Big Brother 14: Interview with 3rd Place Finisher Danielle Murphree

Danielle Murphree, the final Big Brother 14 Juror

Before Big Brother 14 could reveal the Final 2, there was one more eviction and one more Houseguest to add to the Jury. That eviction happened to Danielle Murphree, who was ousted by Ian after his win during Part 3 of the Final HOH competition. Danielle took some time out of her busy post-Big Brother life and held an interview session with the Yak and other press to answer some burning questions from the fans about Shane, her regrets in the game and, of course, putting all her trust in Dan. Here is a what Danielle had to say to all the questions posed! Let us know your thoughts below!

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Q: Hey, Danielle, thanks for talking with us! You sound like you’re doing much better today?
Danielle: Thanks! Yeah, I wasn’t doing too hot last night or this morning either.

Q: Shane didn’t seem to return your affection a whole lot until the very last week when you won the HOH and Veto. Knowing what you know now, do you think his feelings were to secure his safety or do you think they were genuine?
Danielle: I think Shane’s feelings are genuine and I think he was so afraid of having a showmance because of exactly what happened.

Q: Everything that Dan did and said this summer, the one thing that got me the most was when he told Shane that you were playing him (Shane) all along. Have you had a chance to discuss that win Dan and how did you feel about that final lie?
Danielle: When I found that out, I was livid. I’m still mad about it. Why would Dan even do that to me? I talked to Shane about it and I said it was totally, one hundred percent not true. I was never playing him. Dan was just trying to run me under the bus for whatever reason. Dan and I haven’t talked about it. Dan and I are not on speaking terms.

Q: Do you think that will change in the future?
Danielle: I don’t know. I found out a lot of stuff last night after the finale that I’m just really not happy with at all. Right now, I can really answer that question. I’m too mad.

Q: One thing that a lot of your neigh Sayers wanted to know about was when you were telling stories about yourself; you embellished your life resume a lot, including talking about your breasts and being Miss Alabama.
Danielle: I never said I was Miss Alabama. My best friend was Miss Alabama. When we talked about Miss Alabama, it was a joke. They were making fun of my Memory Wall picture because they said it looked like Miss Alabama, like a pageant photo. They knew I was never Miss Alabama. I said I did pageant back in high school. About my boobs, I do have a capsule on my right breast, like a scar tissue mass, and I do have to have it removed. It’s nothing serious, but it does need to be changed.

Q: As the season unfolded, it seems like people underestimated you, so are you underestimated in your daily life?
Danielle: I guess people underestimate me because some people might think I’m too sweet or naïve, where I don’t really know what’s going on. It doesn’t really bother me because I know who I am.

Big Brother 14’s Dan Gheesling & Danielle Murphree

Q: Going back to Dan, you said you’re not talking to him right now, but how long do you think it’ll take you to get over it?
Danielle: I have no idea. Some of the comments he’s made during the interviews since the show ended are worse then some of the things that actually happened on the show.

Q: What did he say? What have you heard?
Danielle: I didn’t hear this directly from his mouth, but that he was really going to take Ian into the Final 2 and that the last speech at the finale was all for show. Whether it’s true or not, I’ll have to wait to see.

Q: As you now know, Dan used you during the whole game to further himself. Even towards the end when you used your Veto to save Dan and put Shane on the block, which compromised your position in the game. Did you know that Shane would possibly be evicted?
Danielle: I truly believed that Dan was going to save Shane. Dan had made a Final 3 with Shane and I. Dan swore to me, and even said to me in my HOH room, “I’ll do whatever you want if you’re HOH.” He was getting a little paranoid and I didn’t want him to pull any more antics on me. I didn’t want Shane to be the one to evict Ian to where Ian wouldn’t vote for Shane [to win]. I regret that decision wholeheartedly.

Q: Did you not think that this could have been another antic of his?
Danielle: He swore up and down to me, and I laugh about it now, about how he would never, ever do it again. His antics were over. He swore on everything, like 5 minutes before we had to sit down for that live show, that Shane was safe. I had no idea about him and Ian.

Q: With that being said, do you agree with what Wil had said during the Finale about how you should take responsibility for believing in Dan’s lies?
Danielle: Yeah, it’s my fault. He fooled me several times. It’s definitely my fault.

Q: After you sat down with the Jury, you appeared to lean over to say something to someone off camera, but the microphones didn’t pick up what you said. What were you trying to tell the Jury at that point?
Danielle: I was just asking Jenn what was going on. I wanted to know what the feeling was because when I sat down there was just a very awkward vibe in the Jury. Plus, I had just heard Britney’s comment before [about hoping she was the last Jury member], so I was just confused.

Q: Going back to some of the stories you told the other Houseguests that didn’t really seem accurate, was that a strategy you had or were you just playing with the other Houseguests? For example, when you came back and said that Janelle was yelling at you when we saw it was a very calm conversation or you said you made Ian cry.
Danielle: Ian did tear up. I did make him cry. I guess I exaggerated that a little bit. Yeah, Janelle didn’t yell at me. Janelle was very sweet with me. I guess it was more game play because I was more trying to test the waters with Dan to see, since I thought that him and Janelle might have some kind of deal. I exaggerated it a bit. It was poor game play. I shouldn’t have. I do apologize, but it wasn’t to maliciously hurt anybody.

Q: Despite everything that Dan kept doing to you, you kept going back to him. Why were you so willing to forgive him and try again?
Danielle: Dan would make the comment that he hadn’t done anything to hurt me in the game. When I would try to recall, he hadn’t hurt my game and he had never voted to evict me. I wanted to believe that he was a good person because I kept thinking back to season 10 and how he was a good guy. I was completely mystified by him.

Danielle sits with host Julie Chen

Q: Talking about Part 1 of the final HOH competition where you threw it to Dan after he proved his point with Ian jumping off, do you regret doing that now and if you hadn’t thrown it, do you think you could have outlasted him?
Danielle: I knew I had to make a decision up there. I knew if I hung on longer, I would lose his trust, and then even if I threw it, it wouldn’t matter since he’d be upset with me. Looking back, yes, I regret it. Yes, I wish I would have hung on. He said that he would have beat me in that competition, but I don’t know. I had a lot of will power and I was so mad that Shane walked out that door.

Q: With all the anger you feel toward Dan, if it had been you, Dan and Shane in the Final 3 and you had the choice, who were you going to take to the Final 2?
Danielle: I would have gone with my heart and could have never wronged Shane since he never wronged me, I would have taken Shane. However, I wouldn’t have let myself get into that position to have to decide. I did not want to decide. I probably would have just let the guys duke it out.

Q: Why do you think you were the only one that voted for Dan?
Danielle: Because I think everyone in the Jury talked about how Dan treated people and what Dan had said to everybody. I think the way you treat people is really important in this game and I think that they were just so mad at how it all went down and how everybody left. I don’t blame them.

Q: Do you think it was that or were they jealous that he might be a 2-time winner? That’s part of the game of Big Brother.
Danielle: Since I wasn’t sitting in Jury, I have no idea. After the show, I only hung out with Wil, Kara, Janelle and Shane. Jojo and I didn’t talk. Dan waved at me from afar.

Q: If you had been able to get into the Final 2, how good do you think your chances were to win?
Danielle: If I would have been against Dan, I think I would have won. I think if I was against Ian, he still would have won cause Ian deserved to win.

Q: You didn’t get to hear this because you were still in the House last night, but the Jury got together to discuss the Final 3 and what they thought of each of you. When she was still in the House, you were pretty close with Britney and you developed a great friendship, but when it came to discussing you with the Jury, she sided with Ian and said that she thought you really didn’t deserve to win. Do you take that personally or are you able to separate the personal from the game?
Danielle: I did take it personal. It did hurt my feelings, but it doesn’t change my outlook on Britney. I didn’t get to defend myself. I didn’t get to say anything, so she’s just going off of he-said/she-said stuff in the Jury. I don’t take it personally, and I still love her to death.

Q: If Big Brother decided to do another twist in the future where player’s return, which obviously is quite common, would you ever be interested in playing again?
Danielle: I wouldn’t say I would never go back, but I’m not going to say it’s a definite possibility. It all depends on who’s playing. At this moment, I really don’t think that I would ever want to play with Dan again because emotionally I can’t go through that stress. I think that if Dan wasn’t coming back with all his antics, I might do it again.

Q: What was your favorite moment of the summer?
Danielle: I loved the Wil impersonations! I loved when Wil would look at the Memory Wall and joke around. Wil definitely made the House more fun!

Q: Will you be going to the Wrap Party in Vegas or the one tonight?
Danielle: I will not be going to the party in Vegas, but it’s possible I’ll attend the one tonight.

Q: Will you be going on Twitter any time soon?
Danielle: Maybe. I don’t know. I really don’t like the negative stuff. It gets to me, so I try not to look at it.

Q: What’s in the future for Danielle? What do you plan on doing now – going back to nursing, staying in Alabama, moving to Hollywood?
Danielle: I’m not moving to Hollywood. I’ll definitely stay in Alabama. I will go back to nursing as soon as some of this stuff dies down.

Q: As it worked out, you ended up being the last woman in the House. Was this part of your strategy or was it just how things worked out?
Danielle: It was just how things worked out. It was never my intention to be the last woman. I’m very proud and flattered to be the last woman, but it would have been nice to have another female presence in the House.

Final 3 – Danielle, Ian, and Dan

Q: You mentioned that it’ll take some time to work up to being friends with Dan again, but looking at how Ian and Dan played the game, do you regret your vote for Dan?
Danielle: I don’t like to play the “Would of/Could of/Should of” or the “What if?” game, but I am glad that Ian won. I think it would have been nice for Ian to win 7-0 because I think he does deserve it, but I did give my word to Dan. I did say I would vote for him, so in that sense, I didn’t want to break my word. I just wish I never would have told Dan that I would have voted for him.

Q: When you first got out of the House and sat down with Julie, it looked like there was a crowd reaction that maybe you saw something going on between Dan and Ian in the House. Did you see anything?
Danielle: Yeah, I saw them jump around and I saw Dan was laughing and giggling when he did the “Suck It” move. I was thinking, “Are you serious?”

Q: For a long time, Dan was going to take you to the Final 2. It was near the end where he panicked and thought he was going to lose to you, so he switched to Ian, so don’t feel too bad.
Danielle: He switched to never take me, even after he got rid of Shane?

Q: It was after he realized that Ian was not going to throw the final part of the HOH.
Danielle: It’s just kind of disappointing, when he did say over and over again that his goal the whole game was to get him and his player to the end and he didn’t have any intention of doing that.

Q: So, what’s the future hold between you and Shane?
Danielle: I guess just to see what happens, but I’m definitely not going to not pursue something. We’re definitely hanging out later today. I think we can make it work, for sure. I know we’re both going to pursue something and try it out. We’ll hope for the best.

Q: What are the obstacles for the two of you?
Danielle: The distance. Alabama and Vermont are a long way away, but he is such a great guy and an amazing, amazing person, that I’m not going to let the distance get between us.

Q: Do you think that you’re in love with him?
Danielle: Mm-hmmm. I could be.

Thanks for taking time to talk with us today, Danielle.
Danielle: Thank you!

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What do you think about what Danielle had to say? Leave us a comment below, then come on in and join us in the forum!

Yak Exclusive: A Video Message from Survivor’s Gillian Larson about Bullying


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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