Jace Agolli, the 23-year-old personal trainer from Venice Beach was the first houseguest to be evicted on the 17th season of Big Brother. We got the chance to talk to Jace about his eviction, facing off against Audrey and if he regrets trying to manipulate Steve.
What do you think turned off the other house guests from you? Were you a physical threat or did any behaviour in the house maybe rub people the wrong way?
You know, people were definitely afraid of me as a physical threat when we started out. As time got on, I guarantee you that I rubbed people out the wrong way. I am loud, boisterous and consistent with a upbeat demeanour and generally, I’m just trying my best to make the best out of a boring time. People who don’t like that kind of energy at all time get frustrated by it and that’s kind of what happened towards the end of the week. At the beginning, it was just because I was a physical threat.
What was the exact moment you realized that you were being backdoored?
For sure when the veto ceremony ended. That was the only time I knew for sure. I always had a feeling that I was going to be backdoored, especially in the 48 hours before being evicted. Simply because James wouldn’t look me in the eye.
Audrey began getting on everyone’s nerves to the point where James even thought of putting her on the block instead of you. How was she as a player? Should the house be targeting her or are there bigger targets they need to remove first?
She is an excellent player but she got caught up playing way too quickly. She was manipulating everybody and was doing a very good job at it until she went overboard. She kept doing it and didn’t really cut back when she should have. People were considering sending her home way more than me at that time because she could be dangerous and volatile but I didn’t think that it would end up being the move. I think I was always going to be the one to go home. They were more frightened of me in competitions and rightfully so. If they would have put me up on the block originally, there’s no way I would have lost those challenges [to take myself off the block].
Audrey says she’s playing with a clean conscience, but is she really?
She doesn’t have a conscience. Not in the game. She’s playing like Dan Gheesling in Season 14. She’s ruthless. She’s not playing as good as him, but it’s the way she acts. She’s very manipulative. She was able to get me to calm down when I was very frustrated at her and got me to think. She’s very good. It’s even better in real life. TV doesn’t do her justice. I like the chick.
You used intimidation as a means to stay in the game, particularly with Steve. Many who saw the live feeds would even say that you bullied him. You told him that people were making fun of him behind his back and even called him a “little rat.” Do you have any regrets?
First off, I don’t condone bullying in any way, shape or form on the outside of the house. Inside the house, things get a little twisted. I don’t agree with the way it came across. I obviously went in a little bit heavy on Steve and I do regret the intensity factor. What I was trying to do was save myself and Steve had stabbed me in the back prior to that. I was thinking of my favourite mobster movies and thought about what the characters would do in Donnie Brasco or what would Al Pacino do in Scarface. What would Don Corleone do in The Godfather? He wouldn’t exhibit weakness. He would do everything he could to make sure that person doesn’t run him over again.
Steve was already in the plan to backdoor me. He knew about it on Day 2. He admitted that to me. In order to get him back on my side, I had to use tactics that I would have never wanted to use. It obviously wasn’t the best tactic but at the time, I thought that a bit of intimidation would steer him over and get him to stay [on my side]. For the record, I absolutely love Stevie and I would love nothing more than to see him win the whole game.
People will see that Steve and I are friends. In his eviction message, he said “I vote to evict my good friend Jace,” which is true. Prior to me being evicted he came into my room and gave me a hug and told me how much he loved me and I said the same thing to him. We’re very good friends.
I really can’t wait until people get to see that we’re friends. It’s kind of frustrating for me because people don’t get that because they’re not in there. I got bullied in school growing up, so it sucks to get pinned as one. Once they see that we’re friends, I think it’ll be all good.
The three adjectives that you described yourself before going into the house were “clever, mighty, and brave.” Looking back, do you still think those attributes are still applicable?
Those attributes are always going to applicable to Jace. 100% of the time.
Big Brother airs Sundays and Wednesdays at 8 p.m. and Thursdays at 9 p.m. on Global and CBS.
