Controversial houseguest Jack Matthews was evicted in Thursday’s (August 8) episode of Big Brother. We spoke to Jack before he was sent to the jury house to clarify his comments towards Kemi and Bella, how Christie’s days in the house are numbered and his criteria for crowning a winner.
Following your eviction, Julie showed you some controversial clips where you said some derogatory things about Kemi and Bella. Were you surprised to find this a topic of discussion?
Yes and no. At the time I did not believe my comments were controversial. As far as the first statement with Kemi, in retrospect, that was an ignorant statement. At the time and in the moment, I thought that phrase was expressing frustration but I can see now how that could have been seen as an aggressive statement. As far as Bella, when I had made that statement [“rice pudding”] it had no correlation to her ethnicity.
Knowing coming out of it that it has been tied into that, I will never be able to apologize enough for the interpretation that was given upon what I said. The reference to what I said was based on comments earlier in the evening that the diet Tommy, Christie, Michie and Kat were on, which was slop, recipes were being created of all different sorts and pudding was a new dessert that was brought up. A rice style pudding that was actually slop pudding. Locking back at it, with now the mentioning of Bella and the rice-pudding, I never made a connection until I came out of the house. And for that I am incredibly sorry to Bella if she was offended in any shape or form as well as anybody else that was offended by my statement at the time.
Can you see how your alliance’s role in targeting and evicting David, Kemi and Ovi may have helped some people’s perspective that those controversial comments had racial overtones?
The order of how the evictions played out, which was David, Ovi, Kemi, and Bella — David wasn’t targeted, he was banished as a group of 4 at the beginning of the season, that was total chance. Kemi had a vendetta out for me, and I for her. I just happened to win the HOH that week and Bella was caught playing both sides. Sam was too. For Kemi and Ovi, I could understand how it could have been perceived, but again, it had nothing to do with their race.
As a member of the jury, what would be the key characteristics you are looking for in terms of helping crown a winner?
Best fame play. Performance in competing… Something that I couldn’t do! [Laughs]
You put Jessica up on the block in week 2. How does it feel being evicted during her reign as HOH? Was that a smart move for her?
Absolutely. She got the best of me. She won the HOH and she won the POV. She won fair and square and it’s an honour to go out this way.
With your big alliance split, which half do you see going further? Tommy/Christie or Michie/Holly?
I think Christie’s days are numbered. I believe in Tommy’s journey but I hope Michie does well and Holly is an incredible player. With that being said, I think Tommy will do great. [Laughs]
If you could have made one move differently, what would it have been?
Day 44 [the day Sam was evicted] — keep my mouth shut until after the vote.
Big Brother airs Sundays at 8 p.m., Wednesdays at 8 p.m. and Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on Global in Canada and on CBS in the U.S. Canadians can watch episodes online at GlobalTV.com, through the Global Go app, and on demand.
