Pop Crave spoke with the third evicted houseguest of Big Brother 25, Hisam Goueli, following his elimination on Thursday night’s episode.
Check out the full exit interview below!
Things were going back and forth prior to the eviction, with Felicia even proposing a possible flip against Cameron just hours before. What were those last few moments before going live like? Did you know you were going home?
I think it was really tense. I think they were trying really hard. I think that they put in good effort. They had done that for the 24 hours prior to the live show. You’re always hopeful that something good will come out of it. I hugged Cirie right before the live show happens, and I know it’s over. But it doesn’t mean that I’m still not going to try, which is what I do in my speech. I think sometimes people can be persuaded at the last moment. The problem is that you’re trying to persuade six people who have basically not talked to each other and who are trying to preserve their games. It’s a really hard thing to do in the last few minutes.
As a live feeder, some fans felt that the issues The Professors had with you could have been resolved much earlier but only happened once you were on the block. Why do you think they avoided confronting you for so long?
Yeah, I think that I have a very strong point of view, right? And I’m a really direct person. Sometimes people can be intimidated by that. That is something that I struggle with, just in life in general. I think that people think I can’t respond to feedback, but I love feedback because I think it demonstrates that people care about you. The truth of the matter is that a simple conversation would have fixed all of this, right? But you have to present that you can listen to it. I feel like people felt like they couldn’t do that, especially because I was so focused on getting Reilly out. I think it skewed their perspective. It skewed them to think that I was so dogmatic, sole dictator, or directive that I was inflexible, and that was anything but.
The way you handled your HoH last week was refreshing and something we don’t typically see anymore on Big Brother. Why was it important for you to take such a route of honesty in your 1-on-1s?
Because I’m a doctor! I take care of patients, and they need to know they can trust me. If they see me on television, basically lying and deceiving people, then they will ask if I’m lying and deceiving them. I didn’t want that. So, I knew when I walked into the game that I wanted to be transparent. I wanted to be loyal, I wanted to be honest, I wanted to be direct, and I was also trying to be kind. When I made the mistake with Reilly, I stopped being kind. That’s ultimately what leads to my downfall, right? What leads to my downfall is that I forget this part of my humanity. Even though I tried to fix it by a heartfelt apology, the damage is done, and it is too late. When you normally have time to reflect on things, you’re like, “Okay, this was said out of haste.” But in the Big Brother house when you’re trying to figure out how you’re gonna get someone out, a small thing like this turns into a big thing. That big thing eventually leads to a backdoor and an eviction.
Some people took issue with you scheming against the identity-based alliances formed between you, Izzy and Blue, and another with Jag. What was your plan for navigating those relationships, specifically with Jag and Blue, whom you’ve been vocal about targeting?
Yeah, I didn’t really have a plan. The truth of the matter is what connects you connects you, right? And that’s outside of the game. Outside of the game, you have connection with people, and you’re trying to basically find connection in a place where you’re meeting strangers, and some of that is around your identity. It wasn’t my plan to weaponize that. I think that people misconstrued that. I think that’s a really easy thing to do when you’re feeling a little bit tense or stressed, is to basically perceive that someone is being manipulative in a hateful or hurtful way. That wasn’t what I was doing. I was just trying to find a way that we could connect. The truth of the matter is that there’s always a way of connecting with people. Sometimes it’s around identities, sometimes certain professions, sometimes around age, sometimes it’s around family, right? But that’s what that was about. It wasn’t in order to weaponize it, to use it, or manipulate it.
Your relationship with Cory felt a bit contentious at times, especially during the first week of the game. How would you describe your relationship with him now?
You know, my relationship with Cory is complicated, right? We originally started saying that we would work together at the beginning. He then joins the eight-person alliance that makes me feel sort of on the outs. I get the sense that he’s being disingenuous or dishonest. He asked questions that seemed really naive or like… trying to find ways of relating in a weird way. And it just felt a little off-putting to me. I had a hard time basically getting past that because I’m an honest person, right? Like, I don’t bullshit, right? I’m like, “Here’s the truth, right?” Like, if we’re not jiving, we’re not jiving. That’s just kind of how it is, right? Which is why I’m so vocal about who I want out of the house, right? I’m not going to pretend or try to build relationships with people I am targeting. I think that’s disingenuous. I wanted people to know me as someone who was loyal, true, honest, and directive, and I was playing the game that way.
So, you found out about Jared and Cirie being related. And you might know this by now, but Izzy is aware of that relationship. How do you think you would have grappled with that information had you been aware of it in the game?
I think I would have fully accepted it, right? The truth of the matter is that because they’re there, they’re not going to target each other. The best that you can do is try to figure out how you can work that relationship to best further your game and how they will keep you safe. That is the truth, right? You can’t hurt someone or harm someone because there’s a relationship. At some point in time, of course, that’s going to come out, and people are going to make decisions of what they’d like to do. For me, especially at the beginning when I was evicted, this is a numbers game, right? Which is why evicting me doesn’t make sense, right? Or why trying to backdoor me doesn’t make sense now. I think there would have been ample opportunity to basically get me out later. I think that the double eviction would have been a perfect time, or even later in the game, they would have been able to wait to get me out. You can only win so much and stay protected for so long.
The Pressure Cooker Head of Household actually just ended a few minutes before this call, and Cameron won! What are your instant thoughts?
Good for Cameron.
Check out the video format of our interview with Hisam here.
New episodes of Big Brother air Sunday and Wednesday nights at 8/7c and Thursday nights at 9/8c on CBS.
