“I Don’t See Why I Would Need to Adjust Myself for the Game” – An Interview with Big Brother 10’s Jessie

I had many questions for Jessie, but the time I had to talk to him was too short for so much to say. I’m not sure additional time would have helped much, as I really think Jessie is still too close to having been evicted to quite understand what people thought when they saw him. Or it could just be that he can’t really see himself through the eyes of others. It’s not really clear that Jessie yet understands Dan’s role as America’s Player, either. But read on to see what Jessie had to say for himself, even if it leaves you scratching your head a bit.

RealityNewsOnline: Hi, Jessie, and thanks for taking the time to talk to us here at RealityNewsOnline! Let’s start at the beginning. Did you have a specific planned strategy coming into the game?

Jessie: To give respect you have to get respect, that’s what I took into the Big Brother house.

RNO: Did that strategy change once you got into the game?

Jessie: No, my strategy didn’t change at all.

RNO: The word “respect” has been used a lot this season, including by you while on the show and again just now. What is your definition of respect, how it should be shown, and how people are showing disrespect to others this season?

Jessie: Do unto others as you would want them to do unto you.

So if initially people think I’m being disrespectful by supposedly throwing them under the bus with the first argument, they told me what to do, it was words out of their mouths and I just let everybody else know about it. If it was disrespectful to let others know about that, I don’t see how.

If it was disrespectful to not accept Renny’s one-line apology when I was woke up by her yelling and screaming, it would be like her smashing out your car window with a baseball bat and the first words out of her mouth were, “What? What?” and her saying, “I’m sorry.” She smashed your windshield and apologized but it really didn’t have sincerity. If she had told me the next morning, after thinking about it for a while, how it was wrong and apologized sincerely, it would have been a different story.

Otherwise, I don’t see how me reiterating what was said on their behalf to other people in the house was disrespectful. Again, do unto others as you would want them to do unto you.

RNO: I presume you mean Libra and Keesha?

Jessie: Initially it wasn’t a fight. I didn’t know what was said upstairs since I was downstairs sleeping. They’re trying to tell me I was fabricating the whole thing when it was very apparent that I was very asleep and could sleep next to the loudest snoring person not having a problem. And I was right on the money with what they were saying and what they said upstairs and was exactly on key. I only said their two names in conjunction with Steven and they tried to turn it all around and say I brought in Memphis, Jerry, and Renny, when it was obvious they said it.

So if that’s disrespectful for me calling them out on what came out of their mouth, so be it, but it was pretty apparent that Ollie and April didn’t take kindly to it.

RNO: In your past two weeks on the block, why did you stir things up so much – such as what you just described – rather than staying quiet and letting things happen?

Jessie: Because I stood up for myself and for others my entire life, whether little kids who are being bullied [or whoever]. When I was in high school, I was 140 pounds and it’s a little different now. I speak out because sometimes that’s all it takes for somebody to understand that what they’re doing is wrong. It’s better to confront it rather than letting things blow over. I initially got picked for the show because I have a strong personality, which showed. I stepped up to the plate and that’s all there is to it.

RNO: I understand why that type of thing would be good in real life. Did you consider adjusting that behavior for the game?

Jessie: I don’t see why I would need to adjust myself for the game because I’m going to be in real life when I walk out of here. I’m not going to be hypocritical. I’ve always stood up for the underdog, for the weaker person, for myself. If that was my downfall, I can accept that. But that’s not why I left the house. That wasn’t my downfall, that’s not the reason I walked out. I couldn’t have played it any better.

RNO: What do you think was the reason?

Jessie: Because Dan went back on his word not only to the HOH and Jerry – he swore on his cross and the Bible. I don’t know if he remembers saying $500,000 is not worth going back on his word. That’s what he tried to portray. I don’t know if he got paid a lump sum for voting the way he did but it went against everything he believes in. (Author’s Note: Dan was paid a lump sum for being America’s Player – once he agreed, he had no control over his vote whatsoever. So in a very big way, he didn’t go back on his word.)

It was because it was more beneficial for friends and fans and family to keep in Memphis as opposed to voting for me, and Dan followed suit. He’s not going to get very far because America’s thinking for him. (Author’s Note: No, we’re not. As Julie Chen told him last night, which was aired on “The Early Show” this morning, Dan was only America’s Player for the one week.) If he would have thought about it he would have known that wasn’t in his best [interest].

RNO: We only have time for one more question, so I want to address something that many viewers have been talking about and Julie Chen brought up to you after you were evicted. At that time, you indicated that you didn’t think your name and the word “arrogant” should be in the same sentence. However, I have to tell you, that is a common opinion held by viewers of Big Brother after watching you over these past few weeks. What do you have to say to them?

Jessie: “Arrogant” is a pretty vague word. If they also want to have the preconceived notion that just because I look the way I do, I’m arrogant, a different person might say he takes care of his body; a different person might say he’s obsessed, when I don’t go in the gym any longer than one and a half hours, five days a week. What they see is obviously up to them, they have their own opinion. (Author’s Note: It’s not a “preconceived notion” if the viewers have been watching for four weeks now – it’s based upon what they saw.)

I don’t see how I can be arrogant when I was on the block the first week, I won HOH, I was the underdog, I was on the block the third week, I was on the block the fourth week. I never said I was completely safe. Because of my actions, that’s all you can actually judge my character off of. I stood up for myself, I was the underdog, I was on the block three of four weeks. I don’t see, logically thinking, how any of my actions would point to arrogance. But again, that’s just me.

RNO: Thanks again, Jessie!

Do you want to see all the Big Brother 10 action in the house yourself? Then click here:

Watch Big Brother Live Feeds

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out these other recent Big Brother 10 articles here on RealityNewsOnline:

David Bloomberg is the Editor of RealityNewsOnline and can be reached at RNO@pobox.com.

Be sure to sign up for our e-mail update so you can stay informed about new articles on the site! And take a look at the rest of the site. You can check out our Big Brother 9 page, and follow Survivor at our Survivor: Micronesia – Fans vs. Favorites page; and don't miss The Reality TV Hall of Shame. You can even buy reality show stuff at our Reality TV Store!

For more news about reality TV, be sure to check out SirLinksALot: Big Brother 10!