Pop Crave spoke with the second evicted houseguest of Big Brother 25, Reilly Smedley, following her elimination on Thursday night’s episode.
Check out the full exit interview below!
So first, I want to get into Hisam’s veto speech. He was described as a bully, and his words were said to be brutal, but fans feel that what was aired didn’t come off that way. Besides asking the house to vote you out, did he say anything especially harsh that we possibly missed?
Nothing that he didn’t say to me personally; again, he’s very honest, and he’s very straightforward. I think the speech was a shock. But, you know, he has to do what he has to do to improve his game. And in that moment, he felt that that was necessary. So I respect Hisam for doing what he needs to do for himself. All love to Hisam.
If you were given a proper first HOH week, how do you think that would’ve changed the course of your game?
I think there would have been definitely less blood on my hands; I wouldn’t have had to make so many decisions. Because I was not only deciding who my target was for the week, I was also deciding who I needed to work with next and who I had to put up as a pawn. So that was all a lot of decision-making. And it’s very difficult to make an educated decision based on very minimal information; we had only been there for less than 24 hours, it felt like. It feels like five minutes, honestly. And so that was definitely tough for me, but I did the best I could and adapted as I needed to.
During your HOH reign, Cory confided in you that his brother Zach was also a former Survivor player. Did you ever think of using that information as leverage in the game?
No, definitely not. He asked me to not tell anybody and again, I am a woman of my word. So I was gonna keep that little secret to myself. I don’t think, in the end, it would have really made a huge difference in his game.
What was your reaction to Matt revealing that he has a crush on you? Would you consider exploring the possibility of a relationship outside of the house?
Matt is so wonderful. I care about him so much. He’s seriously such a best friend to me. We’re gonna be lifelong friends. As far as anything else, I think that’s gonna be a bridge we cross when we get to it. I want him to focus on the game. That’s what I went into the house doing—focusing on my own game. So we shall see, but all love to Matt, I’m going to miss him like crazy.
Now that you have some more knowledge of what’s going on in the house, I’m curious to know what you think Matt’s best route to take will be. How do you think he should move forward in the game?
I told him before I left to protect Cirie. I think now that I know Cirie and Jared have this relationship, it’s going to be really important that Matt works closely with her, just as Jared is. I also told the same thing to Jag. I think that they need to really reevaluate who they trust and who they work with, and they need to start to bleed into the other side of the house, and I think that’s going to work long-term for them.
Speaking of Cirie, very few people in the house know that she also won The Traitors back in January. With the knowledge you had of her run on Survivor alone, do you think the house has been underestimating her?
Cirie is definitely being underestimated. She’s laying low; she’s a strategic genius, and all of us know that, but she also walked into the house and immediately was like, “I know nothing about Big Brother! I’m kind of on the same playing field as everyone else.” So, I think Cirie is capable of so much, and I hope that she kills it this season! I want her to kick some butt. That’s the last thing I said to her: “Kick some butt for me!” She’s definitely going to have an advantage moving forward with her experience on Survivor.
There was some concern over the way Cameron spoke to you at times in the house, and a comment he made about you reminding him of his daughter. What are your takeaways from the relationship you’ve built with him?
I have so much love for Cameron. He was there for me in times of weakness when I was crying. He always had my back. We were in a very unique situation that not a lot of people get to experience. It’s a pressure cooker in there and very difficult. We’re missing our family, we’re missing the outside world, and he was really missing his daughter. I think he and I had a very light and fun relationship, and I just reminded him of home. Any little piece of home that we can share together is really important. I absolutely love Cameron. He’s a wonderful friend.
Despite your 12-0 eviction, you’ll see when you watch back just how devastated the house was to vote you out. How does it feel to know, at the very least, that you made a personal impact on your fellow houseguests?
Being there for two weeks feels like two years. You get to know these people double time. The bonds that I’ve created—honestly, that’s the worst part for me right now—leaving my great best friends. That’s really how it feels. I’m so sad. I know they didn’t want me to go. If I asked them to, they would’ve voted for me, but I didn’t want them to blow their game up. I just have so much love for them.
Felicia is officially the new HOH! How do you feel about the news?
Go Felicia! She’s awesome, and I know that she’s ecstatic right now! She deserves it. She is just such a breath of fresh air and such a light. I can’t wait to see what she does with it!
New episodes of Big Brother air Sunday and Wednesday nights at 8/7c and Thursday nights at 9/8c on CBS.
