Pop Crave spoke with the fourth evicted houseguest of Big Brother 25, Red Utley, following his elimination on Thursday night’s episode.
Check out the full exit interview below!
Yesterday in the comic room, you mentioned having select words for your fellow houseguests in the event you were evicted. You left on a high note, though, so we didn’t see that happen. Overall, what are your feelings about your eviction and how the game is being played this season?
Honestly, I mean, it’s Big Brother… You can’t really expect too much, and if you do, you’ll just be disappointed. I did have some things that I was going to say, but ultimately, it felt better just to leave it unsaid. I didn’t want to go out being looked at in a certain light or feeling like I was being… I don’t really know the word. I didn’t want to feel like I left in a negative manner. I wanted to be as much of a positive imprint on my houseguests and America that I could be, so ultimately, I kept that to myself.
The target seemed to shift back onto you when you vocalized being open to patching things up with Cameron after he won veto. Throughout the game, how much did you consider your allegiance to him being viewed as a threat to the house?
Honestly… I never told Jared that I was going to be realigning with him. All I did say was that I’d be having a conversation with him, and I think that’s what raised those red flags and ultimately led to my demise in the house. Maybe I shouldn’t have been so honest, but I can’t be mad at myself for sticking to my moral values, you know?
At one point in the week, you said you were going to use the veto on Cameron if you won and that you wanted the house to evict you if you were to sit next to him on Thursday. What motivated those thoughts, and how serious were you about pursuing them?
Honestly, I told him that if it comes down to it. Because ultimately, my alliance didn’t trust him as much as they trusted me. I felt that him being my final two, it was important to keep him around. I knew that if maybe I used it on him, I had enough trust in my alliance that they would put up somebody else and we had a backdoor option. So, had I won, I would have been put into the position – even after hearing of what I thought was betrayal – to still do that for him. That was a lot of my concern in playing that veto. But I still went after it, as I do with every other competition at 125%. But I would have done what I had to do, because that’s what I said I’d do.
There was a moment during Cameron’s first HOH where he suggested targeting the power structure of Cirie, Izzy, and the comic room, but you dissuaded him from doing that. If he were to make a move against them this week, who do you think his target would be?
Well, I didn’t get to talk to him a lot in the last week as you’ve seen, but based on just what I know, I would feel better and feel better for him and his game if he would target Izzy. She is the biggest danger, in my opinion, to his game. She is very much not his biggest fan and has let it be known across the whole house. Getting her out, I think, will be key to him moving forward.
On a game level, the house seems to be very anti-America, and you’ve also spoken about wanting to target her. What about her do you think the house finds so distrusting?
Well, I think she’s just a super fan. I think the information that she provides is very vague, and you can just tell that she’s trying to stay in the middle. It’s almost like she’s floating, but you know she has the tools to not be. She’s very smart, a good competitor, and all those things are things that raise red flags in the Big Brother house. Those were my reasons for distrusting her, and she was on the other side of the house. I was with a majority that weren’t feeling America.
You spoke a bit about your undying loyalty for Cirie throughout the game, but she has been one of the most prominent voices in trying to get you on the block with Cameron. How shocked have you been to learn that she’s been plotting against you for so long?
Very shocked! The woman told me and assured me multiple times that me and her would go far, even down to the very end. If it came down to it, she would choose me to be a part of the alliance even more so than Izzy. And then she even said at one point, “Over my dead carcass will you leave this house,” and reiterated multiple times: “carcass.” So, it’s definitely a shock and a surprise, and honestly, she’s the person I feel most betrayed by at the end of the day.
It seems that Cameron wants to put up Blue and Jag as his initial nominees. How good of a move do you feel that will be for him moving forward?
I mean, honestly, it is… The other side of the house is dwindling down the numbers. Hopefully he’s not still putting his faith in Legend 25, but they’re doing a good job of keeping things secret, so you can’t blame the guy. Jag has been a target for weeks. It’s the least amount of blood on his hands, and that’s the game he needs to be trying to play moving forward because he’s already got a very large target on his back.
Knowing all that you know now, is there one person you’d like to see out the door next?
Knowing what I know now, I’d still like to see Izzy go. I think seeing her leave is better for Cam’s game, and ultimately, I’d like to see him go to the end.
There were many instances where you were left out of conversations. For example, you were left out when Felicia initially wanted to backdoor Hisam. Did you ever consider branching outside of The Professors or Legend 25 and forming something more solid?
Well no, not really, because I had pledged my loyalty to those alliances. And I’m one of those types of guys that when I’m in, I’m all in, but if I’m out, I’m all the way out. And I think you saw that with me and Cam. I’m not a lukewarm or tepid type of feller. I’m cold or I’m hot, and that’s just the way it is. I had pledged my loyalty to my alliance, and that’s the way I planned on keeping it.
I’ve been watching the feeds, and you were quite the house chef this season! Do you plan on incorporating more of that passion into your existing social media content?
I mean, not really. Honestly, it was out of necessity. When I cook, it’s kind of my happy place, if you will. It gives me time to where I get to do something that I’m good at, and I can do it without having to think about it much so that I have time in my head. It was a way to feel connected to home, because that’s what I do alone at home. But I mean, who knows? Maybe I’ll be cooking some random Red recipes in the future on my social media. Maybe that’s an avenue!
Check out the video format of our interview with Red here.
New episodes of Big Brother air Sunday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights at 8/7c on CBS.
