Big Brother’s Mecole Hayes, in an effort to be perceived as a reliable and steady ally during the ups and downs of reality competition, maintained a level head throughout the Big Brother season. On Thursday’s live eviction episode, the ice queen finally flashed some fire after receiving a unanimous vote from her housemates to leave.
After the results of the voting were announced, Mecole refused to give Cory Wurtenberger a farewell embrace and instead accused him, America Lopez, and Bowie Jane of forming an alliance that was in charge of the Big Brother house.
Mecole’s outburst at the group of two and a half was puzzling. We interviewed the 30-year-old political strategist the morning following her dramatic leave. We also asked what she would have done differently had she realized Cirie and Jared were connected, why she didn’t fight harder to remain after she was on the block and other similar questions. Get two bottles of disinfecting spray and get in there. (The whole interview has been embedded above, or you can read it below.)
MECOLE HAYES: I believe that coming into this week, I understood that while being portrayed as the pawn, I was well aware that I could quickly become the target. I was well aware of the fact that others would see me as the superior competitor and that my social game was powerful. It saddens me, but it doesn’t surprise me that much.
Your departure is something we must discuss. To begin with, you’re leaving without giving Cory a farewell embrace. What gives?
I’m certain he swung the vote in his favor. Unfortunately, I had fallen prey to his vote-flipping and had also participated in it during previous evictions. So, I was aware that he had been involved in some capacity and that the United States had also played a significant part. Since they were covertly planning my destruction, I felt it was dishonest of me to engage in the embracing and kiki-ing with them. That’s why I decided to skip it.
On your way out, you named Cory, America, and Bowie Jane and pointed to the individuals you said they were going to kill next, but the camera angle we had didn’t capture it.
And she says, “Oh well, I adore Bowie Jane. Meet Bowie Jane and get to know her. The woman is brilliant. She puts a lot of faith in Cory. He serves as a mentor figure for her. Therefore, I urge you to spend some time with Bowie Jane. And I said, “I don’t really know about that per se, but sure.” I decided to simply make a fib and spill the tea as I was leaving. I believed the rest of the house should know how well-versed America is in Bowie Jane because she appeared to know so much about her.
It was Jag, Matt, and Blue that I pointed out. Now, earlier in the same week, I was talking to America about my idea, and she was like, “Me, you, and Cory, we’ve all worked together previously. Going ahead, we want to maintain this relationship. Is there anybody else you can be yourself around? Then I realized, “I don’t feel like I have anyone.” Even more so, if Mama Fe departs, I’m afraid I’ll be all alone in this world. I don’t know who else I could trust but you two.
To leave, just toss a little bomb over your shoulder.
Put a little bomb over my shoulder and call it good. America was often remarking, “Mimi doesn’t talk game to me.” She’s not one to play games with me. Everyone claims they misunderstood my position. Neither of them, in my opinion, knows where the other stands. I wanted to throw them off their game a little bit before leaving, and this was an easy way to accomplish so.
Let’s discuss the steps you took after being publicly shamed. It appeared to be to take a back seat and cause no fuss, letting Felicia potentially bury herself. What went wrong, and do you believe you might have improved results by being more proactive and maybe striking a few deals?
I could have been more aggressive, but I was trying to be true to my style of play, which was to avoid signing a lot of agreements I couldn’t keep because they were too good to be true. When asked to represent my future self, I tend to avoid doing so. Working in politics teaches you that. You just want to discuss things that are within your immediate capabilities. My plan for that week was to stay out of sight as much as possible without seeming oblivious or carefree.
Despite the fact that I had a lot of worry and couldn’t sleep that week, Mama Fe is a warrior, so I expected her to campaign for herself. I didn’t expect her to campaign against me, but I did expect her to make a lot of agreements and promise a lot of things that she couldn’t possibly keep. So, while approaching such discussions, I aimed to take the opposite approach.
Did you adopt a similar strategy for the game, hoping to stay out of the way as the showier players fought amongst themselves?
Since I’ve spent my entire working life in politics, I’ve had to make a lot of tough calls. However, I’ve also learned the hard way that being in a position of power often comes with a lot of envy and makes you an easy target. And that’s exactly what I aimed to avoid doing in this matchup. I didn’t come here thinking I could defeat the masterminds and strategists in the room and become America’s favorite player. Here, I want to win $750,000. So, I decided to hang back and observe the goings-on in the backyard as the larger-than-life characters stole the show.
Now that you know Cire and Jared are mother and son, how has that altered your perspective on the game and the alliances in the house?
Um, no, that changes. I’m still quite shaken up, for starters. Okay! So many things click into place now that I realize they are mother and son in my nightmare. It’s a revelation, in a sense. However, this new reality alters everything. Why is she spending so much time in the sky? I wondered. They have what seems to be a very tight friendship.”
After failing at the zombie resurrection attempt, he eventually made his way into the comic room, where she consoled him as he sobbed uncontrollably. In fact, she was the only one there who encouraged him and gave him advice when the zombies rose from the dead. It all makes sense now that I know for sure that they are mother and son. I really am a moron. Where have I been?
Who do you want to win this game, and why?
To put it simply, I dislike almost all people. But if I had to choose, I’d put Matt and Cire in the last two seats.
Would you alter anything about the way you played the game if it meant it would lead to you and I not being in this conversation right now?
I’d probably give more people a chance to earn my trust. Since the home is like a leaky faucet, I believe my failure to share my approach and all of my thoughts and views contributed to my elimination. It just takes one day for a statement like that to go viral.
As a result, I think it’s important to surround oneself with reliable individuals. I believe I made an effort in that direction with the Brown Sugar Babes and later learned of a plot to surprise me with the Izzy-Felicia ballot. Because of it, I no longer trusted anybody and instead thought, “Oh, no, I can’t trust any of you.” If I had to do it all over again, I think I would focus on expanding my circle of trusted friends.
Who here has the finest game going?
It’s a tough call, but I’d probably go with Matt, just because he’s popular and appreciated back home. And he’s good at competitions, too. Despite his lack of a large number of victories, he has shown that he can prevail when it counts. I simply believe people really like Matt and that they’d want to take him to the end of the game even though they know they have little chance of winning. Consequently, I think I have to side with Matt.
Is Big Brother or politics more ruthless?
Yes, absolutely, politics. In politics, you can go in a lot of different directions. From there, you might run for higher office, such as senator, attorney general, governor, vice president, and so on. There are a certain number of HOHs and vetoes that can be won in Big Brother.
If you haven’t been following the news, the last week has seen some very vicious political maneuvering.
Not at all; I’m still well behind!
I’ll hold off on calling till you have your phone back, but there may have been some developments there in the last week that rivaled the insanity in the Big Brother house. Finally, how dirty and germ-ridden is the Big Brother mansion?
Oh, how revolting. That’s awful. I mean, come on, the restroom is disgusting. First, I’d have to duck inside the stall to blow my nose because of the overwhelming stench. This shower is just awful. There are clumps of hair everywhere; there are half-opened bottles of shampoo and body wash. I would take 15- or 20-minute baths with my eyes closed. There seems to be an endless supply of mouthwash and water in the sinks. No one ever does the laundry or sweeps the floors. I find it repulsive. It’s very awful. The youngsters stink.
No longer my concern.
No longer my concern. No more floor cleaning for me! I refuse to do any more bathroom cleaning. I refuse to clean another sink ever again. That’s not my issue; it’s theirs.
