The mastermind of Big Brother, Dan Gheesling, ALMOST took the win for the second time on Big Brother Wednesday night… almost. Dan, who easily won season 10, receiving all seven jury votes in his season over his pal (that we got to hear a lot about this season, Memphis), was just not able to scrape out the win over Ian Terry this year. Dan did however play the game much more ruthless this year which cost him the jury in the long run. Had Dan won that final HOH and taken Danielle with him to the end, this may have ended much differently, but alas, that wasn’t meant to be. The Yak got the chance to chat with Dan this morning on his almost victory to see what he thought of the season, becoming the runner up and his fellow house guests. Keep reading to see what he had to say!
Dan admits that he knew the jury had already made up their mind and he had no chance of winning this season. Had he won that final Head of Household and took Danielle, things may have turned out different… however, even if he had won, he planned on taking Ian anyway. He said both Ian and himself believed that Danielle had too many friends on the jury and that neither had a chance to win against her. In hindsight however, that may not have been true, considering what Britney said on the live show, that she hopes Danielle is the last one evicted so the two that “deserve” to be the final two, are.
On his “Funeral” Dan said he knew he could get away with it once he saw how the people in the house treated him when he came out of solitary, claiming that he felt ill. Everyone hovered over him, worried about what that room had done to him. He knew then that his “funeral” plan would work. He played a ruthless backstabbing game this season for sure, but says that if you are going to play the ruthless game, then you have to go all the way through. He said when he turned that corner (into a ruthless game) you can’t just stab half the people, you have to stab them all. He had to go all the way! Anything he does, he says he does it 110% and he was hoping the jury would see that.
Instead, he admits that he believes the jury voted emotionally. Not to take anything away from Ian, who Dan thinks played a solid game, he just believes his game was better. He knew that he would have a hard time convincing the jury but still blames himself and his speech. Had he said something different maybe in that last 90 seconds, maybe he could have changed their minds… but again, he thinks the jury had their minds made up. In fact, he overheard Britney in a backyard interview after the show say that anyone up against Dan would have won the game. If he had his dream final two, he would have hoped to be able to take Jenn with him, thinking he could beat her.
About scum bagging Shane, he knew that he had to get rid of him at that point in the game. Had the final three at that point been himself, Shane and Danielle, he knew for sure that Shane would take Danielle to the final two. He contradicted himself about Danielle at one point in the interview however, saying that Danielle would never have done anything against him in the game and taken him. He then stated that he knew she would take Shane, so my feeling from the conversation was he was just unsure what she would have ended up doing so he got rid of Shane to remove any doubt if she had won. He did regret about deceiving Danielle throughout the game, but still noted that he had to do what he had to do to get to the end.
When called out on his over-the-top grandfather’s necklace and Bible use, again he mentioned that because he had played a ruthless game up to that point, he had to follow through. He couldn’t just play a half ruthless game and get by. It was all or nothing.
In his season, the final time with the jury played out differently. The final two house guests had a lot more time to make their case to the jury and have the jury ask questions. Dan admits that this season was a lot harder because of that. Now, you get 90 seconds to prove your case. He believes that had he had the extra time to “mist” the jury, he could have won the game. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be.
Dan is hoping to be able to re-connect with his former house guests now that the show is over. Even Jodi, who he says he cut because he didn’t believe she gave the 110% he was looking for in that first competition and that somehow, in that 8 hours she was in there, she stirred a lot of emotions from other house guests and they wanted her out. (Not sure we buy that, but ok.) He says it’s hard getting back into the real world and was hoping he can help his fellow contestants with the transition. He has no harsh feelings against a single one of them, and hopes they can all separate game play from real life. He loved being able to play against some major competitors from past seasons and thought Britney played a great game. He did say though that he enjoyed his season, Season 10, much better than this one, saying he didn’t have the need to play such a hard core game then.
Our good friends at Big Brother Network mentioned to Dan that they had posted a poll after the show asking “Who Should Have Won? Ian or Dan?” and with over 5000 votes, Dan took it with 58% of the vote at the time of this interview. Dan responded that at least that is a moral victory, but at the end of the day, Ian played a solid game and deserved to win. He is happy for Ian and believes he will do good things with the money.
All in all, Dan seemed satisfied with his runner-up status. He would have loved the win, of course, but still, a one time winner making it into the final 2 a second time is not too shabby. From a fan’s perspective, I for one am so glad that Dan was in the house this season. Had he not been, this season would have been really boring for me. All his scum bagging aside, he played a hard, entertaining game and many of us here at the Yak are so glad he agreed to go back. Would he do it again? You bet. Dan has a love for this game and we love him for it. Of course, Dan is writing yet another book, so be on the look out! We thank Dan for taking the time to talk to us!
Next Up: Click over for a partial transcript of our reporter Jarrod and other outlets time with Dan