“A Lot of the Decisions Were Stupid”: An Interview with Big Brother: All-Stars’ James
by David Bloomberg -- 08/25/2006
James had been thrown under the bus by his supposed allies last season, so what was his plan this time around? Why did he break with them when he did? Whose decisions did he think were stupid? And how did he feel about being voted out when he was? James tells us everything right here!
James went into Big Brother: All-Stars hoping he could trust his fellow season six contestants. But he wasn’t going to let them run over him, either. In this interview, he explains how he gave them chances and why he feels they blew it. Why did he trust Chill Town? Was he mad about being lied to? It’s all here, and more.
RealityNewsOnline: Hello, James. It’s good to talk to you, though I have to say, I’m sorry to be asking you these now rather than, say, after the finale.
James: Yeah, no sh*t! (laughing)
RNO: I’ve got to begin by asking: why did you trust Chill Town, especially knowing what they did to Howie earlier this week?
James: The issue with Chill Town was quite simple. Kaysar and Janelle were either completely scared to nominate them or working with them. So I figured if they were working with them, I might as well try to slide in there. There had to be some reason they wouldn’t nominate them. I wanted to nominate Boogie rather than Jase, but Kaysar, Janelle, and Howie said they would put up Chill Town the next week. They lied to me. I realized I couldn’t trust season six. At that point in the game, I figured Chill Town had already screwed over so many people, they needed somebody. I hope they have somebody. If Danielle and Janelle are coming after them, they’re in trouble, though I don’t think Janelle is coming after them.
Boogie was an underestimated player. I don’t think he got a fair shot in his season. He’s a badass. There are four badasses in that house – Will, Boogie, Janelle, and Danielle. And some leftovers as well. There has to be a dishwasher in the house.
RNO: What entered into your decision to break from the season six alliance?
James: Week one, we decided we were only going to trust the people in our alliance. When I came to Janelle with information I obtained from Alison about them coming after my alliance, Janelle tells Jase about the info I obtained. If Jase is in the alliance with Alison, why the f**k would you tell him the information? Then she gave Chill Town info I got later on that week and also shared that info with Marcellas. At that point I knew she was sabotaging me for later down the road.
Week two, Kaysar lied to me about his nominations. Janelle and Howie knew who he was nominating, and I did not. Then there was the idiotic decision to try and put out Diane over Nakomis. I knew that was a stupid idea, but Janelle had a grudge against Diane.
At that point, Chill Town had declared war on us. We declared war on them. By [the rest of season six] going after Diane and Nakomis and then Diane and Erika on week four, they declared war on the other faction, the floaters. Howie, Kaysar, and Janelle had decided to declare war on the entire house. We didn’t have the numbers. A lot of the decisions were stupid and selfishly motivated by Janelle, and she was easily able to convince Kaysar and Howie. I tried to convince them of this, and I did not want o be part of an alliance where we were trying to promote her game.
Week four comes along, Janelle decides to go after the floaters and then makes an idiotic statement in the nominations about Boogie, but then in the veto goes after Diane. The entire house had no choice but to unite against season six. I tried warning them.
So I figured, if my alliance refuses to beat Chill Town, I might as well join them.
If I had been against anybody but Chicken George, I would have won. But when you’re nominated against a piece of furniture… I don’t think he should have been in this game, but to leave me in the game against Chicken George, these people could not have called themselves all-stars.
RNO: Did you always intend to turn on season six, or did you believe you could stick together far into the game?
James: I knew going in to the house, there was a lot of speculation of alliances ahead of time. We knew that a certain member of our season had several alliances going into the house and we also knew we should not trust that person. Unfortunately, in the house, Kaysar did trust them. I intended to trust them. But I was only giving them one chance. Janelle screwed me, Kaysar screwed me, they all screwed me. Their decisions were dumb, they wanted to take on the entire house. Unfortunately it sunk my boat as well.
The problem is there were only three of us. Howie didn’t do anything. He celebrated and talked a lot of crap and showed unsportsmanlike conduct when we won HOH contests. The village idiot was screaming and he wasn’t putting anything into it; another one wasn’t sure what he was doing; and one was just working on her own agenda. I was looking at it and saying, “Why they hell am I letting these people ruin my season again?”
RNO: What drew you to Danielle as an ally and friend?
James: Danielle and I became friends at my wrap party last year. We both have incredible respect for the way each other played. Also, when she was asked if she was on the list for All-Stars, she would say she’s not on the list, she’s not doing All-Stars. She sticks to the contract, she won’t lie to you. I knew she was someone I could trust, even to her own detriment. That’s what I look for in an alliance. If Danielle told me something, I believed her.
RNO: Last year, we gave Howie a Reality TV Hall of Shame Moment for nominating you and voting out Sarah. If you had to pick a moment that deserved such recognition this time, what would it be?
James: There’s two, I think. The first one would be Janelle nominating Boogie and Erika and wanting to nominate Diane in the end. That was idiotic, Chill Town had to go up that week. You couldn’t declare war on the whole house.
And Janelle not picking Kaysar to play for veto. Had Kaysar won, he could have taken either of us off the block and we would have only needed one vote to stay. By not picking Kaysar and deciding to protect Marcellas, it guaranteed that one of us was going home.
I don’t know if either rises to that level, and neither were as dumb as the Howie thing last year, but choosing to attack the two groups in the house was pretty stupid.
And if Will and Boogie win, you can put the entire cast up there. But really, no. They are playing an amazing game and doing a great job of manipulation. I am incredibly happy with the way I went out. I didn’t want to go out obviously, but I got beat by the best, Will, Boogie, Janelle, and Danielle – the best players the game has to offer.
RNO: Your last week in the house, you were complaining quite a bit. Do you feel you were unfairly treated?
James: I got to watch the actual tape of the veto thing last night. Janelle’s initial contact with me was in violation of the rules and she shouldn’t have ripped the doll out of my hand. She’s a girl, if it was Boogie I’d have dropped an elbow. I wanted to tackle her. But because we fought over the wrong doll, I think it was okay, but I didn’t appreciate it.
In that house, you are the only person you can trust and feel safe with. The paranoia runs rampant. You start to look at things and they make sense to you. The rest of the house saw the same thing and were pretty upset about it, but they could have been upset she won the veto. I didn’t appreciate the contact but she got the right doll and she’s a badass. If I’m going to lose, I go out losing to one of the best. There’s no hard feelings about me going out like this whatsoever.
RNO: What were you expecting to find when you asked to look at your contract?
James: Let’s just say it was me being a f***ing little b*tch. I like raising a stink. Once I cross the line, I might as well take the plunge. I see a crack in the sidewalk and I turn it into the Grand Canyon. That’s what happened.
RNO: What was your later-game strategy to win?
James: My strategy to win was I needed Janelle gone. She’s awesome and an amazing competitor. I don’t think she makes the best strategic moves, but she can rely on the ability to win competitions. I needed her gone and to make it through that week. If I did, there would have been a lot of people gunning for Chill Town. Erika and George were never going to step up to the plate. I wanted to be in an alliance that worked. I’m not, as I’m sitting here. (laughing)
My strategy changed every single day. People there are changing their minds and opinions. Deals are being made. You can never rest. The moment you relax is the moment you pack your stuff.
RNO: Who do you think will win?
James: I’d like to see the person that wins to be the person who played the game. I’d be very disappointed to see George or Erika make it to the final two. As long as the others make it, I think the game was played the way it should be.
Lying is part of the game, it’s my strategy. I’m not upset I got lied to.
RNO: Do you have anything else you’d like to say to your fans?
James: If I still have any fans, I’d like to say thank you for being voted back in by the fans – it is incredible. I thank them a lot. I thank all the people who wrote how bad I did last year because I incorporated that and tried to do better this time. It was a great exp and I thank them for any support.
The entire experience was unreal. It was just awesome and glad I got to do it. A year and a half ago I never even heard of Big Brother and was cast off My Space. And a year later, I’m in Big Brother: All-Stars. I appreciate the psychotic fans, both the ones that love me and hate me.
RNO: Thanks again, James!
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