As you may have already heard, there has been a huge shake up at the already shaky X-Factor. First we heard about host Steve Jones not coming back. Apparently, he was let go after a dismal season as he tweeted that he was disappointed by the news calling his departure a “shame” but adding that he couldn’t complain, that he “had a great time.” Mr. Jones, although probably a lovely person, didn’t really set the bar real high on the high drama impact the show was looking for and he paid the price for it. I guess Ryan Seacrest has trail blazed the role of host at this point that everyone must meet. I for one thought Mr. Jones was a bit boring myself.

Then came the news that Nicole Scherzinger wasn’t coming back as well. According to Nicole, not coming back was her choice. Nicole was originally cast as a duel host with Jones, but took the judges seat when Simon Cowell decided to axe Cheryl Cole as judge. (Many saw this as mistake number one.) Nicole quit the show (with Cowell’s blessing) to focus more on her music career. She says that the X Factor took much more time than she thought it would, filming 6 days a week, which didn’t leave room for her own career. It does make me wonder if she was asked to leave and was given the opportunity to do it gracefully. It’s all very coincidentally, everyone at once. There are sources that say she wasn’t renewed either, so I guess this is her excuse. For those of us who watched the show, it’s not hard to remember her being “boo’d” off the stage for her decision on Rachel Crowe, paving the way for Crowe’s departure. Scherzinger “couldn’t make up her mind” and because of that, Crowe departed that night amongst jeers and tears. As a judge, you should be able to, number one, make up your mind, and number two, make the right choice, even if you really like the other contestant. Crowe killed the competition that night and everyone knew it… even Nicole I think.

Also leaving, Paula Abdul. Sources are saying that Simon wanted to “clean house” and well, it looks like he is doing it. The X Factor received pretty good ratings but not nearly what Cowell was expecting. Sources claim that Abdul was not renewed as well and that this isn’t just some negotiating or ratings ploy. Simon wanted a makeover (or shall we say do-over) and a makeover he is getting.

So, in the coming weeks, I guess we will start hearing who will be stepping into to these positions left empty by the above three. I guess L.A. Reid is here to stay awhile as well, although I didn’t see him as all that great either. The X-Factor is set to debut it’s second season later in the year. Personally, I would like to see some tougher judges join the panel. My problem now with American Idol is the lack of tough judges. Yes, Randy has tried to fill that role but it hasn’t worked that well.

What do you think? Who would you like to see come aboard as judges and host? Let us know below, then come on in and join us in the forum!

The Yak may be a small site, but we too are very much in agreement with the damage that the bills currently running through the Senate and House can do to the Internet and free speech. We are an Entertainment site for goodness sake! So to honor our Internet comrades in this fight against censorship, we too shall be going dark tomorrow in protest. If you come to our front page tomorrow, you will be automatically re-directed to a site where you can contact your Congressmen and let them know how you feel about these bills. There is strength in numbers and although me may be small, every person counts.

If you are still in the dark about these bills, or think SOPA and PIPA are cool new names for cocktails, here is some reading on what they are, what they can do, and who is for and against them.

Thank you to your continued loyalty to the Yak and we will see you on the other side of the 18th!

You may remember back in September, many Netflix members were complaining about a new error code they were receiving, N8107-154-5006, which apparently is the error code for too many streams running at a time. (Which for subscribers of the “unlimited” streaming plan, says 1.) I say apparently because to put that code into Netflix.com help, you get no answer other than them telling you that you must have entered the code incorrectly. Back in September, amidst a customer uproar, Netflix responded that it was a mistake, that they do allow concurrent streams, and it was just an error on their part.

Not anymore.

Netflix in the last couple days has now decided the one single stream at the $7.99 price was a good idea. I had been receiving the error for the last two nights, and decided to call them up and ask if it’s an error again. A very nice gentleman named Thomas at their customer service desk tells me no, that the limit is now one stream at a time. I asked if there was another streaming plan that I could upgrade to that would allow me to have streaming on 2 or 3 devices at a time and was told that they do not have that option, however if I wanted to add a DVD plan, I could get more streams. Hence 2 DVDs at a time would give me two streams. 3 DVDs out, 3 streams… you get the picture.

Really Netflix? Is this a wise decision on your part? I personally think not. Type in Netflix in Google News and all you see nowadays is “Netflix drops in Customer satisfaction” and “Netflix paying for it’s mistakes” and “Netflix losing customers” and so on. So… were they sitting in the board room thinking “Hey, I know! Let’s limit the streams our customers get! That ought to raise the satisfaction levels!” Or were they thinking this move might get people back to pay their DVD subscriptions, just to get more streams? I have no idea what exactly they were thinking, but it seems they were more likely NOT thinking. Hey, maybe the CEO just doesn’t want the hassles of the daily grind anymore and is ready to run the business into the ground. Who knows. Maybe he is being bought off by the big boys to kill his own creation.

Whatever the case may be, doubling the price for the streaming/DVD plan, separating the streaming and DVD service, changing their mind on that separation, then limiting the streaming to one stream at a time pretty much killed it for me. Amazon has many of the same movies on their Prime Membership already, so I guess Netflix can do without my $7.99 per month.

What do you think about the new “One stream at a time” service? For those of you on just the streaming plan, will you keep Netflix?

Anti-Bullying week continues here at YakkityYaks where we have teamed up with past and present Reality TV Stars, our Forum members, and fans on Facebook and Twitter to bring an awareness to the anti-bully movement. Hopefully together, we can help put a stop to it, and help those currently stuck in the situation and in dire need of help or just someone to talk to.

Below is a video message from none other than Gillian Larson. You may remember Gillian from Survivor Gabon, the 17th season of the Survivor Reality series. Gillian is one of the most adventurous, tireless and tenacious women we have ever known, who has led her life always trying to help others. A retired nurse of 41 years, wife and grandmother, Gillian spends her time traveling and just hanging out with family and friends. Gillian’s motto? “Believe in yourself and you can achieve anything!” Heck, she applied for Survivor 15 times! How is that for being tenacious and believing in yourself! She certainly fits the bill as role-model!

She is currently participating in a 60 mile walk for the Susan G. Komen 3 Day for the Cure this weekend! You can keep up with Gillian at her website HERE.

Listen to her video message below:
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As you already know, YakkityYaks has joined forces with past and present Reality TV stars and fans just like you in honor of Anti-Bullying Week. We continue to feature stories from Reality TV personalities, members in our YakkityYaks forum, and fans from Twitter and Facebook. In an effort to join forces and increase awareness, we encourage you to share these stories with your friends and family and encourage continuous efforts to make a difference! We all are capable and we just hope that this motivates and encourages each and every one of us to take a stand and put a stop to bullying once and for all. YakkityYaks, don’t talk smack!

Read on below for another personal accounts from a fan on Twitter who felt so moved to submit their own personal and touching story, in addition to all of our other coverage today. Names have been changed to protect identities, but the stories are straight from the heart and unedited.

If you are interested in participating in our anti-bullying initiative by sharing your story, please contact JDMontgomery@yakkityyaks.com or ShellyBB13@me.com (Big Brother’s Shelly). Each and every story can bring about great change.

We also want to announce an exciting addition to our special features this week. Everyone who submits a story will be eligible to win a phone call from a reality TV personality!

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“When I was a kid, and perhaps my young adult life, I assumed bullying had to do with being gay. I thought, only gay kids get bullied. Kind of like, how some associate racism only having to do with African-Americans. We all know both aren’t true. While many gay youth experience bullying, & many African Americans experience racism, we’re actually all prey to the predator we call, the bully.
Growing up in football loving- Midwestern Ohio, and attending private Catholic school, I experienced bullying at it’s worst. I remember what I just called “the 6th graders” (God they still scare me and I’m 30). One day running late into school I got stopped by one. The BIG one. Why the heck isn’t he in class already I thought? I’ll never forget his words that day, “listen you little faggot, we’re all watching you, if you run around here acting like a faggot or try out for basketball, I will bash your fucking face in, & kill you”.

Wow, right? Needless to say, I didn’t try out for basketball till 7th grade (when this 6th graders were 9th graders & I felt the coast was clear). Ironically one of our basketball practice drills were called ‘Suicides’. Where you ran the court back & forth four times till you just drop. It wasn’t so much my bullies words, or threats that scared me. It’s how I knew the teachers turned a blind eye, how the parents did nothing, how there was NO ONE to go to that made me feel hopeless.

On a side note, it’s a common misconception that gays, especially men, don’t like sports. Ever think we were scared or threatened out of playing? Funny how our military JUST repealed DADT, trying to scare people out of serving & protecting our great nation.

This leads me to my conclusion, that is, we are all bullied in some way, shape or form. Maybe we are the bully.  I recently read that as a child, Eminem was so severely beaten by bullies as a child he was in a coma for 5 days. I think it’s why gays were never offended by his lyrics, we knew it came from a source of pain. Heterosexuals are called faggots everyday. Young girls, who don’t even understand sexuality are called sluts & whores. I’d rather be the bullied than the bully. In a bizarre way it built character & strength, & made all my successes and triumphs taste so much sweeter. My face was never bashed in, but somewhere, lingering in the back of my mind I still think it could be.

Talk to your Mom, or Dad, or neighbor, someone you trust. Dont take matters into your own hands. It really does, as they say, “get better”, and think of things from someone else’s perspective. Who or what is that bully scared of that he or she is taunting you? That kid that threatened me? He was BIG. Overweight actually, for a 6th grader. I wonder how many times he was called ‘Fat’ on a daily basis. I wonder if he has kids now, & how as a parent he feels if his kids are being bullied. Remember, we all grow up eventually. The person you want to outcast, could be the very person who saves your life. I hope by writing this piece, I saved yours.

Ps – I grew up, have tons of friends & those days I was bullied seem like they never actually happened, but they did, & I survived.

~D.”

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America’s Next Top Model All Star (& ANTM Cycle 5) and one of my absolute FAVORITE people, Lisa D’Amato, took some time out of her busy schedule to send her thoughts, exclusively to the Yak, regarding bullying and the Anti-Bullying movement.

We would like to send a personal thanks and shout out to Lisa for taking the time to tell her story and be a part of this important movement. In an effort to join forces and increase awareness, we encourage you to share these stories with your friends and family and encourage continuous efforts to make a difference! We all are capable and we just hope that this motivates and encourages each and every one of us to take a stand and put a stop to bullying once and for all. YakkityYaks, don’t talk smack!

Here is Lisa’s story:

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When I was in elementary school, I was dealing with a crazy unmothering mom, a dad with a heart of gold, and a divorce and custody battle. My mom trying to win us over just to spite my dad and on top of that I was a kid that had no friends. There were these girls that would call me names all day everyday: ugly, stupid, disgusting etc. I was the girl who played tether ball by herself and would think about how to make these girls stop. I thought of the greatest plan! I was gonna buy them each a really nice Christmas present from Sanrio Surprises (Hello Kitty stuff) (I was in 4th grade)  in hopes that they would lay off of me a bit and maybe be nice to me. I saved all my birthday money amd garage sale money and wrapped really cute stuff for them after months of saving and gave them their gifts. After I gave them their presents with nice cards expressing how I’d love for them to be my friends, I ended up being an even bigger laughing stock of our whole 4th grade as the outcast trying to “buy friendship”. Everyone started asking me for presents laughing. I’ll never forget how horrible it was to be me and wished I could just disappear from life all together.

This didn’t stop for years. My mom won the custody battle and my sister and I’s life became lives of fear and pain. When you are coming of age and know that you are different then the rest it is heart breaking. There comes a point in your life when you kinda just snap and realize that maybe you don’t want or need their approval and wouldn’t want to be like them anyway. It comes kinda as a break down but truly it’s a break through!!!

Be you TIFUL!  If God wanted us all to be the same then why would he make us so different? Life is beautiful and it IS because of the ones that are so different: YOU! WE are the ones with the strength and power to be the voice of change and acceptance so that we can make the world a better place- not “THEM”.

Don’t stop dreaming and don’t stop working towards your dreams because this is your life not theirs. We all have our own individual journey’s, including theirs, but ours has a lot more bumps in the road to train us to be that much more powerful. They can buy their happiness by being weapons of mass consumption but they can never buy thick skin like what we have. We are indestructible because we have earned it and we own wings now!   We were put here to teach the ignorant and share beautiful stories of hope and courage. If anything, don’t read this as a message of “being accepted” but more of a message that you were brought here to be THE voice of love.

~Lisa D’Amato

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Now really, you see how silly these stupid bullies are? Calling Lisa ugly? Come on now! I wonder, where are these bullies now? WTG Lisa!

As promised, throughout the week, we are featuring stories from our very own members in our YakkityYaks forum. These stories are volunteered from people who call our website their internet home and it is just another example of our personal feel and family attitude we pride ourselves in.

Just a reminder, the stories are unedited and real truths. We have only changed the names of those involved to protect their identities.

Here are two different accounts from Yaksters, both who wished to remain anonymous.

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Okay, so here’s my story.

As a child I was and continue to be a bit hyper. I had some things happen to me that shouldn’t happen to any child and it affects me to this day. Made me very insecure with myself, who I was, what value I had as a person and whether or not I could ever trust someone enough to be intimate and not necessarily in a sexual way but moreso in a way that you fully expose yourself to a person (again, not that way) and trust that they wont’ belittle or make fun of you. I wanted to fit in with the kids at school but I never knew the right thing to do or say around them, couldn’t be myself really because I always thought that since things had been done to me I may not have been worthwhile enough to really like. I did have friends, but I was never popular or cool.

When I was in the fifth grade I went through a phase where I’d wear different color socks, swimsuit coverups as part of an outfit, and other oddities…thought that would make me cool but nothing ever seemed to work with the popular kids. They’d tell me I was weird, ugly, smelled….and the times they’d include me in things were the times they could use me for something I had. Such as, as stupid as this sounds, my collections of things like the California Raisins figures, Garbage Pail Kids cards, etc. They’d pretend to like me and because I wanted to be cool I’d give them some and then they’d make fun of me again afterwards.

It got worse in junior high. Puberty and body odor set in, B.O. was my nickname from 8th grade on. I had clinical acne in the 8th grade, and man they had a field day with that one. I’d get crushes on boys, and they’d ask me to “go with them” only to find out it was a joke. In the 8th grade I was out of school for a week due to an eye virus that nearly went through this paper thin bone that lies between your eye socket and brain, and when I went back my friends, fellow nerds, were concerned but many told me to my face I wasn’t missed.

I had I think a sum total of two or three dates in high school too and the thing is, I was a late bloomer. When I was about 16 I got a figure, in fact I remember one time I had to walk up to the teacher’s desk in high school and two of the popular guys said “She might be a freak but she’s got a great ass”…..but I still was so awkward, could never connect with a guy b/c I would always get a scared feeling in my stomach.

So while I was never told to kill myself or any of the nonsense you see today, I never quite fit in. The resonating effect of that hits to this day too. If you’re told over and over you’re not perfect, that you’re a dork, geek, spaz, ugly, you smell, acne face you start to believe it. I’m thankful I have a family who tells me just how wrong those people were, even without saying it, but showing it. But I’m still self conscious, still really want to fit in with people, and I still can’t trust some in certain areas b/c of something that happened, that should never happen and will I ever get past that? I don’t know.

But I will say this, for anyone that’s been bullied, or is right now. It gets better b/c all those people who made my life hell, who made me want to die and I did try twice and thankfully failed, have since grown and matured. All the “dorks” and popular kids now hang out whenever they can get together…..

~Anonymous Yakster

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I was in seventh grade, and an eighth grader was always pushing me into lockers, walls, anywhere else I happened to be at the time. He also called me every name in the book. Finally, I got fed up with it all. He came up to me one day and tried to physically push me around again. I got up into his face and told him if he wanted to push me around anymore, he would have a fight on his hands because I wasn’t gonna take it anymore. From that day on, this guy left me alone.

~Anonymous Yakster

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If you too would like to share your story with us, we would love to hear from you. You can contact us through the contact form at the top of this page, or send your story to JDMontgomery@yakkityyaks.com. The more stories there are, the more we can show others they are not alone in this fight.

I don’t think there is anything worse than when a teacher, a person that is supposed to be a role-model, a person who is supposed to be a safe place to run to for help, are the bullies themselves.

I, actually, had the unfortunate experience in dealing with one such teacher when my son was in 6th grade. You know, the time when kids are going through one of their most vulnerable stages, puberty. A time when they are learning about themselves, who they are and who they wish to become. My son was new in the school, a very small school, with only one class per grade. The children there already had built their relationships with others, so it was already hard for him to try and fit in. Well, along comes the teacher to show the other kids how they should treat him.

I couldn’t believe it. The stories he came home and told me… the things she would say to him… the things other parents overheard her saying to him as they walked by… and the coverup and accusations the school tried to throw back at my son. It was an extremely trying time as I’m sure you can imagine.

He had forgotten to bring in a paper once and she would lash out at him, telling him she doesn’t “want to see his face” and make him sit in the hall. It was constant. According to other parents, they told me she was notorious for it and always had one or two students in her class she would lash out at every year. What I didn’t understand was why no other parents were in an uproar over this? A child in 7th grade, his parent once told me, actually had to see a therapist because he was literally pulling his hair out with stress. She told me not to worry, that it “gets better in 7th grade.” Wait, what? That’s it? It just get’s better in 7th grade? So I should just tell me son to deal with it, it gets better in 7th grade? SHE’S A TEACHER!

It all came to a head at one point, with the school telling me my son was a liar, putting in the school bulletin a warning to parents not to “gossip” at drop off and pick-up. He even got suspended for 10 days because of my complaints. No wait, the school didn’t call it that. The school put him on “leave” until the teacher was ready to “look at him again.”

We got through it all eventually, the teacher was eventually let go, but not for a couple of years. The Principal also “retired” the same year. Why any child should have to go through that from someone that is supposed to protect them is beyond me. Unfortunately, it happens all the time. A recent story on MSNBC (Video below) shows a Special Needs student being bullied by her Teachers. Why become a teacher if you don’t care for kids? There are no words. Do NOT stand idly by if you see or know of this happening, like the parents at my son’s school who made us fight this battle alone. There is a child that needs your help. Next year, it could be your child and you fighting it alone.

As you know, It’s anti-bully week and we here at YakkityYaks that have stories to tell are letting them rip! Along with Big Brother 13′s Shelly Moore, we here at The Yak are taking a headstrong stand against bullying and the life torment it creates. (Be sure to follow Shelly on Twitter HERE and follow us HERE.) It’s a hard, hard road on the other side of the bullying, and it’s time for those of us that have had this experience speak out and unite! We are NOT alone, and it does get better. Yes, the actions of others seem to stick with you forever, as you will learn with my own personal story below, but they don’t have to rule your life. You can overcome it, you can grow from it, and hey just maybe, we can make friends out of it. I think Shelly put it best when she compared the bullied to a piece of crumpled up paper. No matter how hard you try to straighten it out, even put a heavy book on it for years, the creases will never go away. It does “take a village” to protect our youth, and I for one am happy to be a part of that village. So, without further adieu, here is the story that I have, that since I was a kid, liked to always keep to myself… But today, for you, I will lay it all out there. Scary, but here we go.

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When I was a young, about 4th grade, I was transferred into a private school because of busing. The school district where I lived wanted to take me out of my local public school which was just right around the corner and transfer me to a school miles away. To combat that, my mother moved me to a local private school.

I was the new kid in a school where everyone had already grown up best friends. It was hard to adjust. I was also the kid that got into the private school because my dad did some construction work for them in exchange for part of my schooling there. The other kids, many of them, had parents that were loaded. Yep, the ‘ol rich kid/poor kid cliche. Well, I wouldn’t call us poor by any means, but by these kids standards, yeah, we were “without.” There were no uniforms at the school, so between me being the new kid and not wearing the designer outfits and shoes that most of the kids there had, I was pretty doomed socially from the start. I attended this school through the 8th grade.

I eventually made a few friends, not many, but the friends I did have were great ones. We met at what the majority of the students called “The Loser Table”… you know, where the “losers” sat to eat lunch. We were the misfits and at the very least, had others to share our woes with and boy, there were woes to be had.

All of us were taunted daily. Kids said the most ridiculous and mean things. I was chosen last for any games at P.E. even though I was pretty athletic and better at the games than most kids. In the changing room before P.E. they would make fun of me, my clothes, anything they could think of. I remember once being told that my bra was too high on my back… and they all would laugh. (So much for ever changing in the locker room again.) They used me to be mean to other people, singing that stupid K-I-S-S-I-N-G song if I would speak to a boy, only to have the boy get angry. (That felt great.) They called me a lesbian since I only hung out with my “loser” girlfriends. It was constant ridicule. I couldn’t even imagine how that would have felt if I actually were Gay and how kids today that are must feel.

When I would get invited back then to someone’s b-day party who wasn’t a part of the “loser table”, I would always believe it was sinister in some way. That maybe they wanted me to come just to be the entertainment. To poke fun at me. That never happened at the few I did go to, but now that I’m older, I realize I was invited probably because a parent made them invite everyone. Who knows. The ridicule made me paranoid of everyone’s motives.

High School changed EVERYTHING. I transferred to my local public High School where there were a lot more kids, kids that didn’t know me. I was a very, very pretty girl and had a lot of the boys attention. A LOT. The girls that tortured me daily were there, but at that point, they didn’t bother with me too much. Heck, I was getting more of the boys attention then they were at that point. I think they were actually a little jealous. That felt nice.

However, I wasn’t prepared for the attention I did get, and didn’t know what to do with it. For me, a girl with very low self-esteem at that point, attention was great. The problem became understanding that attention and what to do with it. Let’s just say, for a time, I had a hard time saying the word “no”, even when I wanted to. The one time I did actually say no, it didn’t matter, it wasn’t heard… or was heard and ignored, if you know what I mean. I won’t get into that here, but I’m guessing most will read between the lines on that one.

I did earn a nickname as a “tease” (which is better than some other nicknames that could have transpired, like slut or prude for instance.) I embraced the nickname. Damn right I was a tease! Now that I look back on it all, a tease keeps those boys on their toes now doesn’t it? You aren’t a prude, so they think they have a shot, but you aren’t a slut so they know they will have to put in some hard work to get it LOL! Looking back, I’m not real sure if that thought process was a good one or bad, but it did get me through it all.

The ridicule gave me self-doubt that followed me through-out my life, you know, the “creases in the paper” as mentioned above. Although I am much, much better today, a lot stronger, and a lot less caring of what others think, it still haunts me. There are days I still feel just not up to snuff. I don’t have many friends, mainly because I don’t let too many close. I like to call it self-preservation. However the friends I do have are great ones. I have encapsulated myself in my little world. There is safety within these walls, or is there? Yes, bullying affected me to my core and although the bullies are gone, I have carried their ridiculous words in my soul. It really sucks.

Needless to say, now that I am older and look back on all of it, it was a very hard time. I see pictures of myself back then and realize just how pretty I really was. (That sounds stuck up, doesn’t it?) Too bad I realized that a bit late. Self-esteem issues have plagued me all my life since then. It’s hard to let go of those, REALLY hard. You never really feel whole. There are times, even now, that I fall back into that hole and it doesn’t take much.

I learned a lot though. I try and treat others the way I would like to be treated. You know, what Grandma always said. I also overcame the “no” syndrome, able to not let people just walk all over me in the pursuit of acceptance. I have learned that what general “people” say really doesn’t matter. People that are strangers to me can think what they want. It’s their energy they are wasting. I have learned that It actually does get better. People who say that are right. It may not feel like it, but it truly does.

These people, these school mates, these assholes (for lack of a better (or worse) term) just don’t matter in the scheme of things. They are forced into your life now, but will be gone in a flash. I know, in this day and age, it’s hard. See, when I was a kid, home was my safe place, my sanctuary. Now, with Social Media, (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) the bullying can continue after school, on weekends, into the night… It’s hard to escape from. But again, those people will be gone in a FLASH. It seems like forever now, but it’s just a small snippet of your life. You CAN get through it. For all the rotten kids that talk smack, there are many, many more that you haven’t met yet that will be lost without you here. Plus, there are MILLIONS out there to talk to, have gone through it and can help. Hey, you always have a safe place to talk here at YakkityYaks. In fact, we are currently developing a place here just for that purpose, so stay tuned!

…And… let’s all hope Karma nails these jerky bullies to the wall. Yeah, I said it.

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If you too have a story you would like to share, you can contact us at JDMontgomery@yakkityyaks.com or webmaster@yakkityyaks.com. We would gladly get yours up here to share with everyone. We would also happily remove your name from the story if you would like. Just let us know in the e-mail. Also, you can come join us in the Forum HERE where we are all discussing Anti-Bully week!

Mel Gibson, Jaime Fox and Garry Shandling got together for a little brainstorming recently on how best to pay tribute to Robert Downey Jr. for his upcoming award at American Cinematique and below is how it went. Quite frankly, as much trouble Mel Gibson has found himself in lately, I loved this, and love a come back story. Heck, Robert Downey Jr. is a come back story all his own, so it all seems very appropriate. Hopefully, for me, Mr. Gibson has just found himself on the path up. Plus, you can’t go wrong with Jaime and Garry at your side! So, take a look below and tell us what you think!

The judges made their choices this week sending 16 contestants home from the judges houses. Well, 15. Melanie got sent home from Simon’s house, but after he felt he made a “mistake”, he visited her home and added her into the line-up. I have heard some very unhappy opinions on the choices, especially when it came to the girls. BUT… is their a “wildcard” twist coming? Read below for my opinions on the choices, pictures of those chosen to go on in the competition and more about the chance for wildcards to enter the fray.

The Chosen Ones

So, what did you think about the judges choices? I for one was very happy for the most part, but have to say I was disappointed with Simon’s picks. Well, not all of his choices, just a couple. First, I thought Jazzlyn Little most definitely deserved to be in the mix, and was really peeved he sent her home. I really think that was a mistake and that she could definitely be something. Hopefully someone important did make note of her, and there are behind the scenes things going on with her now that we don’t know about or the Wildcard rumor is true. I was disappointed in his choice in Tiah as well. I think she might be good, but she needs work and a lot of it. I really think Simon just had something to prove with that girl with the other judges and his ego just couldn’t let her go. His other choice, Simone… She can sing, but her attitude leaves something to be desired. She also was the one that forgot the words at boot camp. Again, there was another one that could have been excused from the competition to make way for Jazzlyn.  He could have let Simone go telling her to drop the attitude, come back humble next year, and maybe there would be a spot for her. Heck, let Simone and Tiah go, and Jazzlyn and Melanie (who is amazing) would have both had spots. I really don’t know what Simon was thinking here.

In the other categories, I was happy Dexter (Over 30′s) got through. There is another one that needs a lot of work, but man oh man does he have soul when he sings. It makes a big difference when you live a life like he has and you can hear it in his voice. I was however disappointed in the choice of Stacy over Elaine. I really think Nicole chose Stacy for the story line. Yes, she can sing and maybe I am just cynical, but I’m a little tired of the crying each and everytime the camera is on her. We get it… you were told you were no good, now you are here, you have kids to take care of… blah blah blah. For some of us, or maybe just for me, it does get old. Plus, I thought Elaine was better.

The groups I didn’t really care for much from the start. I don’t know why but none of them really did it for me. I think my favorite in the category was one the judges threw together, Lakoda Rayne. Hopefully Paula will help them with choreography because that part was atrocious. They sang really well together though.

The boys… I wasn’t all that fond of any of them either. I was kinda hoping Nick Voss had made it through, but he needed a lot of work as well. Great voice, but he needed to drop the poser stuff and learn how to be himself. One I was hoping would not go through is Brian Bradley aka “Astro”. Ugh. The attitude on this young child… If my child were to act like that he would be grounded for a long, LONG time. I know he’s young, I just hope they can mellow out his mouth. He is imitating what he hears from older rappers, and it just sounds horrible coming from a 15 yr. old. That kind of attitude (as well as Simone’s) will be what get’s you booted by America. I’m kind of hoping those two are first, followed quickly by Tiah just to irritate Simon.

Wildcards?

According to the show last Tuesday, this coming Tuesday was supposed to begin the Live Shows. However, when I went to my Tivo page online to find out more about The X Factor TV schedule, the show coming up this Tuesday is titled “Wildcard- Live” with the description “Hopefuls perform for the judges and an audience.” The show is scheduled to be two and a half hours. So hmmmm. Does that mean we may see some of our favorites that were eliminated back in the competition? It’s possible. The “Wildcard” twist made it’s way to The X Factor last year in the UK, so why not here? In addition (I don’t know what this means), on The X Factor Official website, you can click to get tickets to the shows. The listing for this week’s show (for tickets) is on Sunday, October 23. That doesn’t sound “live” for Tuesday does it? Also, there are no more TV listings (tickets) for any more shows this coming week, with the next available show tickets for Wednesday November 2nd, and Thursday, November 3rd. (That sounds more like a live show and elimination night to me.) It could also mean that judges will be eliminating one of their 4 (Simon one of 5) on the Tuesday airing (Sunday taping), bringing the competition down to 13 competitors. That kind of sounds more likely to me, but who knows.

Other sites have also been keeping up with the possible Wildcard Spoilers. I guess we will just have to wait and see. It seems like that would be a lot of live performers to fit in if they add any more contestants.

What do you think? Will more be added? If so, who would you like to see return to the competition? Is it just a judge kick off show? Let us know below, then come on into the Forum to discuss all your favorite Reality TV! You can see who was chosen below:

Judge: Simon Cowell, The Girls:

Judge Paula Abdul, The Groups:

Judge Nicole Scherzinger, The Over 30′s:

Judge L.A. Reid, The Boys:

Here is your quickie recap and commentary on ANTM All-Stars Episode 3 last night! Did you watch? If not, you may want to stop reading as this will spoil it for you!

The models, fresh from the make-overs last week, get a visit from Reality TV star Kristin Cavallari from MTV’s Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County, and it’s spin off, The Hills. Kristin, known as a pretty nasty personality from those Reality shows, was there to tell the girls that even if you have haters out there, it doesn’t mean you can’t go far. Personally, I didn’t see much of a point in her visit, unless her visit was edited WAY down. It seemed out of place. Maybe they couldn’t find another “star” to visit that week? Did anyone see a point to this?

The Challenge:

I digress… the Challenge this week was for the girls to be interviewed by Extra’s Mario Lopez to see how well they would do under pressure. They were split off into teams, and for the first time in ANTM history, the winning team of six would be safe from eliminations. The top two photos from last week, Lisa and Bianca, got to choose the teams, kind of like you would during Elementary School P.E.class. Lisa chose Laura, Alex, Isis, Dominique and Angelea. Bianca chose Allison, Bre, Shannon, Camille and Kayla. Kayla, chosen last… Do you think she felt like that last picked kid in 3rd grade?

Apparently to Nigel, Lisa was too animated and vocal during the interview, giving high fives to her team after every answer, and interrupting Alex’s answer. Course, what did he expect from Lisa? She was certainly showing her personality. On the other side, Nigel said Angelea needed to show a bit more of her personality. Ultimately, the winning team was Bianca’s, sending her team of six to safety.

Angelea, however, did not take the criticism well. In the car ride back to the house after the challenge, she vented to everyone that she was treating the interview as a job applicant would, with business class, and she will answer to no one… “Not you, not Nigel, Not any one of these bitches” as she pointed around the cab, and vowed to bring it up at panel. Course, none of the other girls said a thing during her tirade. I sort of agreed with her, not necessarily the way she did it, but really… Lisa has too much personality, and Angelea didn’t show enough?

The Photo Shoot:

The photo shoot was actually quite interesting this week. The girls were teamed up in pairs consisting of one “safe” girl, and one “not safe” girl and had to pose on black stilts. I have seen them called “elegant”, but to me, they resembled black cricket legs. Anyway, the photos turned out to be quite interesting, none of them horrible by any means, but some did stand out more than others. At the shoot, Bianca, afraid of heights, almost didn’t go through with the shoot, but got through it, and hers turned out to be one of the best photos (even though Jay expressed disappointment with her performance, so maybe her film wasn’t that great.) Otherwise, the shoot went pretty smooth.

The Judging:

The girls were brought up by Tyra in the pairs the shot with and were critiqued. Allison sparked a new term to be used on ANTM, the booty “tooch”… basically, stick out that rear end, and of the safe girls, ended up receiving best picture for it. Of the girls in danger, Alexandria got best photo (and can I say I love her hair the way they decided to make it over?) Bottom two of the unsafe girls (but according to Tyra, not bottom two of all the pictures) were Isis and Angelea. Angelea did, as promised in the car ride after the challenge earlier, bring up the Nigel comment, saying she didn’t understand why she was told she didn’t have enough personality. She just didn’t do it bitchy like she said she would. Nigel and Tyra explained that she should show some personality, but also know when to reign it in. (Again, I disagree with this. In my opinion, you should be who you are, especially in an interview. People will love you, people will hate you, but there will be no in between, that’s for sure.) Based on photos alone, Angelea’s photo was stronger, so Isis was sent packing this week.

I was actually happy with the results last night. Isis seems like a real nice girl, but just never did it for me as a fashion model, so I was glad to see others saved. Plus, what the heck was with her hat at judging?

All in all it was a decent episode. There seems to be a lack of girl drama in the house this season which I have come to expect, with only an occasional outburst here and there. Dare I say these All-Stars have grown up a bit? Even Alexandria seems to have mellowed, and she was on just last year!

By the looks of the preview next week, there looks to be some ER drama coming up, with Kayla getting violently ill, paramedics, girls screaming… Hopefully this doesn’t hurt her chances in the competition, as she has one of my favorite “looks” of the season. Not necessarily my favorite personality, but looks wise, gotta love that red hair. Course, I’m a biased for Lisa and her out there personality and would love to see Alexandria overcome the hate and move on up in the competition as well.

Who are you rooting for? Let us know below, then come on in and join us in the forum HERE for all your reality favorites and chat!

One of my all time favorite shows premiered last night for it’s whopping season 19! Did you miss it? You can catch it online HERE, then come back and join us for all of the TAR conversation in the forum! We also discuss the show while it’s on, so get registered already! It’s free!

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It seems the the thoughts on the new season, so far, are not too split. No one stood out last night as a team to love or a team to hate. I’m sure, the further we get in the season, teams will pick up those titles, and I doubt it will be long. Below I will share my thoughts on teams that stood out in last nights episode:

The self-proclaimed “smart” team of Kaylani and Lisa, friends and cocktail waitresses from Las Vegas, seemed to start off not too smart, one of them losing their passport. Thanks to a couple guys at a gas station and Twitter, the passport was brought to the airport, allowing the team to continue the race. (That was pretty cool of those guys.) They seemed to redeem themselves however later in the race when they picked up on the Confucius saying quickly, and took the bungee leap without hesitation.

Ethan and Jenna, former Survivor contestants and Ethan, a cancer survivor, thought they would be able to fool the other racers somehow and not let them know they were on Survivor, thus, putting a big target on them. Well, that didn’t last long as all the other teams discussed it at the airport. So much for that cover eh?

Liz and Marie, the two blond twins, seems they may drama this season. Unable to get the Confucius saying for a long, long time, it seemed to already spark arguments. Of all the teams, they actually annoyed me the most last night, although none really stood out as horrible… yet.

Justin and Jennifer, brother and sister from Georgia. This team looks to be some major drama, and I haven’t yet decided who it is that starts it. It seemed by last night’s episode that Jennifer appeared to be the drama queen, but who knows… maybe he is a button presser. I guess we will find out as the Race goes on. Constant drama and I will begin disliking this team.

Amani and Marcus, married couple from Georgia, and Marcus a former Pro NFL player. So far, this seems like one of the teams that may become a favorite of mine. They work together well, cheer one another on, and race pretty hard. We will see if they hold that title with me.

Last but not least, a team that stood out in last night’s episode, Bill and Cathi, married grandparents from New York. Seriously, do they think they are on vacation here? They seem like very nice people, but certainly not made for the Race. They walked around like they were tourists taking in the sights. They never seemed they were in much of a hurry. Hearing them talk about how they “think the ran a good race” puzzled me. You didn’t even make one leg? How is that a good race? Once they FINALLY strolled to the pit stop, they were told it was a non-elimination leg and will incur a penalty on the next leg. That was a bit of a disappointment to me, as I would rather see a stronger team, a hard working team, have that opportunity, but alas, it wasn’t in the cards.

Next week, Phil explained, will be the first ever double elimination on The Amazing Race. I could probably say with certainty that we will be saying goodbye to Bill and Cathi next week, which really, just nulled one of the non-eliminations this season. It will take a miracle to not see them leave next week, but hey, crazier things have happened, so who knows for sure, right?

That’s all my thoughts for this week! What are your thoughts? Do you have a favorite team yet? Do you agree with the assessments of the above team? Let us know below, then come on in the forum HERE and join us for all your favorite Reality TV!

The Yak had the pleasure of chatting with Adam Poch, 3rd place finisher of Big Brother 13! He gives us the low down on what it’s like to be a fan playing the Big Brother game!

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The Yak: Hello Adam! How are you doing this morning?

Adam: I am doing amazing! It would have been better waking up with a half a million dollars, but instead I woke up with something even better, I woke up with my girlfriend and I am out of that house.

The Yak: That is so awesome… I mean final 3, I know it isn’t exactly what you had your eyes on, but you know, final three, Tori Spelling, the Summer of Big Brother and now freedom! How does it feel to be Adam about right now?

Adam: You know, it feels pretty damn good to be Adam right now I gotta admit. It was a Summer that I never expected to happen, even though I was trying for a few years to get on the show, I never expected to get on. Then to actually get on the show and compete, and win competitions and get to the final three, who would ever think that? And Tori Spelling showing up? Phenomenal. I mean David Hasselhoff, that was cool, but if I never met David Hasselhoff, I could have continued living my life, but being able to meet Tori Spelling? And more importantly Tori Spelling knows who Adam is! If I had just gone to one of her book signings and asked her to sign my book and I would have said I love you and I host trivia night on Beverly Hills 90210, you’re the greatest, she would have thought I was just some weirdo. Now she thinks I am still a weirdo, but Adam the weirdo from Big Brother. She invited me to come over to her house for Christmas, I love my girlfriend dearly, we have a future together… Tori has a reality show where she plans weddings, who knows.

The Yak: Maybe she can plan your wedding!

Adam: Maybe with my little bit of quirkiness and loving Tori Spelling and loving 90210 I could get her to plan our wedding. Rachel won’t be the only one getting a dream wedding this season.

The Yak: Well, Rachel had her wedding this season.

Adam: Yes with the cutest ring bearer ever, as well as probably the creepiest stripper ever at a Bachelorette party.

The Yak: Yeah, we can get on board with that statement.

Adam: Well you gotta work with what ya got honey!

The Yak: We know you like fan sites, specifically Hamsterwatch…

Adam: How did you know that? [laugh]

The Yak: I think I may just be psychic…

Adam: Well, now that I have been on the show, I will be for sure checking out every site now. I am a bit of an egomaniac, and if there is something written about me, whether it’s good or bad, I will read it. Even if it’s bad about me, I know who I am, and if your talking bad about me and you never lived in that house, you have no idea what you have to go through on a day to day basis.

The Yak: That was exactly what we wanted to ask you. Being a fan just like we are, watching the show and feeds, hanging out at the websites criticizing the game play and players, what can you tell us now that you have experienced it first hand?

Adam: You know, before I walked into that house, I had so many ideas of how I wanted to play the game. I watched how other people played it, and I knew I would have to play my own game, obviously not realizing the type of people I would be playing with, especially strong competitors that knew the game inside and out because they played the game before. That was definitely the toughest thing to get used to. The first couple of weeks, still trying to learn about people… learning who you can trust and who you can’t and in the meantime, there are 5 to 6 people who knew exactly what they were doing, so that was the toughest part of the competition. You know as a fan when you are watching on TV, it’s so easy to criticize… you have to sleep with both eyes open in that house. You can’t even sleep sometimes! I’m sitting there running scenarios through my head, and that person that’s laying next to you pretending to be sleeping and you wonder what scenarios are running through their heads. You know the first couple weeks trying to figure out who to trust is the hardest part… and once I started working with Jeff and Jordan, and I knew I could trust them, I think that’s when my game got some focus. People wanted to call me a floater and I call it covering my ass. I call it making sure I was not a target. I was making sure I was loveable and people wouldn’t look at me like I was a big threat, but meanwhile I was totally dedicated to Jeff and Jordan, and to some degree Rachel. I was definitely working with them when the newbies I was trying to align with either jumped ship or got in over their head, so I just had to make sure I did whatever I had to do to get by in the game. And say what you want about my game, I got to final three and gave myself a chance to win this game. Floater, drifter, fence sitter… you know there is no handbook that says how to play this game, and ya know what, in previous seasons, if I tried to play the game the exact way I played it, it may not have worked. So when you look at how anybody played this game, you cannot criticize how they did it, especially to get far in this game. You look back at every big move that was made this season and it blew up in their face, and not making a big move, was a big move, and not falling prey to help someone else out while not helping my game, that was a big move. So say what you want about me, but the moves that I made may not have looked big, but they got me to where I was.

The Yak: Did you experience paranoia in the game?

Adam: Paranoia sets in two seconds after you walk in that door. When you look at someone and you realize they aren’t here to just hand you a half million dollars, they’re here to take a half million dollars away from you. Then finding out people were throwing competitions early in the game because they didn’t like their partner, I mean come on… that’s why when the vets first asked me to come aboard and asked me to throw competitions, I did not want to roll like that. That’s not why I worked hard to get onto that show. That’s not why I tried 3 out of the last 4 years to get on that show. I did not go in there just to be someone else’s puppet, I went in there to win a half a million dollars. When I realized what I had to do, and maybe I was better off not winning competitions, that never stopped me from trying to win them. I said it to people in the house, and I will say it to anyone outside the house, I never threw a competition. If I lost a competition, it was because I sucked at it. When I got the Before and After wrong, the Fast Forward did startle me a little bit, the HoH Daniele won, it was the same one as the veto and we played it at night… I just got confused for a second and when you lose your head in this game, it screws you up. Hey, it worked out to my advantage… I wanted to get Jeff out, but I didn’t want to get Jeff out then. I wanted to get Jeff out in the final four and go head to head, but it worked out to help me a little bit. I was really upset I was not able to win the HoH and the Veto on the Fast Forward and keep Jeff safe because he had kept me safe and I wanted to return the favor. It really bummed me out. Then when Jeff looked at me after the vote came in 2-2 and thought I voted against him it really hurt me. But hey ya know what, any ripple in the whole scheme of things, I may not have been in the final three so…

The Yak: Do you think if Rachel had taken you to the final two you could have won and why did you ultimately end up voting for Porsche to win?

Adam: I’d like to think I could have convinced the jury to vote for me. Chances are with the people who were on that jury, they were pretty set on who they would vote for. Rachel did earn her spot there, Rachel was the fiercest competitor of the season. Honestly I threw my vote to Porsche, and people are giving me slack for that, but I did throw my vote to Porsche because I really did not want to see a veteran win the game. When it came down to it, I tried to help Rachel get further in the game so she could help me get further in the game, and I really wish she had taken me and showed me the same courtesy that I showed her by working with her and sticking with her, and keeping her safe when I did, and it did hurt me, so that’s why I did vote for Porsch to win. I know as a new player what I had to go through this time around and the fact that a veteren had a second chance to play the game, I felt like the new people definitely deserved it.

The Yak: Did the vets coming into the game change the way you had originally planned to play the game?

Adam: The only thing it changed was the fact the I knew there were some big targets in the house, and I can hide behind them a little bit. I knew coming into the game I’m a 40 yr. old quirky guy and I wanted to make sure people fell in love with me early because sometimes people don’t get me right away. Knowing that there were big targets in the house did let me take a back seat and blend in a little bit, which I know is hard to imagine from a guy who is throwing metal horns in the air and screamin’, but you had some other people that were playing the game too fast, too strong, too quickly. I let people like Keith dig his own ditch. I let Dominic dig his own ditch. That sucked because I really wanted to work with Dominic but with the veterans there, they knew what they were doing… but with the newbies there that didn’t know what they were doing that were getting in over their heads so I just took a back seat and let them dig their ditches and fall in it. When it was time for me to start steppin’ up, I thought I could put it into overdrive and step it up. I did for a little bit, but in this game there are so many up and downs week to week.

The Yak: Why didn’t you tell Jeff and Jordan about Shelly’s betrayel sooner?

Adam: Ya know, I didn’t want to believe it! I did not want to believe that Shelly was not on board. I thought Shelly was being true and honest with me because we would talk things through. We were both up early in the morning and we would talk about decisions that were going on, it always seemed like her and I were on the same page. When we did not agree on stuff we would talk about it. The fact that she was just actually just taking the information I was giving her and twisting it, going back to Jeff and Jordan telling them that they shouldn’t be trusting me… we didn’t figure that out until it was too late. I think Shelly did do an amazing job with that, trying to be a “Dr. Will”, trying to manipulate other people. But again, too much, too fast, too strong, and when people finally started comparing notes, we realized Shelly was the one that was betraying us.

The Yak: That’s what we saw as well. It seemed that Shelly was very manipulative, but at some point, it seemed she got a little too big for her britches so-to-speak, that she was doing it so well, she got a little cocky about it.

Adam: Exactly and in this game as you have seen before, once you think you got it wrapped up, that’s when you go down. When she was going upstairs when Kalia was HoH and telling Jeff, Jordan and myself that she was telling Kalia that she was voting to keep Rachel, but going up there to get information for us, we thought it was a little suspicious, but she had not done anything to that point to show her suspicion, so we didn’t want to believe it. Looking back if we had we realized it, when Shelly and Brendon were up, we could have sent Shelly home. But like I said so many times, any one change in the ripple, I might have not made final three, so it worked out the way it was supposed to work out. Except for the fact that I could not win one of the first two parts of the final HoH, because I got four questions right in part 3 sitting in the kitchen by myself, and could not believe how they weren’t getting these questions right, and that’s where I would have excelled because I did get to know all the jury members, as well as everybody in the house on a personal level, so I knew what they would have been thinking in those final questions. It was my own fault.

The Yak: Since we are running out of time, I would like a more personal question if I could. We know you lost a lot of weight before going into the Big Brother house, and just wondered if you did it using the Atkins or similar low carb program, and if that’s how you got hooked on bacon?

Adam: [laugh] No, I have always been hooked on bacon! I have been hooked on bacon since I was a little boy, and my father would cook bacon in the morning on the weekends, and I would wake up to the sweet smell of bacon… as a Jew it’s like the forbidden fruit. But I have been able to keep bacon in my diet and lose the weight by finding healthier alternatives still using bacon. Bacon is good for you, moderation is the key. Like anything in life, it’s all about moderation. You do not have to cut bacon out of your diet, you can still stay healthy, and look as good as I do… the sexiest man to play Big Brother!

The Yak: Well thank you so much Adam. You have a great day and some wonderful wrap parties!

Adam: Thank you so much I appreciate it.

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The Yak had the pleasure of talking with second place Big Brother winner, Porsche Briggs yesterday morning, immediately following her win of $50,000 the night before. Read below what Porsche had to say about her Summer of Big Brother, her other Houseguests, and how she feels about her 2nd place victory!

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The Yak: Hi Porsche, congratulations on final two! I know you wanted to win the big money, but you got second place, $50,000, a summer of Big Brother and now freedom this morning! How does it feel to be you about right now?

Porsche: Oh it’s pretty nice! It’s $50,000 more than I started this Summer with!

The Yak: Too true! Our members as you know watch the feeds, watch the show and criticize the game play of course, but can you tell us first hand now what it truly feels like to be in there and how stressful it really is?

Porsche: Oh that’s the biggest difference between watching it on TV and being there actually. It’s stressful ALL the time you know, everyone is constantly trying to determine who’s side are you on, what you will do if we win, if you win… it’s all game talk all the time in that house and it’s REALLY stressful!

The Yak: Yes because the fans can watch the show and feeds and see what is going on behind all the doors and what people are saying but of course you can’t, so it must be paranoia city!

Porsche: Oh of course… when you walk out of a room, you are always wondering if someone is plotting your demise! We used to joke about that in the house. Now we are going to see people on the street and wonder if they are plotting our demise!

The Yak: Ok let’s get the most asked questions out of the way here. I’m sure you have heard these words a lot since you have gotten out of the house. Let’s start with “Benefiber.”

Porsche: Yeah that’s so funny that that question keeps coming up! It was literally only in the stuff for like a couple hours. You know I never actually had to use Benefiber, I didn’t know if it was going to make someone sick or anything like that and I had Dani and Kalia sitting right there and not telling me anything different and they were the ones, you know, keeping an eye on me. You know you just get really bored in the house, and you kinda look for ways to kind of spice things up and keep it interesting you know, and it was a joke that just kinda got out of hand… but yeah it was only there literally for like a couple of hours before I just threw the entire container of protein shake away.

The Yak: Yes and I’m sure you heard about it a lot since last night huh?

Porsche: A few times for sure yeah! [laugh]

The Yak: The other most asked question… pink velour suit!

Porsche: Ok, it will be burned yes! [laugh] Everyone can rest assured.

The Yak: I think it was just that you wore it so often. I have a feeling if you had only worn it a few times that no one would have said anything, but since you were always in it…

Porsche: Yeah, I mean, I didn’t have to get dressed, like any kind of fancy or anything, and it was cold in the house you know, and kind of cold outside at night so you always just want to be comfortable you know… and whatever, it is a matching little sweatsuit and I had a couple of them but yeah that one was my favorite!

The Yak: I’m certainly glad no one has feeds to my house because I’m sure they would get sick of what I am wearing around the house as well! Anyway… what caused you to jump ship from Rachel and the vets to the Dani/Kalia side of the house?

Porsche: Yeah ok, well after Brendon left Rachel definitely had a very emotional week but she definitely didn’t take it out in the best ways possible, you know as far as game play and everything is concerned, you know she had the whole house going against her, and when he left she just stuck real close to Jeff and Jordan and at that time, even though I was in the vet alliance, I wasn’t really aligned with Jeff and Jordan, I was more aligned with Brendon and Rachel and that’s why I even voted for him to stay at that point. She just went and hung out with Jeff and Jordan, then Jeff wanted me to throw the “Knock Out” competition and all that kind of stuff… I’m not there to help anybody else. I am there to play my game. I didn’t come into that game as a duo, with a partner, anything of the sort. I came in by myself and only I can help myself win $500,000, and at that point, it just didn’t feel right playing with them. I wanted to be able to get to know the rest of the people in the house and just not hate people because I was told to do so. I made friends with the other people in the house and I find out I really liked them, we got along, we had a lot in common, and I had a really enjoyable few weeks there.

The Yak: Yes, and there is a lot of downtime in the house, so it was probably nice to find someone you can speak to.

Porsche: Exactly, and their not just always trying to talk game. It was nice to just have a little break from constant game talk.

The Yak: Speaking of the duos, if you were able to rewind and choose to partner up with someone else instead of Keith, would you, and who would it be?

Porsche: Absolutely not. At this point in the game, I am extremely happy that Keith was my partner. He definitely blew up in the beginning you know, right when we were on the block and it worked out to my advantage obviously. But when we were all sitting down, me and Kalia thought that we would have partnered up together and you know what… we did later on in the game so… I guess it worked out for everyone.

The Yak: Do you think if you went to the end with Adam you would have won?

Porsche: Umm, no actually. Adam was really close to Jeff and Jordan obviously, and at that point, Rachel and I had week to week deals going back and forth. That’s all you have in the Big Brother game, you don’t have any kind of money or anything else but your word and your deals, and if I would have broken that promise with Rachel, I know that Rachel would not have wanted to vote for me and neither would Brendon, so right there would have been the 4 votes for me to get second place so… people can say that maybe I could have beaten Adam, but when you look at it, Jeff and Jordan didn’t like me and they would have voted for Adam because he was their friend so… whatever. [laugh]

The Yak: Yeah and speaking of that, it didn’t seem you got along well with Jordan in particular and Jeff really. Do you have any idea why?

Porsche: I never really had anything against them. Obviously they were the longest running couple in the house, so they had to be broken up. Jeff was a really strong competitor and I did talk to him a lot just on free time, not game or anything like that… we talked about different Humanitarian Services and things he did from Around the World and he has obviously done some TV and I would like to get into that business, so we talked a lot about that stuff, as well as just hangin’ out playing 20 questions. Jordan and I, you know we were the closest in age in the house… I mean I was the youngest and she was second youngest but we definitely had two different lifestyles. She is definitely a little bit more guarded than me, I have had a lot more time to grow into my skin, and I’m really happy about that. I think she is an awesome, pure girl, and she was carried by Jeff, you know, most of the game and it worked out for awhile, but I was not going to be able to take her to final 3.

The Yak: Yes and it seemed like she felt the same way about you when she would say things about you “like to bake cookies, host competitions and hang out in a bikini” insinuating that you didn’t real play and got carried as well.

Porsche: What they keep forgetting in there is that I was given a golden key for the first 30 days of the competition so what did they expect me to do? Get in people’s faces and try to cut people’s throats when I can’t even compete to save myself?

The Yak: It seemed that’s what Daniele did with her golden key and look where it got her right? If you had won the final 4 HOH, who would have been your target?

Porsche: Honestly at that point, the final 4 HoH does mean as much as that final 4 veto. The veto is what you need… in fact it is almost better the way it did work out cause if it had gone any other way with me winning HoH, I could have been facing with Jordan and Adam because at that point, with coming down to final 3 and what not, you know Jordan would have taken Adam and Adam would have taken Jordan, so I would have been out 3rd, so… it was what I needed to ensure that I could make deals and get myself to final two.

The Yak: Who do you think you will remain friends with now that it’s over?

Porsche: I definitely think I will remain friends with Rachel, she’s great and we get along really well obviously under extreme circumstances. I will definitely also continue to talk with Adam and Dani.

The Yak: If asked, would you do it all over again for All-Stars?

Porsche: Oh absolutely. Big Brother is normally a once in a lifetime opportunity and I got my first time on Big Brother playing with more winners than All-Stars even had, so they must have saw something in me that I was a good competitor, and I am… I would definitely come back and compete again. I can only get one more thing in Big Brother. You know, I have done Pandora’s Boxes, I’ve done HoH, Veto… I’ve done it all and won second place, now all I need to do is win. [laugh]

The Yak: Speaking of playing with past winners, did your strategy change at all from what you planned on doing before entering the house when you saw the vets walk in?

Porsche: Absolutely. My personality is outgoing, flirtatious, fun… basically what I was in the house but being in the house with couples, engaged people and people who have boyfriends/girlfriends on the outside, it makes it really difficult to play the kind of game you think you are going to play when you come into the house. Especially playing with veterans who think “hey we’re hot shit and we’re going to be the number one alliance and be awesome” but you can only be on top for so long in that game and then you are back on the bottom, then from the bottom you can get back on top. It’s very flip flop week to week in that game and I definitely had a struggle playing with a lot of people that had already played this game but it was definitely worth the challenge.

The Yak: Well thank you so much for talking to us this morning Porsche. Keep us in mind when you decide to take the dive into reading things online which could be dangerous! [laugh]

Porsche: I know, that’s what they have been telling me! [laugh]

The Yak: Enjoy your freedom and your wrap parties!

Porsche: Thank you so much!

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