Ameerah Jones is the third houseguest to leave the Big Brother season 24 house. In our first exit interview of the season, we chat with Ameerah about how surprised she is about ‘The Leftovers’ alliance, the bullying in the house, and why the Girls’ alliance was so against Taylor.
How surprised were you to find out about ‘The Leftovers’ alliance?
Ugh! I was disgusted! So, I knew there was something going on in the house, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Once I saw who was in ‘The Leftovers’ [following the eviction on Thursday’s episode], I was very surprised. It was unexpected, I can tell you that!
Why were ‘The Girls’ so against Taylor? How did that divide happen?
We were in the back, talking – Taylor and Nicole were excluded because they were always talking to the guys. They were hanging out with them. So, in our minds, we thought that the strategic way to go about this is to not include the girls who hung out with the guys because they were going to blow up our spot.
We also felt like if we had all the girls that it would be a little fishy. That was the other thing. These are the girls we felt comfortable being with, the other ones were schmoozing with the guys. “This is it, let’s just have our girls’ group right here.”
You were there when Taylor spoke to Nicole before Veto and there was this misunderstanding that led to a very heated confrontation with Daniel. Knowing the truth, why didn’t you speak up and defend Taylor?
At that moment, I was trying to balance playing the game and being strategic, but also trying to be like a good human – at the same time, I’m lying, cheating, and manipulating! So, it’s all about the optics in this game. At that moment, I never had thought about this thing before. I felt like it was wrong, but I also wondered if I was missing something. Was there something that I just don’t understand or didn’t hear? I heard him yelling at her. It was all wrong.
How I decided to handle it personally, was to talk to everyone individually. I talked to Daniel, and I told him that I thought what he did was wrong. Even though he disagreed with me, he still respected my opinion.
I talked to Nicole and told her that I didn’t hear it that way. I also talked to Taylor and told her that I was completely on her side, I didn’t agree with [what happened], and that I was going to tell other people as well. And that’s what I did.
I felt that for my game and my morals, I tried to find a medium as best as I could in that situation. Could I have handled it better? I’m absolutely sure that I could have. I wish I did. But, at that moment, that’s how I felt was the best way I could handle it or go about protecting my game and getting people hurt in such a crazy situation.
Tanner referred to the bullying in the house during the Power of Veto Ceremony, looking back is that something that you agree with? Do you think that Taylor was actually bullied?
I think that there were definitely some moments of bullying. It kept building up. In the beginning, the whole house was against Taylor because a rumour had started – whether it’s true or not, I don’t know, I haven’t seen it – both Monte and Paloma spread a rumour about Taylor. They were both in my alliance, so I trusted them. From there, the whole house said it was ridiculous, “She can’t do that! She can’t bully Paloma!”
People would hear things from Taylor or say that Taylor would do things to them. It just kept getting added to a list to a point where it was like “Taylor is a wild card. She’s doing crazy things. Let’s just get her out of the house.”
A lot of it was built on hearsay, but hearsay from people who you trusted and were in your alliances. It got worse. This last week was ridiculous. That was the heightened moment of it all.
Who are you hoping catches on to ‘The Leftovers’ alliance?
I don’t think anyone is going to catch on. Who am I hoping catches on… I’m hoping all the girls catch on. I want them all to catch on. But I don’t think they will.
I know that Nicole doesn’t trust Monte as far as she can throw him. The girls are definitely going to be on to Joseph because he is always with the girls, he was always aligned with us. All the girls trust him! So, the fact that he didn’t vote for me, he just put a target on his back!
I’m not sure they are going to catch on exactly – especially having Brittany in the Girls’ group. She’s going to be able to get information and that’s what she does. She takes information, twists it a little bit, and brings it back to the other group. I think that they’ll have a hard time catching on!
Big Brother airs Sundays & Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT and Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CBS and Global. Canadians can catch up on demand, STACKTV, the Global TV app, and GlobalTV.com.
