Pop Crave spoke with the fifth evicted houseguest of Big Brother 25, Izzy Gleicher, following her elimination on Thursday night’s episode.
Check out the full exit interview below!
Your speech seemed to harken back to your conversation about confidence with Cirie in the Have-Not Room. Was it inspired by her?
This whole week, I felt like I was fighting for all of us, you know? And so I think when I knew it was my time to go, I just had that realization that this is who I am, this is how I play this game, and I think that that sentiment is incredibly valuable in the game. It’s not valued enough. An individual game doesn’t mean you actually do it alone. It just felt important to share. I mean, I was hoping maybe Bowie would latch on to any of it [laughs], but that was really a speech for Cirie.
Do you think your fandom for Cirie clouded your judgment in how you played the game and navigated relationships early in the game?
I don’t think so. I hope it didn’t come off this way. I’m a huge fan, but I’m not like the fan girl type. I don’t care about fame or celebrities. The minute I met her and we had our first conversation, I was like, “Damn, this person is someone that I really connect with,” and so if she wasn’t Cirie – the G.O.A.T. Cirie – we still would have become a dynamic duo absolutely. So no, I don’t regret any of that. I don’t think it was bad for me at all.
This is the third week in a row that a member of The Professors has been voted out. Have you had any second thoughts or regrets about evicting Hisam and Red?
Oh, no! I mean, The Professors was dead the minute Hasim was HoH, which maybe seems counterintuitive, but no. Hasim needed to go, Red needed to go. I am proud of all of those evictions.
You’ve always been crystal clear about how you felt about Cameron in the house. Do you think you’d ever be open to mending things and forming a friendship outside of the game?
I don’t need that. I don’t need that at all. I think also, the way I played the game is like… the hypocrisy of not sort of understanding the mutual relationships between people. We can play the game, but it’s actually okay that we’re not friends. I have people that I am friends with, and people that I love in and out of the game, and I don’t need there to be 17 of them.
What went down before the live show? How did you find out about the blowup between Jared and Cory in the Have-Not Room?
I mean, I knew I was out the door the night before, for sure. I don’t know a lot of details about the fight. I think Cirie was protecting me in that way. I knew it was happening. You know, I’m not surprised by Jared’s behavior or involvement in the fight. I think, in his way, that was his way of, for lack of a better word, fighting for me. I don’t think he went about it in the right way, but I can appreciate the love. I feel betrayed by Cory. I know Cirie wishes that we had played the veto. I know that she wishes that she was talking to you right now, and I was still in the house. I know that 100%. But it was my choice. If I had said to Jared, “Play the veto,” he would have played it. It was my series of mistakes that brought me here, and so I can’t… I have to live with it, and it’s okay.
Did you know Jared wasn’t going to vote for you to stay? What was the status of where you thought the votes lied before the live show?
No, no, I knew he was gonna vote me out. I’m just extremely proud of Cirie for voting for me. We were the same in the sense of, like, anyone that wants us to be scared of them, we’re not going to let them. We’re not going to be scared of them. Cameron begged – not begged, but Cameron tried to get Cirie to vote me out conversations ago, like days ago and being like, “The only path forward for me and you is if you vote out Izzy,” and she’s like, “I don’t need a path forward with you.” Like, who are you? So, she asked me. She was like, “What should I do?” And I told her that I thought it would be giving him the power, and so you decide: do you want to give him the power or not? And I’m extremely proud that she voted for me.
You’ve had multiple conversations with yourself throughout the season where you felt you were possibly playing a losing game to take Jared and Cirie far into the game. How far did you intend on taking them?
Final three! I was never lying about that. Yes, I grappled with it, but I also respected and trusted mine and Cirie’s relationship enough to talk about it as much as I needed with her. We talked a lot about what would happen at final three. I think she would have thrown final HoH, and I think me and Jared would have been sitting in the final two chairs. So no, I was not playing a losing game. I would have beat Jared at final two.
Blue is full-on targeting Jared at this point. Do you think she is capable of really going through with a move like that?
Blue?! Blue is saying that?! I mean, that’s dumb! I mean, that’s dumb on her part! Jared is her only… What is wrong with these people? It’s just wild to me. Okay. I mean, you know, I knew that my eviction… I knew that if it was Cirie, I would have been right out the door. I know that Cirie and Jared, now that people really know how aligned Jared, Cirie, and I were, I think it’s going to be an extremely tough road. Him winning HoH buys them a week, but I think it’s scary.
With Jared being the new HoH, what do you think his best move would be to set himself up for safety in the double eviction and beyond?
I mean, I don’t know if she has much sway in the house. Whether or not she says it or tries, I don’t know how much that will get her, but I do know that Jared is already on thin ice. If his showmance is willing to even say that she would think about getting him out, I think that’s gonna be really hard for him. I don’t know if it’ll be considered Blue’s move, but yeah. She would vote him out, I guess.
With Jared being the new HoH, what do you think the best move to set himself up for the double eviction and beyond would be?
Well, you know that I go back and forth all the time. But right this moment, I think Cory and America should be on the block, and the plan should still be to backdoor Cam.
Check out the video format of our interview with Izzy here.
New episodes of Big Brother air Sunday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights on CBS.
