Jeremy McGuire came into the Big Brother house guns blazing and it immediately put a target on the 23-year-old Texan's back.
Almost immediately, he found himself in the middle of several alliances with the Blondetourage (consisting of Aaryn Gries, Kaitlin Barnaby and GinaMarie Zimmerman) and the dearly departed Moving Company (consisting of recent evictee Nick Uhas, Howard Overby, Spencer Clawson and McCrae Olson). His towering physical stature and constant declarations that he would be victorious were also played a major part in his downfall.
PHOTOS: 'Big Brother 15': Meet the 16 Houseguests
After targeting Big Brother MVP Elissa Slater because of her relation to former winner Rachel Reilly early on and making it clear to the rest of the house that he would go on a rampage if she stayed in the house the first two weeks, McGuire made the lines in the house known.
McGuire was half of one of Big Brother's many "showmances" this season with Barnaby, a relationship he said he hopes to revisit and continue after the game finishes. He was the intended target this week and he was evicted with a landslide 9-0-1 vote.
In the third post-eviction interview with THR, McGuire discusses his eviction, why he came into the house cocky and what his biggest mistake in the game was.
The Hollywood Reporter: How are you feeling the day after your eviction?
Jeremy McGuire: I’m feeling as good as I can feel. I am evicted, so that’s kind of a bummer, but I keep my head up and I move forward. Just taking it step by step in stride.
THR: Was there anything you could have done to avoid being backdoored?
McGuire: Besides being cocky, I could’ve been a little more helpful, but strategic-wise, I tried everything I could. I made as many deals as I possibly could, but the house knew if I didn’t get backdoored now, I wasn’t gonna get out anytime soon, so they did what they had to do to move forward in the game.
STORY: 'Big Brother 15': Nick Uhas on the Moving Company's Collapse and GinaMarie
THR: In Thursday’s episode, Helen said had you played a more humble game, you could’ve gone far. Do you have any regrets for not playing that way?
McGuire: No, I don’t regret anything in life. I walked in [the house] one way, and I came out another. I could’ve been a little more humble, but, you know, I was myself. I think cocky and confident are pretty much the same word; I just played a little too hard a little to fast and it is what it is.
THR: There was a noticeable 180 this week versus the previous weeks. Was that intentional on your part? Was that something that you felt you had to do to try and save yourself or was there more behind it?
McGuire: There was more behind that actually. I really didn’t think I was too cocky going into the game. I thought I was being me, but Kaitlin helped me realize a few things. She told me that I am good at everything, I’m great at a lot of things, but I don’t need to tell people, I can just show them. It really made me realize that I don’t need to be so vocal with how confident I am, I can just do the act, you know? Action over words. I would say Kaitlin made me realize that.
THR: You gave her a lot of credit in your interview with Julie Chen last night. In what ways did she change you? Were there other things she helped you understand better?
McGuire: She’s very good at wording things. She makes you look at it in a different perspective, and she’s a great girl, and she makes you feel better about yourself. She made me feel like I didn’t have to be so over the top with things, and she made me feel like I wasn’t being judged all the time. So she definitely had everything to do with the change that I made and I give her a lot of credit. I hope she does fantastic in the game.
THR: How realistic are the chances of you guys having a real-life romance outside the house?
McGuire: I would love for it to happen. How realistic is it? I’m not too sure. She does live in a completely different state and I don’t have any intentions of moving anytime soon, but we’ll just have to see. I told her that she needs to play hard right now and not worry about me, and I would see her at the finale, and we’ll take it from there.
THR: How do you think she’ll do now that you’re out of the house?
McGuire: I think she’ll play a lot better; I think she’ll be more focused, and I think me being gone will take some targets off her back because they said in week one that I was a tough player and that anybody around me would be a target because if they couldn’t get me out, they were gonna single me out. So now that I’m gone, she can focus on her game and be on a different side of the house that will help her get further.
THR: If you had your way, how would you have liked for this week to have played out?
McGuire: Best case scenario, I would have won everything. I would’ve liked to [have] my side of the house win, just alternate winning so we would never be on the block. But it wasn’t realistic and that’s not the way it turned out, so I don’t like to look at it in any other way than the way it happened. I’ll take it all as a learning experience and move forward.
THR: You made quite an early alliance with the Moving Company. Did you believe at that time that the group would stay solid for a good portion of the game?
McGuire: Yeah, I thought right when we made that that I was gonna coast through the game. I hadn’t realized I had aligned with a bunch of cowards; me and Nick were the only two who were really loyal to it and we definitely could’ve gone far together if the three [Howard, Spencer and McCrae] didn’t back out. I’m pretty sure that those three will be coming out soon as well.
THR: So you think McCrae, Howard and Spencer’s days are numbered?
McGuire: I think Howard and Spencer for sure. McCrae, maybe. He’s made some pretty smart moves, so we’ll see about him, but I definitely think that Howard and Spencer are next.
THR: In hindsight, would you still have aligned with the Moving Company if given the chance again?
McGuire: If given the chance again, I would not be with the Moving Company, I would’ve just played my own game and not been in any alliance. I probably would’ve been just with Kaitlin, and that’s it.
THR: Why was your side of the house against Elissa so early on?
McGuire: I don’t know how they’re portraying her, but that girl is the fakest person I’ve ever met in my life. I’ve never been around anybody quite like Elissa. She is in her own world and she thinks that her poop don’t stink. She is completely oblivious to the outside world and I do not know how anybody could be like that, but I understand why Big Brother put her in the house, and we just had to get her out. We felt like she was kind of an unfair advantage having the people who support her sister support her and it was something that we felt needed to be taken care of right off the bat. We tried our best to do it and it didn’t work. She needs to be gone, that’s for sure.
THR: You aligned yourself with people who have made some questionable remarks, with Aaryn and GinaMarie. Were you privy to any of those conversations?
McGuire: I’ve heard a little something something, but I haven’t gotten the full story. They’re two very emotional people; they wear their hearts on their sleeves. I don’t think that anything they said was meant to blow up the way it did. They are two great people but I think they just made the wrong comments at the wrong time and they’re gonna have to deal with it now, but I look at them negatively at all. I think they’re great people and I would love to be friends with them outside the house.
THR: Who do you think is in a really good spot right now at this point in the game?
McGuire: I really think now that I’m gone, Kaitlin has a fantastic chance at winning the game and I think Andy is sitting pretty.
THR: Why do you say that?
McGuire: Because he’s friends with all the right people, and there’s nobody really targeting him right now.
THR: In hindsight, was there a decision or a moment that if you could do over, you would?
McGuire: If I could do anything different, I would come into the house as humble as I left the house. That would be about it. I would still play to win everything, but I would do it a little bit more graciously.
Big Brother next airs 8 p.m. Sunday on CBS.
E-mail: Philiana.Ng@THR.com
Twitter: @insidethetube
