Baller interview with Reality News Online:
"I Really Have a Relationship With Each One" - An Interview with Big Brother 9's Winner, Adamby David Bloomberg -- 04/29/2008
Did Adam throw the final HOH? When did his warfare with former partner Sheila turn into friendship - or did it? Did he decide, during his second HOH reign, against nominating James for strategic or emotional reasons? Why does he think he won? And of course, what does he have to say about his infamous "retards" comment and getting fired because of it? Did he even know about losing his job before David talked to him?! Read on for the exclusive RealityNewsOnline interview!
Before officially beginning this interview, I told Adam (as I tell all my telephone interviewees) that I would be typing as he talked. Of course, we all know how Adam talks, so he said I would have to type pretty fast. I suggested that perhaps I needed the captions they gave him on the show - which of course he hadn't seen yet. And let me tell you, I was right. This guy talks fast! But he also didn't hold back on his thoughts, even when we began on the most controversial note of his time on the show - his comments about autistic kids and letting him know that he had been fired! He also talks about his thoughts on Sheila, James, Josh, and more. Read on!
RealityNewsOnline: Hello, Adam, and thanks for taking the time to talk to us here at RealityNewsOnline. First, congratulations on winning Big Brother 9!
Adam: Much thanks, much thanks.
RNO: I have to start near the beginning with probably your most controversial comment. You said you were on the show to change kids' lives, but you also called those same kids "retards" at the beginning of the show…
Adam: Not at all my intention. It was like a pressure cooker. I'm sorry to the end, it was not my intention. I don't even know anything about [the controversy] because I just got out. My intention was to help children. I will handle it accordingly. There was no malice intended from my comment.
RNO: I hope I'm not the bearer of bad news, but as a follow-up, while you were in the house, the United Autism Foundation fired you for that comment, even putting out a press release.
Adam: I'm fired? I guess it was that big of a controversy. Now what?
RNO: I apologize for being the one to break it to you.
Adam: I didn't know but I had an idea.
RNO: At the finale, obviously not knowing that, you said you're giving them $100,000. Do you know where that stands or have you had a chance to talk to them yet?
Adam: How can I know where it stands? It needs to be ironed out. I'm not sure where it stands. I went into the house with the intention of helping children and I'm leaving the house with that same intention. Hopefully things can be worked out. It's been such a whirlwind.
RNO: As you just said, you repeatedly mentioned that you would be giving some money to that charity if you won - was that strategy on your part to help earn votes?
Adam: It wasn't strategy. It's not like I'm Sheila playing the single mom card all the time. I opened up and told them what my intentions were. It's not like I pulled it out of the closet, it's not using that as strategy, it was just telling them the reasons I came into the house.
RNO: You and Sheila could easily have been the first couple booted, if it hadn't been for Jacob's stupid move.
Adam: What a dumb move that was.
RNO: But you and Sheila both made it as two of the final three. To what do you credit that turnaround?
Adam: My positive attitude. As bad as things were, it comes full circle. I paid my bad dues at first and it worked for me at the end.
RNO: How annoying was Sheila over the first few days?
Adam: I couldn't stand it! I was like, get me out of this place! She was brutal to me. I understand I'm not the ideal soulmate to look at. But it hurts your feelings, it really does.
RNO: When do you think the relationship changed to something resembling friendship?
Adam: It never really did change to that. Strategy-wise, I had to keep her on my side. The more allies you have the better, why create enemies? When it became singles, she needed me more than I needed her and I used her guilt on what she did to me to my benefit.
RNO: Did you have a specific planned strategy coming into the game?
Adam: Totally. My strategy was there would be more attractive guys and girls, in better shape, who would be bigger targets, creating more attention and being camera whores.
RNO: Like pretty much everybody else in the house?
Adam: Yeah, all those people. I had to keep reserved the first few weeks. I totally thought that would be a way to get the target off me for a good half of the game. Once they got past my initial abruptness and could understand my speech, I'll be on the home stretch. It worked out to a tee. People accepted me for who I am, the same Adam I was in eighth grade and the same Adam I am talking on the phone right now.
RNO: Was playing the whole game with a relaxed manner part of your strategy?
Adam: That's just who I am every day of my life. It was part of my strategy - I didn't know much about game play going into the house, [so I planned to] go in and wing it because you don't know who you're going to be up against. The more you can find a personal basis on each person was a key of my strategy. It did create a controversy towards the end, but I cleared the facts up that I really have a relationship with each one in the house, and that's ultimately what got me all the votes in the end.
RNO: Was it also part of your strategy to let others do your dirty work?
Adam: Completely. My brother told me [before heading in] to stab 'em from the front. Not even do my dirty work, just it's all dirty work.
RNO: When you didn't nominate James in your second run as HOH, did you do that with the intent of having a friend on the jury?
Adam: Not totally. I knew I'd have a friend, but the kid deserved a chance. You saw him in the HOH room with me. He was genuine as could be. He kept winning POV and people kept screwing him over, so he deserved one fair chance. He's a good kid.
RNO: Right after Sheila was evicted, did you think you had the votes to win?
Adam: I didn't want to admit it, but in my heart I did. On the other side, I didn't want to let myself down. I kept it as, you know what, I'm going out of here with $50,000 no matter what; if I win, kudos.
RNO: What about after the jury questioning?
Adam: After the jury questioning, I thought I did better than Ryan. I knew that would be a powerful point for myself, I knew it would be difficult for anybody to go up against me. I thought Sheila wouldn't vote for me and didn't know from there. But I didn't want to go the rest of the week with Ryan saying, "You're beat," so I left it as a toss-up and that made it more exciting for me at the end.
RNO: Did you throw the final HOH competition?
Adam: No, I did not. I had absolutely no reason to throw it.
RNO: If you had won the final HOH competition, would you have taken Sheila or Ryan?
Adam: That's all in theory. How do you know what you can do? I think I would have won either way and owe both of them equally.
RNO: If you had taken Sheila, what would your tack have been when dealing with Ryan in the jury?
Adam: Ryan would've probably voted for me anyway.
RNO: We've seen you say good things and bad things about and to Sheila. So what are your true feelings for Sheila after everything you've been through?
Adam: She's straight-up but her fake %@+!% when she got evicted were over the top, [as was her] saying she wasn't playing the single mom card. I didn't play the charity card, but she was sitting there [repeating the single mom stuff] throughout the game - it didn't look good. I don't feel any sympathy for her whatsoever, it's a game.
RNO: You said and did a number of things that could have cost you votes on the jury. Was there ever a time when you mentally winced and thought, "I shouldn't have done that"?
Adam: Not really, nothing you can do about it - they all have to go no matter what. I won the game, there's no regrets. What could I have done different?
RNO: On television we saw only an edited version of the jury Q&A, and you seemed really charged up during the grilling. How long was the process and why did you get so excited during it?
Adam: They were roasting me! It was about an hour long total. Matty started hammering me and Chelsia brought the fire and Josh set me off. That dude's smug; I don't like him at all.
RNO: You're certainly not the only one.
Adam: Somebody agrees with me!
RNO: Do you have anything else to tell us about your time on Big Brother?
Adam: Big Brother was good to me, and I hope I was good to the viewers. I'm here for my friends, they watched every show, and it gave 'em something to look forward to, I'm excited to be out of the house now. I appreciate everything they did for me, it was a blessing. It really was.
RNO: Thanks again, Adam!