Big Brother Hangs Up on Marcellas
For more reality bites, see what Rock Star: Supernova's Zayra has to say about singing her swan song.
Marcellas Reynolds is known for a couple things: his sharp wit, hosting the Big Brother Internet talk show House Calls, and making the most monumental error in the reality show's history. (During Season 3 he was nominated for eviction and won the power of veto, yet decided not to use it to save himself, a tactic that sealed his fate and sent him packing.) He didn't make any such huge mistakes on Big Brother 7: All-Stars, but TVGuide.com did get a chance to talk to him — before he was sent to sequester — about his bitchy comments regarding Janelle, and his diet tips.
TVGuide.com: Did you miss doing House Calls?
Marcellas Reynolds: I didn't, no. If I didn't do All-Stars, I would be sitting there and watching it and really feeling like, "Why am I not there?" I didn't miss House Calls at all, but I missed my [cohost] Gretchen desperately.
TVGuide.com: You had gotten to interview many of your housemates before you moved in. Do you feel like that was an advantage?
Marcellas: I felt like I had a huge advantage going in to the show because I'm a huge fan and student of the show. I actually did my homework. I went back and watched past episodes. I had met almost everyone in the house with the exception of Chicken George — what the hell was that?
TVGuide.com: Was it odd to be living with them instead of asking them questions?
Marcellas: What was odd was watching them and being a fan of them, then actually living with them; it takes away that veneer of being a fan. Instantly, I was no longer a fan of the Sovereign 6. I saw the cracks in the facade up close and I was like, "How the hell did that run their season?" I was a fan of Janelle and I still am a fan, even though she just slit my throat and I'm still bleeding profusely from it. I think the more surprising thing was that the four alliance members actually got in.
TVGuide.com: You seemed like you were trying to get in with them.
Marcellas: I was definitely jockeying to be the fifth member, and more importantly I was trying to separate Janelle from the herd and take her to the end. I didn't count on the Will factor; I thought he'd go earlier and Janelle would need the gay sidekick if she didn't have a guy to tell her she looked beautiful.
TVGuide.com: Well, you need someone.
Marcellas: You do need someone, and Janelle is that girl. She needs male attention and thrives on it. I definitely felt like it was, "Marcellas, meet your new Amy. This time her name is Janelle." I don't know what my fascination with blondes is.
TVGuide.com: Was your goal for All-Stars just to make up for the big mistake you made on Season 3?
Marcellas: Absolutely. That was my biggest thing. I kind of felt that at some point on the show I would be in peril and I would get the veto and it would be like, "Will he use it?"
TVGuide.com: Please tell me the answer would have been yes.
Marcellas: Are you kidding? I've been dreaming about that moment for the past three years. In my dreams I used the veto and won Season 3. [Laughs]
TVGuide.com: You seemed surprised by Danielle's outpouring of emotion. How weird is it to become friends with your enemy? Marcellas: That was the weirdest thing ever because it happened so quickly. By, like, Week 2 Danielle and I had called a truce, and by Week 3 we were basically working together. To hate somebody for four years and then in the span of two weeks be like, "Girl, let's go play cards," really makes you feel like [the past was] a waste of time. All these things that you think are so important aren't really important.
TVGuide.com: You were very vocal during your diary-room sessions. Was that just your way of venting?
Marcellas: Oh my god. Was I bad during my diary-room interviews?
TVGuide.com: You made a lot of comments, mostly about Janelle.
Marcellas: Oh, no. Am I going to have to apologize to Janelle at the end?
TVGuide.com: Maybe.
Marcellas: Wait. Janelle's mother loves me. Is her mother not going to like me now? Oh. This is horrible.
TVGuide.com: Maybe you were just delusional from lack of food.
Marcellas: Well, I was definitely delusional for coming back and doing this again. I tried to be different than I was in Season 3. [Back then] I was just relentless in the diary room. I tried to at least curb my tongue a little bit. But they ask you questions in the diary room and it makes you think that the person you are talking about is talking about you, and you go on the offensive.
TVGuide.com: Sounds like high school.
Marcellas: It is totally like high school. And then, if you're me, you are in there for, like, an hour and a half, so of course you are going to get some crazy sound bite. I have to be honest, when Julie Chen repeated two quotes about Janelle, I was shocked. I don't remember saying "head cheerleader from hell." I did remember saying the thing about ripping her brassy blonde hair out from its black roots. [Cackles]
TVGuide.com: Back to the not-eating thing. You didn't eat the entire week you were on slop....
Marcellas: I didn't eat for two weeks when I was on slop.
TVGuide.com: But on the live feeds I caught you a couple times complaining about the generic potato chips and such. Did you eat anything while you were in there?
Marcellas: Did I sound like the biggest prima donna on the face of the earth? Am I going to have to stay in sequester for the rest of my life? I just messed everything up. But no, there wasn't really anything in the house to eat. The slop was gross, and I knew I couldn't even play that game. Especially with people walking around saying that they had diarrhea or constipation and everyone was farting when they were on the slop. That's not me. I'm not that guy. I can't. But it was, like, Lays potato chips and generic tortilla chips that didn't taste like they were made from corn. It was the candy that your mother buys at the store because she doesn't want you to eat the entire bag in one sitting. Or it was like not really Chips Ahoy, it was "Chips A'Sail." I'm sorry. I live in Beverly Hills. I can't eat this. I was just begging for a salad. I wasn't jockeying for Kettle chips or Mrs. Fields cookies. I'm like, "Just give me a bag of salad. Would it kill you to give me some baby spinach and endives? Can a brother get a grape tomato?" On the other side of that, I lost 12 pounds.
TVGuide.com: You could write the Big Brother diet book.
Marcellas: It wasn't just that it wasn't the kind of food I normally eat. It was stress. I had no appetite. I found myself on days that I could eat [having to make] myself eat something.
TVGuide.com: I don't get that. I am an emotional eater.
Marcellas: As we see, Janelle and Howie are both blowing up to twice their size; they are emotional eaters. I'm an emotional dieter.
TVGuide.com: Who did you think the hottest guy in the house was?
Marcellas: By the end I was totally head over heels in love with James, and I would actually kill Sarah to get my hands on him. I love Sarah, she is one of my favorite people on earth — she's beautiful and the sweetest girl you have ever, ever met — but I was in this love affair with James where he could do no wrong because he was the most sedate of the men in the house. He tries to be like a Baby Will, in that you know he's going to lie and you know he's going to cheat, whatever. But there is this side of him that is this really sweet guy.
TVGuide.com: Were you happy with how you played the game this season?
Marcellas: [Sighs] I haven't seen how I played this season, but I'm a little disappointed in this season itself. I expected more on a production end and from the other houseguests. I expected it to be bigger and just glam in a crazy way and ghetto in another way. I wasn't getting that. I'm surprised at the bad behavior that was rampant in the house, not just the lying, but the farting and the swearing and the talk about boobies. We are all adults and we don't have to digress to that. I'm happy that I made it as far as I made it. I thought I was one of those personalities who was going to get kicked out the first two or three weeks. But I thought if I made it to the end, I could beat anyone. My endgame was going to be amazing. You see, I can cry on the drop of a dime, so it would have been all tears and apologies and a fabulous outfit. People lose Big Brother in the endgame every season. You need to get on your hands and knees and mea culpa and apologize and lie and plead and beg. No one has ever asked each person on the jury for their vote directly. I was going to make my peace with each person and go, "Janelle, please vote for me" to each person.
TVGuide.com: Maybe in "All-Stars 2.0."
Marcellas: Girl, I'm not coming back for another All-Stars. Are you crazy? First of all, I'll be working a walker. Secondly, I will probably be huge because I plan to eat like it is my job from this point on.
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