The Yak had the pleasure of speaking with Rachel this afternoon, less than 24 hours after being crowned winner of Big Brother 13! Keep on reading what she has to say about her victory, the summer, and what she really thinks about her fellow houseguests. Our chats with Porsche and Adam will be up later!
Editor’s Note: It was a real pleasure talking with Rachel. Her bubbly personality was infectious and she was extremely friendly and genuinely happy!
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The Yak: Congratulations on the win! It must feel amazing! We are very proud of you…
Rachel: Awwww thank you! I WON BIG BROTHER! {laughs}
The Yak: You stayed real strong after Brendon’s 2nd eviction, told him in your goodbye message you were going to do this, and you got it done! How do you feel right now?
Rachel: Feels AMAZING! I can’t believe I won Big Brother. It’s surreal, considering everything that I had to go through in that house. It’s such a great feeling, especially knowing how many fans I picked up. I’m still trying to get used to that.
The Yak: You seemed to be a big fan of Big Brother… were you a fan before your original season? Did you watch the show and feeds or only the show?
Rachel: I was a fan of Big Brother for a long time. I never watched the live feeds but I always watched the CBS shows. I always told myself how I wanted to make it on this show, end up competing like Janelle, play a great social game, make the right alliances, etc…Things didn’t turn out so well in my season so I told myself that if I was ever asked back, I’d do it differently. When I was asked back this season, I made sure that Brendon and I adjusted our social game. I think we did a good job of it going in, considering we had no idea if any other veterans would be joining. The second we saw Jeff and Jordan, we knew we had to join with them and work on our social game from the get go. The competitions would come later.
The Yak: How do you think the vets changed the dynamic this year?
Rachel: The vets totally changed the dynamics this year. Not only did we have targets on our back, but we knew that we’d be picked off one by one if we didn’t join forces early on. It was a great idea to have fans and new people play with us, but it was also dangerous for us. Then Daniele had to go and ruin our game making a terrible move by going against our alliance. I’m still not sure why she did it, but it put us in danger and it wasn’t the smartest move Daniele has ever made.
The Yak: Looking back on the first few evictions the vets decided, is there any that you think you would do differently now?
Rachel: Well, you can’t really play the “what if” game. But I think evicting Keith was a great idea. I think evicting Cassi was a great idea. Looking back, I had no idea Shelly was playing a Dr. Will type game early on. Maybe voting her out instead of Dominic would have been a good idea for my alliance, but then maybe Dominic would have teamed up with Cassi or Dani or whoever was around and that would have hurt us in the end.
The Yak: Well and don’t forget that keeping Shelly a little longer got her to jury which gave you the victory …
Rachel: {Laughs} Exactly! That’s why you can’t really play the “what if” game here. Maybe then I wouldn’t have won.
The Yak: You’ve mentioned Daniele a few times already, is it safe to assume that we won’t be hearing of a Rachel and Dani friendship anytime soon?
Rachel: Probably not. Well {laughs} you never really know. Look at me now. Ragan and I are best friends, so I guess it could happen, but probably not.
The Yak: What was going through your mind when she made her comment as she cast her vote last night?
Rachel: I FOR SURE thought I had her vote, which would have meant I won the game. I didn’t think that she’d make a dig at me and vote for Porsche at the same time. I was really shocked when I saw that she voted for Porsche, and I was even more shocked when I saw that Shelly voted for me.
The Yak: Yeah, we saw it in your face. Did you know that you won at that point?
Rachel: Oh for sure. The second I saw Shelly’s key, I knew I won this game and I don’t even remember what was going through my head at that point. I was SHOCKED.
The Yak: Before that point, was there any other moment in the game where you thought you might win it?
Rachel: I honestly didn’t realize I was going to win this game until after I won the final HOH. I went to the Diary Room after I won and that’s when I first thought to myself that I could actually have just won Big Brother.
The Yak: You mean not once before last night did you think you might have a shot at this game?
Rachel: Nope, not at all. Considering how big of a target I and the other vets had on our backs, I knew that I’d have to step up my game; but every single week I thought that I’d be the one walking out that door. After Brendon and Jeff left, I for sure didn’t think I’d win this thing. Even if I took Jordan to the F2 I think she would have beat me, but I knew that her and I needed to make it there, so I knew I had to fight for it.
The Yak: If you had won the final 4 POV, who would you have evicted and why?
Rachel: If I had won…well, my hope was that Jordan would win the F4 HOH and I won the F4 POV. At that point, I would have evicted Adam for sure. My gut feeling was that Adam just wasn’t with Jordan and I 100%, and I was starting to think of ways for us both to make it to the Final 2.
The Yak: Speaking of Adam, what do you make of his vote last night?
Rachel: I was SHOCKED. I knew that Brendon, Jeff and Jordan would vote for me and that Shelly, Kalia and Dani would vote for Porsche.
The Yak: Right? Who would have known that Shelly would have been the deciding vote?
Rachel: I KNOW! It really hurt to see that Adam voted for Porsche. Before I evicted him, he stood up and made that speech and called Porsche a floater. Adam had always told me that if I won the final HOH, he’d vote for me to win because I deserved it. After all that, I’m surprised he voted for Porsche.
The Yak: Did you get to ask Adam about it since last night or no?
Rachel: I did. I actually confronted him in the backyard last night and he told me that he knew I had won the game. He told me that somehow he saw Shelly’s vote. I don’t really believe it; it seemed more that he was angry I evicted him.
The Yak: A lot of people were confused about the vote, but you still won! … If you were on jury instead of in the final two, who would you think deserved to win the game the most (other than Brendon) of all the other Houseguests?
Rachel: Jeff 100%. If Jeff made it to the finals, I would have voted for him for sure. He plays a great social game, he’s a nice guy, and I would have loved to see either him or Jordan win this game if Brendon or I couldn’t.
The Yak: Throughout the season, we obviously witnessed a lot of lows for Rachel, especially after Brendon was evicted the second time. Other than an underlying motivation to win the game, what do you attribute climbing out of those lows to?
Rachel: 100% Jordan. Jordan was my life saver in this game. She knew I needed her and she needed me. Our men were in the Jury house and we were left behind to keep on. Jordan and I HAD to make it to the final 2 and I knew that I couldn’t sit around crying too long or we’d be sent out next. For sure, I attribute much of my success to Jordan helping me through. I SO wanted to bring her with me to the finals, but obviously that wasn’t possible.
The Yak: America was totally team Jorchel as I’m sure you now know. Much of America would have loved that F2 as well, but you still did what you sought out to do so congrats!
Rachel: I know, I can’t believe it!
The Yak: A couple of fans at our site first want me to tell you how much they LOVE you! They would like to know… if you could say one thing to those people that put you down last season, what would it be?
Rachel: Uhh {Laughs}, Look at me now. {Laughs}
The Yak: Before we let you go, Rachel, we just wanted to say that when everything mellows out for you, you must check out our coverage on your trash bag wedding. That must have been a blast!
Rachel: Ohhhhhh! YES! I’d love to see pictures. That night was so much fun. I’ll definitely check it out.
The Yak: Well, it was a pleasure talking to you Rachel. You’re such a sweetheart Thank you so much for your time. You’ve definitely redeemed yourself this year with A LOT of people, and have so many fans now it’s incredible! Good luck with everything!
Rachel: Awww, thanks! It was SO much fun talking to you. Thanks so much!
