Big Brother 8: Interview with Carol - "I had no strategy"

[hepcat]

All too quickly, a houseguest is on the way out the door of the Big Brother house. For 21-year-old Carol Journey, a cheerleader from Kansas and state senator’s daughter, the dream of a summer filled with tanning and small talk by the pool was cut short when she found herself nominated in the very first week. In her quest to win votes, she ran up against hamsters who had already bonded, an old rival who hadn’t changed since middle school, and one houseguest who told her that God had sent her a sign – and it wasn’t in Carol’s favor. Fresh off the front steps, Carol shares her impression of the Big Brother experience.

Hello Carol, it’s a pleasure to talk to you today!

Hi! Nice to talk to you, too!

Less than three weeks ago you were home. Did you expect to be seeing home again so soon?

Um, kind of, to be quite honest.

Yeah?

Yeah, I really did. I didn’t think I would be the first one out, I thought maybe I would be third or fourth. But you know, you take what you can get.

What were your expectations going into the house?

Honestly, I had no expectations. I basically just went in with an open mind and just wanted to take an experience home with me. I wanted to be able to be a part of something that very, very few people can say they were ever a part of. Just a different kind of experience to be grateful for, I guess.

What was your strategy -- to make friends, to play other people off each other, or…?

[sheepishly] I had no strategy. (laughs) I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked this question this morning, it’s kind of funny. I honestly did not prepare myself for this game. I wasn’t ready to play. I didn’t have the right kind of competitiveness that I needed for this game. I went in with no strategy just hoping to make the best of the situation and hoping to make a strategy day-by-day, and cope and adjust to the situations and the events that arose. Whatever presented itself, I would run with it, is kind of what I was hoping for.


Would you have approached it differently now?

The only thing I can say that I would have done differently is that I would have prepared myself. Definitely, I would have taken more advantage of the situation. Had I known Jessica would have been there in the first place, I wouldn’t have gone.

When you say prepare yourself, had you even watched the previous seasons?

I didn’t watch the previous seasons at all. When I was in the process of auditions and whatnot, I watched Season 7, but Season 7 was the only one I watched in its entirety.

And Season 7 was different because they all knew each other.

They all knew each other, they all knew what they were doing, they all had something to go in with already. So yeah, it was definitely hard to base the situation off of that.

Well, the buildup for viewers were the “rivals”. What did you think when you realized was Jessica in the house with you?

(laughs)I thought it was a joke. I was sitting there listening to everyone’s stories before the three were revealed, all their what-ifs and coulda-beens, and all their falling outs and rivals, and I don’t know. They were so much more extreme and impacting than the minor little conflict between me and Jessica. I didn’t think our situation was significant compared to some of the ones I heard.

Did you want to talk about that conflict? I know Julie Chen asked you to explain it, but was it really over five dollars?

She – oh my gosh. I don’t know. We were 13 years old! I don’t remember what the conflict was about. For her to say it was over five dollars, I really think it was a he-said she-said sort of deal. I don’t know what was said, I don’t remember! I was 13. It was seven years ago. We went through four years of high school completely ignoring each other, then we graduated, and she stayed and lived with her mom and dad up until she was 21 years old and I moved out and went to college and did something with my life. (laughs)

When you saw the compilation video they made of Jessica talking about you – were you surprised at how strongly she felt about you? Were you that worked up about her, too?

I was not worked up about her at all. Honestly, her comments just showed she’s just a twelve-year-old girl who is still caught up in middle school. It’s just pathetic, in my opinion. I feel sorry for her to -- I feel sorry for the fact that she thinks it’s still such a significant event in her life that she can still hold a grudge over it, and still be angry and bitter about it. For her to dwell on something that happened seven years ago…

I thought you handled that video last night very well, personally. Being face-to-face with that – that can’t have been easy.

Thank you. I didn’t know how to respond because I didn’t say one mean thing about her in the house. To me she was just another houseguest, someone I didn’t know, and I tried to take her and hopefully put her in the perspective of a completely different person. I was trying to give her the benefit of the doubt and hoping that she had grown up a little bit. But she showed to me and you and everyone that she’s still the exact same person she was in middle school, and that she has nothing better to base her life off of I guess if she’s still talking about some rivalry from when she was 13.

Let’s leave Jessica for the moment. Kail said she picked you and Amber because you fell off your mushrooms first. Did you buy that explanation or did you feel like there was something more to it?

I did buy that explanation just simply because Kail is a good person. She isn’t a person who is going to come up with a strategy off the bat that is going to make her look bad. She’s going to come up with a strategy that the whole house can understand, and in a way that a target isn’t placed on her back. She did a good job of avoiding that situation. Because she put me and Amber up, it was a very easy choice for her. It was the easiest of the choices she had.

Do you think she regrets putting you up?

I do think she regrets putting me up just simply because this past week me and Kail had so many heart-to-heart conversations. I mean, she said in my goodbye message, “Carol, you have a big heart, and you are the one and only person that I want to stay in contact with.” When she said that, I felt that it was meaningful and it meant a lot. It showed that I am a good person and that I had more to offer to the house than what I got to show.

I wanted to ask you – what did you think of Jameka’s reason for voting to keep Amber over you?

The whole, “God gave me a sign?”

Yes. (laughs)

(laughs) Okay, I am a Christian, and I’m a full believer in God’s plan, and … whatever. I don’t know. I can understand why she chose to believe Amber, which is fine, but I honestly think she chose to keep Amber to go with the majority, just to not to be the odd man out. Which is fine – I’m not going to argue, I’m not going to be bitter. I was unnerved, though, that she used God as her reasoning for that whole situation just because, I mean, I don’t know. I am a Christian and I do use God as a reason for a lot of things, but when it comes to an eviction vote? Really? I thought that was pushed to an extreme, to be quite honest.

From your perspective inside the house, could you see alliances forming in the house already?

I could kind of see alliances just because of the way people behaved with each other. I thought I saw an alliance between Jessica, Daniele and Jameka. I’m not sure if that’s true or not, but I saw one. I don’t know. I definitely saw an alliance between the three boys – Mike, Zach and Nick. They made it very clear and obvious to all of the other houseguests that they liked each other, and they spent a lot of time together – working out, pumping iron, bonding. They had that muscle man bond right off the bat together. (laughs)

As a feed watcher, we would sometimes see you break into a dance move or demonstrate something for the other houseguests.

Oh God, they showed that?

Well, that’s the thing – it was on the feeds, but I don’t think it made it on the show. Do you think that sort of thing helps you in the house, or does it make people think you’re a physical threat? Because you’re obviously very fit and trained.

Thank you! I have no idea. I had a few people mention to me that physically I was going to be a strong competitor, just because I am strong and I have a lot of flexibility that other people don’t have. But the competitions – it’s so hard to say that those skills would be advantageous in any manner whatsoever. The way that they put you, the stress – honestly, it has nothing to do with that. Who could not get dizzy on a mushroom? It has nothing to do with physical ability.

What about the day-to-day grind? When people don’t do their dishes or laundry, does that become part of the game?

I don’t know. I tried to take care of myself. I did not want to take care of other people. I cleaned up after myself. I did my own dishes. I did my own laundry, I cleaned my room – I don’t know, all those things that you have to do, I did for myself. Whereas Amber, I mean, she spent two or three hours cleaning the bathroom alone after everyone. People were calling her Cinderella, and I felt like she did that for sympathy because she did that the day or two before we had the eviction votes. Honestly, I really think she did that for her own advantage. She wanted people to see how useful she was to the house. How, if by keeping her here, you won’t have to clean up after yourself because she will do it for you.

I agree with you on that, actually.

Yeah, I don’t know. If that’s what she wants, then go for it because I don’t want to do it. I’m not cleaning up toilets for fourteen people.

Who would you say is really well-liked by everyone in the house?

Honestly, the only person who can be said to be liked by everyone would be Kail. Everyone else at one point or another has rubbed someone the wrong way, said something that someone else hasn’t liked. But Kail has been the only person who has not given anyone any reason to dislike her. The only thing I heard about Kail was from Evil Dick, and it made me angry in a way. He said that Kail had no personality, and that she hadn’t shown a reason she was cast on the show. I thought that was a bunch of crap, to be honest. But other than that, everyone else has said something that gets on everyone’s nerves.

Is there someone that just bugs everybody in the house?

I think Dick gets on everyone’s nerves at one point or another, just because he’s so ill-mannered and crude. He doesn’t really think about the things he says, and doesn’t think about how they are going to affect people – especially his daughter.

Since you’re out of the house now, have you heard about the America’s Player twist and all that?

I heard about that today.

What are your thoughts on that?

It makes sense, honestly. Eric was a vault the entire time. He would not let anyone know anything. And I felt like there had to be some hidden motive behind that. The fact that he was chosen America’s Player definitely proved my theory right. There was a reason for that. It makes sense, and Eric’s a good choice because he’s very, very manipulative, …and also easy to manipulate. (laughs)

Do you think you would have accepted that assignment? I guess you wouldn’t have a choice but to accept.

I have no idea how it was revealed to him. I have no idea how he was chosen to do it.

I didn’t mean to ask that, exactly. I mean, could you have done what he’s doing?

Could I have been America’s Choice Player?

Could you have been able to keep up a double life?

No. (laughs) Absolutely not. I’m the most horrible liar ever. I didn’t tell one lie in that house other than to say I was okay with Jessica being there when I really wasn’t.
But other than that, I was way too honest and way too open. There’s no way I could have. I’m not a deceitful person, and I’m not capable of lying. My father knows that when I lie I laugh. (laughs) I could not have done that. I could not have fulfilled the position of America’s Choice.

Is there that you want the fans to know?

The only thing I want America to know is to please base their opinions of me off of things I said, the things I did, and the way I acted. Not off of the things that Jessica said. Let her show her true colors; let her dig her own grave if that’s what she wants to do. The things she said about me hurt just because she doesn’t even know me anymore. I thought it was very immature of her, but we’ll let America be the judge of that in the long run. Basically, consider the source.

What are your plans for the future?

I’m on a break from summer school. I go to the University of Kansas; I will be a senior next year. I’m really excited to finish off my senior year. I will be getting a degree in business marketing, then, hopefully I will be starting a career, getting my life started. Being an adult.

Do you think you can get back in with your cheerleading job [with the Kansas City Chiefs] or is that gone?

[sadly] That’s gone. The Chiefs are mad at me. It’s a really, really, really tough situation just because I loved it, and I’ve been dancing since I was four, and this will be the first time since I was four years old that I will not have dance in my life. So I’m kind of having withdrawals right now. I’m having a hard time with it. But I had to leave them without telling them why I was leaving.

Oh, I see.

Because they didn’t know they thought I was just quitting, and just giving up my commitment to them. They weren’t happy with me. They told me not to consider trying out again just because I left on such a bad note. And so I know that my position this year is definitely filled because they took an alternate and filled my spot. But I’m hoping that after they see the situation as to why I had to leave, maybe they will understand why I chose Big Brother over the Chiefs.

Tell them that you were promoting the Kansas City Chiefs by being on Big Brother.

I hope I’m promoting the Chiefs! It’s a great organization, and I didn’t say anything bad about it whatsoever. I just hope that if I do stay in Kansas City after I graduate next year they do let me try out and give me another chance. (laughs) That’s all I can hope for.

Thank you for speaking with me today! And many thanks to CBS for giving us access to the houseguests this year.

[Google]

 

[Krom]

Okay, now I actually feel sorry for her.

[Julian Pyke]

I agree with about everything she said. But what the heck kind of perception does she have to think everyone LIKES Kail?

[DesertRose]

She sounds like a nice honest person. Thanks for the great interview hepcat!

[John]

Excellent interview, Hep! I'm so glad we were able to get these, it gives us a lot of good insight.

Carol, if you visit, you went home too soon. I was hoping Amber would go. I can't stand all the crying!

[JLuvs]

Brilliant interview. I wish she had stayed longer.

[MFWalkoff]

What a waste of an eviction. But then, she seems too honest and naive to have lasted too long in the house anyway. But it's a pity she was handed the image she was without any time to correct it (or even defend herself).

[Marleybone]

That was great, hepcat. I really liked Carol and was hoping she would have stayed longer. That's really too bad about the cheerleading, too. I hope they give her another chance if she wants it next year.

[phoenix1964]

She wasn't meant for the game if she thinks everyone likes Kail.

[GabbyG]

Great interview.