Exclusives

Big Brother Exit Interview: Da’Vonne Rogers

da'vonne rogers big brother exit interview all stars
da'vonne rogers big brother exit interview all stars

Da’Vonne Rogers is the second All-Star to head to the Big Brother jury house this season. We caught up with Da’Vonne following her eviction on Thursday (September 24) night to discuss how she’s struggling with Nicole’s decision to flip the vote on Ian, how the odds are stacked against people of colour in the game, and her iconic GIF.

Do you think Nicole came for more than just your wig? How much did you really trust her at the end?

Leaving the house, I did not trust her at all. I wanted her to know that I appreciated the steps that she was taking to rectify everything that had happened between her and I in season 18, but part of me still felt like [there was something off with the vote to evict Ian]. “Something is just not right!” Coming out of the house and finding out that she actually did flip on the vote. I’m struggling with that. There’s a lot of respect lost because I came to her personally [to ask]. On a personal level, I’m struggling right now. Who knows what’s going to happen at the end of this game, but right now in this moment, I’m definitely struggling.

da'vonne rogers big brother exit interview all stars

She had you accusing David, something that you were not comfortable doing. Will you talk about it with Ian?

This one is hard… because, personally, it was a struggle. I explained to Nicole how important it was for me to not argue and bash David on national television. I didn’t want to do that. I did not want that at all. I explained that to her, but she was still compelled to lie to me. I had even given her an out for game purposes, where she could still tell me the truth and not sabotage her game. Again, I’m struggling with it right now. I will forgive her, of course, but a conversation is going to have to happen. I’m feeling that she felt that her game was more important than me asking her to take my morals into consideration. She felt like this game was more important than that bigger picture. So that I have a problem with.

da'vonne rogers big brother exit interview all stars

Tyler and Nicole both admitted to the alliance of six, did this revelation do them favours (with the way you’d vote) as you head to jury?

I love when people tell me the truth about what’s going on! One, because I’m nosy! [Laughs] So, I finally get to know what’s going on. And two, because it confirmed what I already knew. I knew there was this big alliance and the only person [in it] that I didn’t know about was Memphis. That caught me off guard. But everyone else [in it] were obvious because they’d meet in public and would have meetings in the same rooms. They weren’t slick about it.

I think that it did help, going into the jury house. But they both have other personal layers that conflict with what they’ve got going on in the game. So, for me, personally, I don’t know. We’ll see how this season goes. I don’t see myself putting either one of their keys in the box right now. I don’t see it!

da'vonne rogers big brother exit interview all stars

You’ve said that people of colour are at a disadvantage in this game. Can you talk more about why that is and what steps could be taken to stop that?

I do feel that people of colour are at a very high disadvantage in the game. We’re coming into this environment and there are 16 castmates and there are only one or two, or in this case 4, that look like me. Then we have all the rest of them who are able to mix and mingle. They’re immediately able to gravitate towards each other and can easily acclimate. Tyler comes in the house and everyone gravitates towards him. Nicole is Nicole and everyone immediately gravitates towards her. But for me, it’s like “Oh, I’ve got to feel her out. I’ve got to see what she’s about.” You would see Dani, Tyler, Nicole and Cody just out, having fun, enjoying the summer. We would whisper about it and say, “Something is going on [between them].” But with us, on day one, Bayleigh and I couldn’t even say “Hey girl! How are you doing? Nice to meet you!” without people saying, “We know you guys are going to play together.”

It was vocally said that us two were going to work together. And we were like “Why, because we’re black?” [Laughs] “So we’re automatically going to work together? I don’t know if I like this girl or not!” It got to the point where Bayleigh and I couldn’t even just hang out without people assuming that we were doing stuff [game related]. We couldn’t do anything, without people saying “We know you’re working together, it’s automatic that you guys are working together.” Because they know, that if there’s more than one of us here, we’re going to gravitate towards each other because we’ve got to hold each other today. If not, we’re going to be picked off. 

It sucks! It sucks that in this game, African Americans are out pre-jury or we’re the first person in the jury house. We haven’t been seen sitting in the final two chairs since Danielle Reyes in Season 3. It’s Season 22! So, that’s a problem. Just in like real life. We have to work harder than everybody else. It is an uphill battle. It’s a struggle. It’s discouraging… but we come in and we fight! We fight like hell.

I do agree that there should be more inside the house. It’s not fair or even across the board. I would love to come in the Big Brother house where there’s 16 [players] and there’s 8 of us. Just make it even. I doesn’t even have to be 8 because that’s an exaggeration. Just give us a shot so that we don’t have to be the targets. Bayleigh left pre-jury because “somebody had to go.” They had to get one of us out. I would have been the first person in jury, but I won that veto. Praise God that I won that veto! Now, the next week, here I am. I’m concerned about David. But we’ll see. I hope that more of us can get cast. I’m concerned about Kevin too.

I thought that coming into this season, I thought that if there more of us coming in together [we might have stood a chance], but that didn’t really work. It’s hard to play this game as a person of colour. It’s hard… But, it’s not impossible!  

Your previous eviction is an iconic GIF. When did you realize how popular it was on the Internet? It is pure joy. SO many people love to use it, even if they’ve never watched Big Brother!

It’s so crazy! This GIF literally hit and ran! People would never know it’s from Big Brother unless you watch the show. I have had people who have come up to me in public and say “You’re that girl…that girl from…” I’d go, “Yeah, I’ve played that season of Big Brother!” And they’re like “No, what? You’re that girl with the door! You’re coming out of the door!” 

I get recognized for the GIF more than the actual show! I didn’t realize that it had taken off, because it took off when I was in Season 18 and that was my exit from Season 17. So, when I got off the show, everyone was like “Do you know that you’re a viral GIF?” and I was like, “What did I do?”

So, when I found out that it was my eviction [clip] from Season 17, I was like, “Wow!” I see it everywhere. I do wish I could collect the cheque every time it’s used! I would love to get the coin! I love it though; I think it’s so fun.

Big Brother: All-Stars airs Sundays, Wednesdays & Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Global and CBS. Canadians can catch up with episodes on the Global TV app, on demand and at GlobalTV.com. Click here for more Big Brother coverage.

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