The TV Watercooler had the opportunity to interview Big Brother Canada season 11 winner Terrel “Ty” McDonald to chat about why he didn’t speak out about Hope’s letter from home sooner, if he regrets any move, and which jury vote surprised him the most.
What was the hardest competition?
I would probably say physically, “Can’t Slap on Slop.”
Outside of physical, it would probably have been one of the trivia ones. Even though I did pull out a win, the trivia ones were the ones that challenged me the most because I’m standing beside super-fans and then people like Claudia and Renee who have studied this game. Here I am, trying to figure the game out as I go.
I was at a serious disadvantage standing next to people like that. Those were the ones that were the most taxing for me in terms of keeping up with those guys.
Were you really considering self-evicting with Zach?
Honestly, I genuinely was. I’m happy that I didn’t, obviously.
There were factors that kept me in the house, and I needed them to keep pushing through. You know, a part of it was that I knew it meant a lot to my family and my friends to see me on TV and see me do my thing.
So, that was part of it. And then Claudia and I were starting off with our relationship, so I didn’t want to go knowing that we could possibly work together and then leave her high and dry.
The last part of it was my pride. I was like man; these guys just forced my right-hand guy out of the door! I want my revenge! Let’s play this game!
It was a multifaceted kind of decision, but nonetheless, I’m happy that I decided to stay because it led me to where I am right now, and that’s talk to you as the winner of season 11.
Why didn’t you speak up when you first heard that Hope had a letter from home?
This has been my case from the start. Hope was somebody that I thought I was looking out for the entire time. I think that he had a rough start. He rubbed a lot of people the wrong way, you know, in week one, and people were like “This guy has to go because he’s not here to play the game. He’s just here to make noise.”
I saw him as somebody who I wanted to see do well in this game. I wanted to see representation.
I thought people were judging too quickly. I could tell that he was younger, or at least that’s the way he was acting. He was younger and I didn’t want him to get kicked out just because he was overly excited or stimulated by this experience. So, I made sure that I vouched for him as much as I could.
Leading up to the point where he showed me the letter, I knew that he was already considering going home because he was homesick, so I just told him, “Bro, I don’t want you to leave, but if you seriously do want to go home, just tell me beforehand so that we can plan your exit so that it doesn’t completely shatter our game,” because he was ultimately a number for us and he’s a competitor that I felt I could rely on in the game. I wanted to be allowed to set something up where I could have been protected [from his exit].
I threw the competition so he could give my boy a win before he leaves because I felt that he deserved to have a win. Up to that point, he was throwing himself on the block trying to get home. There was also $5,000 that he could have won, so I thought, “That’s perfect. He gets sot to win $5,000 and gets to go home and be happy with the experience and what he’s accomplished and it’s not going to ruin my game.”
And then, of course, he decides to change his mind and use the veto on himself!
So now you know how it threw my game for a whirlwind! That was the kind of controversy behind it.
Was there any move you made that felt dirty to you or that you regretted?
The only things that are on my conscience is the fact that I lied to Claudia about saving Shanaya and then top of it, lying to Anika saying that I would send Claudia home.
I lied to Claudia, and it was genuinely in her best interest because Shanaya was the most protected person in that house and at that point, if I had gone, Claudia would have become the target. I didn’t like the fact that I had to lie to her for her to see what I was trying to tell her.
On the flip side, with Anika, I didn’t like that I lied to her to keep Claudia safe. I don’t regret that either because at that moment, Claudia was in my final two and I had to protect my final two.
I kept Anika safe by lying to Claudia and I kept Claudia safe, so I don’t regret any of it because I protected both of the people that I lied to.
Your relationship with Claudia had its ups and downs and yet she brought you to the final 2. How did you convince her to bring you stead of Daniel and do you think it would have worked out like this?
I can’t say that I pitched or convinced her, she made the decision on her own. I didn’t control her game by any means. She’s a super-strong player and is able to think on her own about what she wants to do.
At that point in the game, especially after I forced her to take Shanaya out, she had to really consider who she wanted to go to the end with.
I think that we both respect each other enough to say that if we were to both go to the final two together, we would be proud to say that we stood beside the next strongest competitor and lost to them.
I would be proud to say that I stood beside Claudia and lost to her because I know how strong of a player she was, and I can be happy losing to that type of player.
And I think she has the same level of respect for me and my game, knowing what I have gone through in the past few months to get to that point and I’m happy and proud that she was confident enough in her game to stand beside me and bring me with her.
It wasn’t the other way around. I didn’t bring her, she brought me to the finale, and I’ll never take that away from her.
Whose jury vote surprised you the most?
Definitely Johnny! I knew Dan was a wild card because of his relationship with Shanaya, I thought that maybe she would have been able to sway his vote for Claudia.
I knew that Johnny felt a certain way about a move I made against Rob. I completely understood that and explained it to him as much as possible without going into greater petty details about it. So, for Johnny to get past that and see the game that I played and how honest I tried to play my game, really meant a lot to me and I appreciate Johnny so much for that!
Check out The TV Watercooler‘s full Big Brother Canada season 11 coverage here.