! Adel has life in this game and I’m hoping that the big alliances will target each other and he’ll get through to the very end. I will be there cheering him on.
Tell us, Ika – who should Canada put up for eviction this week?
Honey, I’m going to say it loud and proud: Canada, put up Andrew, Kenny or Sabrina! They nee to go up on the block and I would love to see Sabrina cry on the block! Put them up! Change the game and give the underdogs a fair game. Take them out!
To vote for this week’s nominees, head to BigBrotherCanada.ca.
Big Brother Canada airs Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays at 9 p.m. ET, The Big Brother Canada Side Show airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET and Big Brother Canada After Dark airs nightly from 2 a.m. to 5 a.m. ET on Slice. Viewers can watch live feeds of the house at BigBrotherCanada.ca.
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