Rachel Explains How to Win Big Brother

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[00:00:45] Hello everyone and welcome back to RHAP in our preseason coverage for Big Brother. I'm your host, Taran Armstrong, and I am back with another winner of Big Brother. Yes, a renowned winner of the show who's going to give some tips and tricks from her experience. It's Rachel. How you doing, Rachel?

[00:01:07] Hi guys. Thanks for having me, Taryn. You know I love talking to you. You're my fave. So yeah, tips and tricks on how to win Big Brother? Mmm, yes. Okay, can I be honest? I'm at the point of my Big Brother lore where I find because the game is so different now, I think a lot of it is, I feel like it's such a social game now.

[00:01:33] And a lot of it is, you know, you have to really make sure that you put yourself, it's not luck because you create your own luck on that show. So you have to make sure that you put yourself in the right situations for the luck to happen. I was listening to this podcast or these TikTokers that were like, Big Brothers all luck or blah, blah, blah. And I'm like, you know what? It's not. It's like you have to make your own luck happen.

[00:01:59] So, and I think that it's become one of those situations where it's such a social game at this, in this part of the Big Brother era that we're in. Yeah, I feel like, I always try to look at it like poker. Like, there's a lot of luck involved in poker, but the good players are the ones that are able to put themselves in the best position to win more often than not.

[00:02:27] And so you can't change the fact that sometimes you're going to get unlucky. You can't change the fact that sometimes the casino is going to rig the game against you. So you just have to do your best to put yourself in the best possible position to have as many win outcomes as possible. Yes. And you have, and that's an opportunity that you can control. That's something that you can control.

[00:02:53] And I don't know that you've talked about this with your other winners or other winners might have the same opinion. Because when I won Big Brother 13, it was such a different game. And I won Big Brother 13 by, there was a lot of situations I did myself. I put myself in, Brendan put our, our like duo in. But there was also a lot of situations that I did have to just win, right? Like I had to win out. I had to compete out.

[00:03:21] And you're not going to do that on this Big Brother era. So this Big Brother era with three nominees and blockbusters, whatever, AI arenas, whatever they call it this season. So you're going to have to adapt to whatever's thrown in your face. And you're going to have to be ready to like really navigate it socially, even more than strategically.

[00:03:46] Because I think strategy is something that you plan, you know, while you're playing the game. And it just kind of happens. But I think like strategically, you have to be ready for whatever gets thrown in your way. It's not like Survivor now where it's like you can. And I've had a whole year to think about this, right? Like Survivor, you can go in, you have this like, you know, they throw twists at you in Survivor.

[00:04:13] There's all these like, you know, advantages now and the idols and 20,000 idols. But like strategically, Survivors still kind of played the same. Like we still kind of see these players, they make their alliances. They, the new school players play different than the old school. But like strategically, there's still a way to, you win an, you know, immunity idol. Or you win immunity for yourself. And, you know, you take it to council.

[00:04:42] You don't want to be on anyone's lips, right? But here in Big Brother, it's not the same. Like you, it doesn't matter if you're best friends with the HOH. They still could nominate you because they have to nominate five people, right? Especially on Big Brother 27. Yeah, on Big Brother 27. You're nominating your friends before your enemies. You're nominating your friends all the time before your enemies for no reason. And you have to be ready, I think, to talk your way out of it.

[00:05:11] But then there's also, you know, things that could come up like competition and disadvantages. Where you just get thrown out of the game because you don't win a competition. So it's kind of like you have to be ready and prepared to play that very socially as well. Yeah, I think, you know, I think that of the winners I'm talking to, you have probably the most unique perspective.

[00:05:37] Having won Big Brother 13, which was, geez, like 14, 15 years ago. Yeah, 15 years. And then having played the most recent season where you were doing very well up until, you know, the tour. So, which to anybody that has not watched, if you're going to play the season, you should probably watch the most recent season. Yeah.

[00:06:03] Just this random kind of twist came in that was very unique to Big Brother in that Rachel was evicted without even being nominated or voted against. And she just performed the, not even necessarily the worst, but like just was in a spot where she did not win a hamster wheel fast enough. Yeah. I didn't do a puzzle quick enough. So that's the thing. It's like, because you don't know what's going to happen and because they could just make it a competition.

[00:06:32] So like you might go into Big Brother and you have four chances to survive. You have an HOH you can play, which will keep you safe. You have a veto to keep you safe. You have now this blockbuster AI arena, whatever they're going to call it, to keep you safe. Then you also have a vote. So you can talk your way out of the block, right? But because it's Big Brother and we expect the unexpected, there's also now a chance you could go home on a competition.

[00:06:58] So you have to be able to place yourself, I think, well, socially more than strategically, because I don't know how you could strategically play. I mean, there is a strategic way to play that game. But how do you play that with people that have never played before, right? Like, let's assume everyone's new in this house moving in. How do you navigate that playing a strategic game with people that have never played Big Brother before?

[00:07:24] So I think that that's where my downfall from Big Brother last season came because it was like, you know, when you play with people that are not at the same level as you, there's no way to strategically measure up to them. So you can't, you have to socially play with them, which is what I did. I was great. That was my best season playing socially.

[00:07:51] So I think if you're going in for Big Brother, you have to figure out what your advantages are. Last season, I came in being the only returner. If you're the only returner, you have the advantage that people are going to look up to you like a coach, which is great. I also had the advantage that, you know, I had to, it was a good advantage, but also bad. Nobody had seen how I played because they hadn't watched my season was 15 years ago. Nobody knew who I was.

[00:08:20] They only watched clips. Yeah, they only saw clips, which is good, but it's also not good because they hear, you become more of a myth and more of a legend than an actual person. So I was able to stay off the block, never get nominated because I was able to play up this big persona, right?

[00:08:43] So if you are going into Big Brother playing the game this season as a returner, maybe play up, but you can't play the same game. Like you can't go in and play the same game. Like I could not go into Big Brother 27 and play the same game I played on 12 or 13. Hmm. So you have to understand that's the biggest thing.

[00:09:06] And so like, I don't know if any of my peeps will just say Angela Tucker Morgan, who else is rumored? Eric Stein. I don't know who else we have rumored this season. But if you're going in, if you're one of those people, they have to be aware that, you know, you're going to be the same person. You have this like myth behind you, this like way people perceive you, but you can't play the same way because it's not ever going to work again.

[00:09:36] I went in 12. I had to play totally different in 13 and I won. I went in 27. If, you know, there was no mastermind, there's a good chance I could have made it to the end and won. We'll never know. The world will never know. But if I went back on another Big Brother, I would have to play totally differently again. Right? Yeah, I think that's, I think that's pretty true of the players we've seen come back.

[00:10:05] They do and, and are successful. They do tend to play differently. And sometimes like, for instance, like Cody, who comes back in All Stars. Yeah. He's trying to kind of pretend he was playing the same way. And everyone was like, oh yeah, he's going to take his friend to the final two, just like he did last time. But the whole time knowing like, actually, I know better this time. A hundred percent. Yeah.

[00:10:28] And also what Cody did when Cody, in my opinion, from watching Cody, what Cody did differently was he made sure that he had a team behind him. Whereas the first, his first season, I think he was part of the team for Derek. Right. So I think that that was the biggest difference for Cody. And I think that's why he was successful in All Stars. He had his team that was like putting him at the forefront.

[00:10:53] And then on his first season on 16, Cody was more putting Derek at the forefront of the team. And I think that the, and Cody played it perfectly because nobody knew he was at the forefront. Right. Like, it wasn't like a discussion where it was like, Cody's the leader of this alliance. But like, it was all like, we saw it from the viewers from the live feeds, you know, like it was very obvious to us. But I don't think the house picked up on it, which was to his advantage.

[00:11:22] I thought, in my opinion, I don't know, Taran, you watched. I completely agree. I think that's, I mean, Cody became the Derek while still pretending to be the Cody. To be the a hundred percent. Yeah. Something you mentioned that I thought was really interesting because we saw you go through it throughout the season last season. And this idea that, you know, whether it's because you're a returning player and you're playing with a bunch of new players, or maybe you've just listened to a bunch of these podcasts and you've watched a bunch of the show and you know a lot of the strategy.

[00:11:52] You go in and you know so much and you know about all these things that you want to do and that you want other people to do. But other people, as you said, maybe haven't watched these. Maybe they did ask ChatGPT how to play and they're not on your same wavelength. That can be detrimental to you as a player because it'll make you stand out. They'll be like, what are they talking about? I don't understand what they're saying. They're so game savvy, whatever. How do you manage that when you're trying to get through to people and they're in a different place?

[00:12:23] Well, it was easy for me because I had won the game. So I was able to say, I'm a winner. You can trust me. But it was also difficult because you have to play a fine line where you don't want them to think you're too big and too protected. Right? So I had to consistently tell them, oh, nobody's going to vote for me, which I don't know if that worked or not. But like that was in my head what I was doing.

[00:12:49] I think that if you are a big super fan and maybe you have all this knowledge in your head and maybe you think like, I know how I'm going to go in the game. I know exactly how I'm going to play. And maybe you don't talk about that as much. Like Lauren didn't, she talked about being a super fan, but she didn't really share a lot of her information. And I think that that was great for her because it made her seem less knowledgeable.

[00:13:17] Whereas super fans in the past we've seen who are too much talking about the game and too much into the strategy and thinking they know too much. They usually go home early because they think they're like overplaying or they're like, this is how it's going to go. And this is what's going to happen. And da, da, da, da, da.

[00:13:33] And like, if you're returning or if you're a super fan and you fall into that role of coach, which is kind of where I fell into that role naturally of a little bit of a coach to these people, then you have to also be like a coach mentor, like, but not threatening.

[00:13:50] And I think that that is a good strategy if you know a lot about the game where you're like, hey, I saw on season 14, you know, when they did have the coaches that this is a way that Dan was able to make it to the end with Ian. And this is why Ian worked out instead of saying like, I know that if we have a Dan Giesling, we need to get rid of him. Like, you know what I mean?

[00:14:17] So I think it's like you have to be able to suggest things without fully like telling these people how the strategy is going to work, you know? And like, I think Ashley was able to do a good job of that last year without even being a super fan just by picking up on it. She made stuff up sometimes. Yeah. Yeah. And she did. And she was able to seem less threatening.

[00:14:40] And I think that that's a good way to win Big Brother, but it's not a good way for the fans to like really fall for you. So you have to kind of like, it's, you know, are you playing to win Big Brother? Are you playing to come back on Big Brother? Are you playing for the fans? Like, you have to think of all these different things, right? Like Tucker was so chaotic and fun to watch, but he was never going to win Big Brother. It's like, you have to think about that too.

[00:15:08] This is a very good point, Rachel, because I think, you know, and obviously you've come back to the show twice. So of the winners that I'm talking to, because I'm talking to like the most recent winners, obviously you are the biggest character. You are a legend of the show. So, you know, obviously everybody that goes on the show wants to win, but I think you also want to like make your mark. You want to be a fun and good character.

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[00:16:04] No restrictive networks, no corporate middlemen, just real people helping each other. Learn more at joincrowdhealth.com. That's joincrowdhealth.com. Like, what do you do if you want to be good on the show and pop as a character and be fun, whatever, like, whatever it is, what is that? How do you tap into that?

[00:16:25] I mean, I have to be 100% honest here, and I think it's like a very unique thing that I have been able to do because myself and some other people that are very unique to the show and just in general. Because you're not going to be, I can't be season 12 Rachel and win Big Brother. That would never happen. I can't be, you know, lay low and play like Ashley, right?

[00:16:53] And, like, it's kind of, like, not that Ashley laid low, but, you know, she played a totally different game than I did. So I think it's like, you think of people like Angela, who also made, like, some really great moments in her season, and Tucker, who made some great moments. But I don't know that Angela or Tucker would have ever, I think Angela struggled socially with the game because she didn't have the relationships because of her big personality.

[00:17:24] She didn't have the relationships to make it to the end, which is why she ultimately, they picked to vote her out when there was no reason to. And then same thing with, you know, with Tucker. He was too, like, good at those competitions, so people were threatened by him. And they, he made marks because he was able to play chaotically, but it didn't win him the game.

[00:17:48] So you have to think, like, I'm trying to think of winners that, like, have a, like, really good, like, big character arc. It's a pretty rare combination to be a great character and winner. Yeah, yeah, I know. Obviously, like, you, Dan, Will, like, are some of the more obvious, Danielle.

[00:18:10] But even on Dan's season where we love the funeral, like, he played such a great game, but the jury didn't like it, right? Like, so, and he didn't win. So it's like, he, on season 10, was so fun. But if you look at season 10, Dan, yes, he was also a character, but he wasn't playing chaotically. He was still playing very socially. He still had, like, a team behind him. Um, uh, same thing with me on 13.

[00:18:38] Like, even though I was still kind of, like, the same Rachel that I always am. I, I had, you know, Jordan. I had Brendan. I had even Portia. You know, I had people that would listen to me. I had people that would, wanted to work with me. I had people that I could be in an alliance with. Um, and I think that happened on season 27 as well. I was able to talk to people. So you have to be likable. I think that's the biggest thing. Well, I'm just thinking out loud.

[00:19:07] I think you do have to be likable, even if you're going to make these character moments. Because, like, look, I made that whole thing about don't come for the queen or you'll be beheaded with Zay, right? But, like, people, if I, if I wasn't Rachel, could I have gotten away with that? Could you imagine some newbie going in, don't come for the queen or you'll be beheaded? Like, people will be like, who are you? Like, you're going to be beheaded. I feel like Jose attempted that. Yeah, yes, it's true. It's so true. Strategies or scenarios. That's what he said. Scenarios. The messiah of the newbies.

[00:19:37] Yeah, the messiah of the newbies. So I think it's like you have to almost establish yourself as a character first. I don't know many characters on the show that have, like, won the game. I think the key to popping as a character is, like, being true to yourself and not holding yourself back too much. Yeah.

[00:20:04] I think a lot of people, they'll be like, you know, they'll really want to control their image and how they come off. And that will either come off inauthentic or will just make you boring. Yeah. And so, like, the more true to yourself and the more you lean into the way that you're feeling in any given situation, the better in terms of your character. Now, in the game, sometimes you do need to mute yourself. Yeah.

[00:20:28] And so that's where I do think that, like, yeah, when you look at some of the people who have won the game who also popped as characters, they were all really good in the diary room. Yeah, that's true. Like, Danielle, Dan, like, they're all really good at, like, expressing themselves and being really bombastic in the diary room while sometimes being able to do that in the house and also sometimes being able to mute themselves in the house. Yeah. Well, even, like, Brittany, that's a great example. Brittany is, like, very amazing. We love her in the diary room. She's so fun.

[00:20:58] She's so funny. But, like, in the game... And Brittany could have won. She was doing one in 14. Brittany, and, like, by the way, Brittany could have won 12. Like, it's like, you know, she played such a good game. It's just like there was that alliance that those boys stuck together. She would have had to convince Lane more. I mean, it's just like, but there's just so many things in Big Brother that are not in your control.

[00:21:22] But Brittany is such a big character because she is good at going in the diary room and telling us how she's exactly feeling in that moment. But then when you're in the house with her, you are, like, you don't see that. You see that she's just, like, either chill or she's fine, you know? So I think that, yeah, Brittany is a great example of that. And, like, me, I'm very outspoken. I'm not scared. Like, Angela, same thing.

[00:21:47] Like, I can't imagine Angela going back and being not the same. I think if Angela goes back, she's still going to do her... She'll have her big moments, you know, crazy eyes, all that stuff. Um, and that, but I want to see that, like, as a viewer. And I want to see her do well on the show. And so I think if I'm, like, Angela going back, I would say, do be Angela. Still do all that stuff.

[00:22:12] But also, like, make sure that your people, that you're, you have your team and your people, they are... They know that that's just who you are. You just wear your heart in your sleeve and it's just who you are. And you're... And I think it's harder to do that as a newbie because people don't know you. But when you come back, you... It's easier for you to kind of be like, oh, you know, Rachel's gonna, you know, say something to Zay. Angela's gonna do something. And then we're all gonna love it. And in the house, it might cause a little bit of chaos.

[00:22:42] But at the end, at the end of it, she's still gonna be loyal to me. And maybe that's a little bit of it, too. Like, I know a lot of winners are very loyal players. Um, or at least they come across to the house as a loyal player. And I think, like, this past season, like, Vince didn't win because he came across to the house as someone who had... Was not a loyal player, you know? Yeah. And someone who had, you know, maybe screwed over too many people. So nobody wanted to vote for him to win.

[00:23:10] Whereas Ashley, she made good moves when she needed to. She had been a loyal friend. She had her alliances. And, you know, you're much more apt to be happy to see that. Because you still have to play to get to the end. And then you have to play the jury at the end, right? So it's such a... And it's because it's such a long show. There's so many different, like, arcs that you'll take throughout the whole show.

[00:23:40] So it's just like... That's why I say there's no... I don't think you can have one strategy going in and just think you have to be adaptable. I think that's the good word. Newbies can remember. Be adaptable. And if you're a newbie and you're going in and you're watching and you're like, how am I going to win Big Brother? Be adaptable. Be ready to be friends with everyone. And even if someone is, like, making a big scene in the house and they're driving everyone crazy, like, still be their friend.

[00:24:09] Because that person, you know, like, might end up making it to the end because they're good at winning blockbusters or whatever. So you have to just remember, like, your whole job there is to be... Make sure that everybody likes you. It's like... I know that sounds silly, but it is part of the game. You have to make sure everybody likes you because they want to vote for a winner that's very likable at the end of the day. Yeah.

[00:24:35] And I think that's such an interesting, like, dichotomy of what we were just talking about. Because I feel like if you try to make everyone in the audience like you, probably none of them will. But that is what you have to do in the house with the other players, ideally, is try to get as many of them to like you as possible. Yeah. And, you know, if somebody really, really just really doesn't like you, get them out before the jury, ideally. Yeah. No, it's true.

[00:25:02] And you also have to know, I knew last year who I would have said, in my opinion, I was responsible and helped pick a lot of the jury. And wanted to sway people on who was in the jury because I knew that those people were more likely to vote for me in a final two. So you have to know who is not going to ever vote for you in a final two. Are Riley and Catherine ever voting for me in final two? No. Right? Like...

[00:25:30] And quick tip based on last season. Great thing to think about. Don't talk to other people about it. Don't tell other people, I want this person on jury because I know they're a vote for me. Yeah. Yeah. Because then they get really mad. But you should be thinking about that. Yeah, of course. Like that... Yeah. And when I heard people talking about me being in jury, like, yeah, that's genius. Of course they want me in the jury. But like, I don't want them to want me in jury.

[00:25:58] I want them to want to vote for me because I'm at the final two chairs. Right? So... And then also like, don't take offense to so many things. That fight I got in with Morgan ended up being okay. But it could have gone really south. Right? Like, that could have been... If Morgan would have won the next HOH, I would have probably been on the block. I mean, I would have had to talk my way out of it if I wasn't going to end up on the block. So you have to be able to...

[00:26:28] You can be offended and tell the diary room you're offended. Tell, you know, like, don't tell your friends because in the house, they're not your real friends. They're going to go tell someone else. So you can be offended. You can just tell the diary room. You can think that you're offended, but you can't let other people know in the house how you're feeling. Because when you're really upset, you don't want... You... Like, as a viewer, I want you to wear your heart in your sleeve and tell me. But then like, as a player, it's a bad idea. Right?

[00:26:58] Like, it's... That is one of the worst things you can do. Because you don't want people to know how you truly feel about them. And people and situations change constantly in the game. It's a very long game. And so like... So long. I feel like it happens so often that like, you're having a conversation with somebody who is your ally at this time. And it is harmless to tell them this thing at this time. Like, you're... They're ranting about this person. And you're like, oh yeah, it's safe.

[00:27:27] Because they also are really frustrated with this person. And so you join in. But then, a week later, things have changed. And that person you were just ranting with has now, you know, settled the score. Like, they are feeling better with that person. And maybe that person won HOH. Exactly. And now it's like, well, I don't want them looking at me. But hey, this person was really upset with you. I, you know, I think a lot of people were. But like, I love you now, obviously.

[00:27:55] But this person, they said these things about you. And it's like, something that was completely fine in the moment is now devastating to your game. And so you have to be careful. Yeah. And you know, Taryn, I learned from so many good players over the years of playing all these games. I've played with some of the best people in the world. But I will tell you one quote that's never left my mind, that I like, lives in my head rent-free, as the kids say. Is Seri, Queen Seri told me that nobody should ever know who you're talking with directly.

[00:28:24] And nobody should ever know how you feel about them intimately. Exactly. So like, what that means to me is you don't want people to know who you're in these alliances with. Who's your number one? And you also don't want them to know your real true feelings about them. Because like you said, it changes on the dime. And I went into Big Brother 27 with that mentality.

[00:28:58] I've lost Rachel. Okay, I'm back. Sorry. Oh, you're back. So I went into Big Brother 27 with that mentality. But playing with a lot of these new players, I learned that you also have to use the language that they're using and speak on their level and talk to them at where they're at. Because they were talking about number ones every single day. Who's your number one? This, that, and the other thing.

[00:29:24] And it was like almost like if you didn't say you had a number one, that they would put you in a number one. And then you had to just kind of, that was, you had to kind of like let people believe that. Right? So like everyone always was like, well, Ashley's your number one and this, that, and the other thing. And then I think people just like take that information, whether you say it out loud or not. Because playing with the new people, it drives me insane.

[00:29:54] That I noticed on Big Brother 27 that everybody wanted to show who they were in alliances with, talk about their number ones. And it drove me insane because they would pull people in front of everyone. And that was the biggest thing in new school. I noticed it on 26. I noticed it on my season. They want to pull someone right in front of you. Hey, you know, Rachel, can you come talk to me in the storage room?

[00:30:23] Hey, can you come talk to me in the backyard? So like they want to, they want people, they, and I don't know if they do it on purpose, but it's a new school Gen Z thing where they talk, they enjoy talking to people and having other people know. And that's kind of like how the new school game has evolved. Okay. So, okay, we talked about what it was, what like maybe a returning player should do.

[00:30:50] But what if you are a new player and there are returning players, either one or maybe four, what should you do? How should you approach the returning players on your cast? I thought that Morgan did a great job with building a relationship with me. She used me as an asset. She really relied on a lot of the information that I gave her. She asked me a ton of questions.

[00:31:20] And I thought that Morgan made me feel comfortable with, A, made me feel comfortable with her immediately. And then B, she was really good at continuing to ask me questions in a way that never felt threatening and always making me feel like she had my back. So I think that that was a great, it played to my ego. It played to me going forward as a game player knowing that because I need people to work with too, right? Like I can't play Big Brother by myself.

[00:31:50] Same thing with Ashley. Like Ashley befriended me immediately. You know, Ashley didn't really ask me a lot of questions about how to play the game. But Ashley used me as an ally and a shield because she knew I would always be a bigger target than her. So that's another great way to use someone like that. And Ashley like immediately befriended me. And it was like, you know, we stayed friends the whole game. Um, same thing with Will. Will used me as an asset. He like asked me a lot of questions.

[00:32:20] He was really always there to kind of like see what I thought and like ask like what I, what my opinion was. And another thing I really liked about what Will did, and it's because he's really smart. He would always say to me, you've done this twice. You know what you're doing. And so that again, that played to my ego where it was like, oh, and also played to me being like, more confident in myself and in my own game.

[00:32:47] Whereas then you had some other players who didn't even listen to me. And I would give that, I was telling them stuff right in front of their face. And they were just like, you know, they in one ear out the other, didn't want to have anything to do with it. Didn't want to like, didn't want to believe anything I was saying, thought I was trying to harm their game. Like, and I think that was a detriment to their game because they didn't want to listen to anything that I had to say.

[00:33:14] Because they just, for whatever reason, I think they had this idea of me in their head of how I'm, who I am, how I'm going to play the game. And then they carried that idea because they hadn't even watched my season, but they had this idea from clips. And so I could share any information with them, totally try to trust them and continuously get backstabbed by them. Because they just never wanted to trust that I would want to work with them.

[00:33:43] And then, I mean, like, I'm trying, like Lauren, she and I were never on the same like side and never on the same team or whatever. But she was always willing to listen to me, kind of like gave me like a chance to come and talk to her. We had an open relationship. Obviously, like Jimmy was my bestie and he befriended me immediately. Like, but we, you know, day one, he was like, let's get rid of Rachel. And then he talked to me and I was like, this is why I'm good for you.

[00:34:11] This is what, so he listened to everything I had to say. So I think it's important for these new players to see if there are returners that you need to be willing to listen to them and let them know that you are on their team. You're not going to, you know, use their previous seasons against them or thinking that that's how they're going to play.

[00:34:35] Because like, realistically too, you know, nobody can do what they did their first season and come back the second season and do the exact same thing. Because you're playing with totally different people. So I think that that's the best thing is, I think you should work with a returner. Like, why wouldn't you? If I was going on Big Brother on season 12 and let's say Janelle was in the house, I would have followed her around everywhere. Like a puppy learning everything I could.

[00:35:02] If I was on 14 and there was the four coaches, I would have asked each one of them different questions. Like I would have totally played it like Morgan where it was like, I want to keep them in as long as I can. I need to be working with them. I need to know everything about this game.

[00:35:19] And then I think at that point would be when I was like, okay, you know, at the very end of the game, it's time for me to kind of like part ways with you because you're going to win. You're a returning player, that kind of thing. So it's like, I think you need to work with them as much as you can. And at the very end, like final five is risky, but like you're going to want that returning player in the jury for sure.

[00:35:48] So you need to keep them around. I think this is great advice. I think that like, you know, I've talked with, I talked with Xavier and Chelsea both about like competitions are very important. Make sure the comp beast is, you know, you're very wary of them because they can just continue winning over and over, especially in the end game. So like, that's something to be concerned.

[00:36:11] If like, if the returning player is like, no shade to Jag, but if the returning player is Jag who won out from like final 10, basically like, yeah, you want to make sure that you're Jag's number one or that like he's gone before then. Right. But like, but if, you know, if the returning player is not winning as many competitions, then that's actually probably pretty good for you. You talked about Sari.

[00:36:37] Sari is always like the best ally ever because she never wins endgame competitions, but she'll keep you safe all the way up until the end game. Yeah. And if you look at the history of returning players on Big Brother, pretty much every single time, the people who get to the end are either the returning player or their initial allies or both. Yeah.

[00:37:03] Um, and, uh, and so I think that probably the most distilled way to say it is like, you can't be the person leading the charge against them. You can't be Zay. You can't be, you know, like, uh, Jose. Yeah. And, uh, and at the end of the day, like Vince could have had a much easier time of it if he had, if he had been able to make peace with you early on and not have you as his enemy.

[00:37:30] Cause you were one of the few people that were, that was calling him out early on, uh, and, and made his game a lot harder. Um, whereas Morgan was able to keep you on side for a good portion of the game at least. And, uh, and was in a much better spot because of it at times. And I, I think so the, the distilled way to say it is, uh, make sure that you're on the good side of the returning players. Maybe just make sure that you also haven't put all of your eggs in that one basket because they are dangerous. Yeah.

[00:37:59] To some degree. And they are dangerous to some degree, but then it's also like, look at what happened with my season on 27. Right. Like I was probably like, I should have never been as far. I shouldn't have gotten as far as I did without ever being nominated or ever being, you know, even considered. Right. Like, so I think that there's, that the newbies really did a bad job of never targeting me.

[00:38:27] But by the same token, I think that they, um, also were doing a good job of like listening to me and knowing that they eventually did need to target me. As they said, we want Rachel and Drury, blah, blah, blah. Like they eventually wanted to target me, but like keeping me around and asking me questions and doing what they needed to do to be on my good graces as well. Because you want to learn from them.

[00:38:53] Like the returning players do know about Big Brother and how Big Brother will go. And like, even if it's not like the same, because I played so long ago, even though it wasn't the same Big Brother, I still had a lot of good advice and good things that I could talk to them about. And good, you know, conversations with them about how Big Brother works. So it's kind of like, you want to keep these people on your side, but also do realize they're very dangerous.

[00:39:23] They are smart because they know what the mistakes that they've made. And they're also playing on the same field as you because you are in a new season. So you guys are still kind of equals and because every season is so different. Right.

[00:39:42] And I imagine most returning players come in, especially early on, and they're all just as terrified as everyone else of like, I don't want to be the first one out. I don't want to like, I don't want my, you know, I have a legacy to live up to. I have a target on my back. And so if you're one of the early people to like reassure them and be like, don't worry, I've got you. Like, I think that's probably going to make a big difference. A hundred percent.

[00:40:08] And even just watching how they play the game and watching what they're doing, I think is like a really smart strategy as well, where it's like you're seeing, okay, they're going out in the backyard and having conversations with people. They're making time to go work out with people. They're not spending a lot of time one-on-one.

[00:40:28] Like one thing I noticed that I would do that none of the newbies picked up on until maybe the very end is that I would always make sure I never really allowed myself to be alone. And I would always make sure I was in a conversation, in a room, like trying to figure out what was going on because I needed to be social. You know what I mean? Because you can't, you can't exclude yourself in Big Brother.

[00:40:52] Like there were a lot of times when I would go take my like 30 minute breaks and work out or whatever, but like I would try to get people to work out with me or I would go on walks around the Big Brother house with Kelly and just talk to her. Because like you, you know, I, one time I stayed up till 5am talking to Vince and I was not like in an alliance with him, but I just did it because you just do it on Big Brother. You know, that's just what you do. Yeah, exactly.

[00:41:18] Exactly. And like, I think that that's kind of what the new, the newbies can learn from returning players is seeing how they're playing the game and seeing what they're doing and that they should like remind themselves like, oh, this is what I need to be doing. Yeah, I think I talked to Chelsea a little bit about this and it's such a great point that like, you just need to be social.

[00:41:41] There are so many people I think that that have a lot of talent for the game, but they're just kind of introverted. And they spend a lot of time either alone or like, I'm just more comfortable with my best friend. And they just spend so much time going back and what will happen is like tomorrow we'll branch out and then they end up spending hours and hours together. Yeah. And it's just like, that is not good for your game in any way.

[00:42:09] You really need to be able to do the rounds and talk to people. You just have to like force yourself to do it. And the more you talk to people and the more of a rapport you develop, the more comfortable it'll be to do it. So like, definitely don't get locked into that kind of like, like thing where you're just like, yeah, yeah, we'll totally go and talk to other people. And then you don't. Oh yeah. No, a hundred percent because you'll, you'll never do that.

[00:42:34] And then it will be like, you need someone's vote and you forgot, like, I haven't talked to this person in three weeks. Like, I remember literally thinking like, I haven't even talked to you and it's been five days in the big brother house. Like, I don't know anything about you. Like, why, how can you be, call yourself a player of even big brother and not know every single intimate detail about your other house guests? Like that is your job. You go into that house, your job is to literally find out everything. Right.

[00:43:03] Like, I think it's just one of those things where you need to like, just really be on top of that being social. And that's why I think, I think it's just social game is so important, you know? Yeah. And of course, like, don't overexpose all of your stuff to every random person you're talking to. Right. Just have a normal conversation.

[00:43:24] Well, I learned from also from doing casting and from, but the only person that ever told me that it was a detriment because everybody loved my style of asking people questions. Adrian told me he felt like I was like interviewing him. But besides Adrian, everybody else like really enjoyed my questions because my questions were never just like, oh, tell me about your cat. What's your cat's name? I was like, oh, why do you like cats over dogs?

[00:43:53] Why do you tell me about like what was like an, you know, an instrumental time in your life when you remember like, you know, just waking up thinking that you had the best day ever. Like things like that. Like I just remember asking these people and I learned a lot of these questions from casting and just from like being on Big Brother and from like interviewing other house guests and stuff. But those are the questions that you, you want to get down to and you want to ask people. And it's fine.

[00:44:22] Like none of the newbies asked me those questions. I don't think I talked about myself for a week. I don't think I talked about myself maybe 10 days. Like I remember saying to Jimmy once, like, I don't think I've, anybody has asked me any questions about myself. And I was going around asking every single person these like deep questions. Like, tell me what you think about this. Like, what does this mean to you? Why did you decide to do this with your life?

[00:44:48] Like questions that you don't normally ask people, but you do in Big Brother. And I also recall Morgan telling me that later on in the season, she said, well, I remember Rachel, you were asking all these great questions and you would be in a room and you would start these great conversations. And because of that, I started doing that. And so I think that like that was another good thing of Morgan to like pick up on that, right?

[00:45:16] Like she would start asking people these really good questions to get that like information from them. But I, you know, I really worked hard on asking questions that were just above surface level. Whereas I would step into some conversations and I'm not kidding you. They would be talking about, you know, farts and like whatever else, you know? And I'm just like, dude, like I would like just get, I would try to like really dig. And it makes people uncomfortable.

[00:45:45] But at the end of that conversation, their comfort level, they might've been uncomfortable at first, but then by the end of it, they're way more comfortable with you. And they're way less likely to consider even wanting to come after you because they're thinking like, I just shared, you know, this intimate detail about my personal life growing up or about why I am the way I am with this human. And now I don't want, I can't just like vote her out or I can't just like turn my back on her.

[00:46:13] So you have to like be okay with talking to people in a certain way and really asking the questions that are more than just surface level. Yeah. I think like just develop a genuine curiosity about the people around you because people notice that and it matters to them. I always, I always think about Dan in season 14 having like hours and hours of conversation with Ian about Pokemon. Yeah.

[00:46:43] And just like asking him questions about, about it and like where, like, and, and that was like a big thing with Dan. He always asked people questions. And, and I remember on your season, that was a big thing for Morgan. She was like, nobody asks me questions about myself. Uh, you know, um, and that was like a source of frustration for her because it didn't feel like people were trying to get to know her. And obviously you were one of the few people that often would.

[00:47:10] Um, and so, uh, if, if you're in a house full of people who are all just surface level and you are able to like, you know, hit the ground running and, and like bond with people on a little bit more of a personal level. Like it's like everything it's like, don't be weird about it. Yeah. Be a normal human and like follow the appropriate social cues. But like, that's, and that's why I mean like just a genuine curiosity, you know, don't, don't force it, but just like be actually curious.

[00:47:38] Oh, you know, like, uh, you mentioned like your brother, like what, tell me more about your brother. Like, uh, like all of that kind of stuff, uh, I think can, can go a long, long way for sure. Yeah. And, and even like, not just like, tell me more about your brother. Like, tell me about the relationship that you had growing up with your brother. Like, why did you two become such close friends? Like what, you know, those questions. And then I noticed that when other people would ask questions, they would zone off.

[00:48:06] They would be like, it was almost like transactional where it's like, yeah, I'm asking you a question. And then they could just be like, okay, I can relax. Like they know they should be asking a question, but they don't actually care about the answer. They don't care about the answer. So the point is, is like, ask the questions, tell me about your brother and why you're having this relationship. And, you know, how that developed over time and then listen to them and engage with them. Look at them.

[00:48:33] Like literally I was blown away by the amount of like, also with these new players, how they didn't look at me in conversations. They would look off to the side. They would look up to the ceiling. It was like, why are you not looking at, I'm having a conversation with you. Like, look at me, talk to me. And then half of the time I could, I would notice when I would have a conversation, especially with the 21 year olds, they would be seeing what else was going on in the house.

[00:49:02] Like it was more interesting, which it probably was. And it was taking their information, their attention. But the point is, is like, you have to draw them back in to fight for their attention. And especially nowadays, because your people are so, have short attention spans. And now you go into big brother and you have everything taken away. So you have nothing to do, but like pay attention. So you have to be able to really hone in on that skill.

[00:49:29] And I think being older helped because I went, I grew up where I, we didn't have all that. So my attention span wasn't constantly like, you know, like a squirrel, like whatever. I'm able to be able to do that. You know? I actually think that's a great tell for like the person you're talking to. Um, you know, just like, uh, as an example, Lauren on your season was somebody who was often kind of like a little spacey and looking at screens and stuff.

[00:49:58] But when she was with Vince, she was pretty locked in. So it was a pretty big tell for who she actually was like being a hundred percent with. Right. Right. And I think that's probably true. Generally that like the more a person is like a little squirrely and like looking around, uh, like, you know, it's, it's, sometimes it can be genuinely like, oh, we don't want anybody to catch us.

[00:50:24] But like, I think for the most part, if you're like really trying to talk to somebody and they're kind of like glancing around, it probably means that they're not super locked in. It's probably a genuine sign of something. Yeah. Yeah. And I think that that's your job as a big brother player to control that, to control their attention a little bit where it's like, of course, like you said, like use your social cues, whatever. But like by the same token, you're playing a game, right?

[00:50:52] Like most of the game is social. And so you have to be able to control their attention to the point where it's like, if they're looking around while they're telling a story, like ask a deeper question or to ask them like, what are you thinking about? Like what, what's going on? Like, did you want me to tell you a story? Like, you know, and it's always, I think it's always better to talk less and listen more than big brother. I'm sure Xavier told you that. He's a genius.

[00:51:21] Such a, such a great point too, that like, I think that a lot of people will come in and sort of baseline thinking is, yeah, I see a tell that they're not with me or they're not giving me attention. That means they're not with me. And then they just write that person off. Like, that's kind of how you might operate in real life because there's endless amounts of people for you to just go and meet. Yeah. But in the big brother house, there's such a small amount of people.

[00:51:47] And there's a good chance that if you want to make it far and do well in the game, you're going to have to work with almost every single one of them at some point in the game. And so instead of being like, oh, Lauren doesn't pay attention to me, but she does pay attention to Vince. Clearly, she's not loyal to me. I'm just going to write her off and not bother. It's like, no, try to get her to pay attention to you. Work on it. See if you can get that cue to be even more focused on you over time. Yeah. A hundred percent. A hundred percent. Sometimes it's Keanu and he keeps betraying you anyway.

[00:52:18] Yeah. And then what are you going to do? You can't win them all. At some point it is a lost cause, but you know, it is good to keep trying. Yeah. I mean, at the end of the day, Keanu did win things and kept you safe multiple times. Yeah, of course. For as much as he betrayed you. And so the work that you put in with Keanu, despite the rockiness of that relationship, did pay off. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, especially when he was HOH, right?

[00:52:44] Like it definitely paid off that week, even though that week he was also trying to get me nominated and put me up. But it did eventually pay off because I did not go home that week and I did not get nominated. So, you know, I had to. And then also with the, when Vince was HOH and he was so scared of, you know, working with me and he wanted to put me on the block.

[00:53:10] And then Keanu was trying to get me to go home that week because Keanu was like, Rachel just told me this. And then I had, I had such a good relationship with Morgan that I was able to have Morgan be my sounding board and also be my own sounding board. But if Morgan wasn't my sounding board, I don't know that Vince would have listened to just me. But because I had Morgan as well, like he was way more like, okay, okay, fine. I'll give this chance.

[00:53:39] You know, I'll take this chance. Allies are usually way more influential on things involving you than you ever could be. Because you. A hundred percent. People will, you know, you can only do so much, but when you have other people backing you up and making the case, that's, that's really big. And to this point as well, I think another, another thing I talk about a lot is Tyler in season 20.

[00:54:03] He had this plan called Operation, like Scotty is my best friend or something where he didn't have a great relationship with Scotty. And then just like decided that, you know, I'm just going to start telling people that Scotty is my best friend and that I love Scotty. Yeah. And then over the course of the week, by the end of the week, Scotty was like, yeah, I think I feel really close to Tyler just because he seems to really like me. Yeah. A hundred percent. And then it worked. Right. Yeah. So, I mean, I think.

[00:54:32] Temporarily at the very least. And like that was useful for Tyler because he already had his own secret alliance and like creating this sort of fake bond with somebody outside of it was useful to Tyler in that specific spot. Normally, again, you don't want to like advertise that you're in a duo with somebody. So like, don't, don't just like, like, like pretty much everything we're talking about. Don't just follow it beat for beat thinking, oh, this just works. It always has to be adapted to your situation. But, but they're useful examples. I think.

[00:55:03] Yeah. A hundred percent. I definitely agree. And I think if even, and again, just know that big brother is a week to week game. And even if you go in with this idea that you're going to be, oh, I'm just going to tell everyone I'm best friends with Scotty that week. Right. It like works that week. And temporarily or the Keanu thing with me temporarily.

[00:55:24] But then just know that like, there's going to come a point where you might have to be okay with understanding like, okay, this guy is actually trying to get rid of me or this person is actually going to vote me out. So I need to, so you need to be very self-aware. You can't be delusional at all going, playing in this game. You have to be very social aware, like self-aware on the cues that other people are giving you as well.

[00:55:49] So, I mean, honestly, when I play big brother again, I'm going to, if I ever do, whatever. I would, I think I have to play a different game the fourth time, you know, because it's, I can't go, I'm not going to go back in the house and have everyone not ever want to vote me out or not ever want to put me on the block. Right. That's probably never going to happen for me again. It might not ever happen for another returning house guest because it already happened for me.

[00:56:15] So I think people are going to have to, they have to watch what's happened, but then just know in the future, it might be things are going to change. Right. Yeah. I mean, every season of big brother is its own like unique puzzle with different pieces and different rules to, to like the warfare. And I think that what we're trying to do here and what watching previous seasons does for you is it just gives you more information to act on when you're in there.

[00:56:45] Yes. Like knowing the trends, knowing what might be coming, like knowing what's worked before and what hasn't. It gives you information that you can sort of put into your calculation in that moment. It should never, you should never think of anything as a cheat code as just like A always equals B, therefore I should do B. It should always be, well, A usually means B. Let me, let me, you know, input that into the calculation of what I'm currently thinking.

[00:57:14] So, you know, AKA, don't, don't blame us if you use any of these. Exactly. Exactly. And if there's some random, uh, chain of death on a hamster wheel, then everything goes out the window that we said, because you have no idea what people are going to do. Cause they might just throw in their worst enemy for no reason. Last thing then, if the hamster wheel of death comes back and the alarm goes off and you, and this is how it worked.

[00:57:44] It's like, uh, somebody wins a competition and they get to choose who goes first. And then that person chooses the next person to go. And the time that you have to complete the puzzle gets shorter and shorter every time. Uh, and then if you don't complete it in time, you are eliminated. What is the strat? Do you want to go first? Do you want to go as soon as possible? Do you want to try to, cause you got in pretty early. You actually got in in a decent spot. It just still didn't work out for you. Or do you try to like, just, I'm never, hopefully I never get picked. Uh, like what is the strategy?

[00:58:13] I think from watching reindeer games, talking to Brittany and Danielle and Xavier and, and also playing in that myself. And you say it's a decent time, but like Taryn, it's, it wasn't like, well, I think it turned out to not be a good time, but I think that like the information that you had was like, it's pretty good. That was probably better to get in now. That was the last time that I could have gone in because that's what Brittany did. Right. So I worked off of, I worked off of the reindeer games information that I had.

[00:58:44] Brittany's time was like three and a half minutes. And that was the last time, two and a half minutes, Danielle went home. So I, from the information, from seeing this work out on reindeer games, you have to be one of the first. The only strategy is to win that competition and be the one that picks the first person to go in. That's the best, best strategy. Now that's likely going to be one person, probably not even watching this right now, watching us talk about this.

[00:59:12] So you're watching, you don't win this competition. You don't pick the first person. You want to get in there as soon as possible because you lose one minute each time. So I think there's no strategy of thinking that you might not even get picked. You do, might not even go because the real, okay. So realistically, let's say I was like, by the way, Morgan, I don't feel comfortable. Don't put me in there. Morgan puts in, I don't know, Kelly, right?

[00:59:42] Then Kelly wins and Kelly doesn't like me. And she's like, I'm going to put Rachel in at two and a half minutes. Or Kelly is like, I'm going to put in Ashley. I'm going to put in Will. Like at the end of the day, one of us would have gone home because Ava picked Vince for no reason. And Vince picked Lauren, who he obviously needed. That was not a bad strategy for him.

[01:00:07] It was probably not the smartest because Lauren, Morgan was much closer to him than Lauren. But then Lauren picked Morgan, which was not actually a good strategy for Lauren. Lauren should have picked her ally in Kelly or her, one of her allies, right? Lauren should have never picked Morgan. But then we got lucky. Morgan was picked. And it was like, okay, but if Morgan doesn't put me in, who is she going to, who's she going to put in?

[01:00:37] Like she, Ashley was saying no. Will was saying no. I was saying no. Then she had Keanu, Kelly. It was like these, and I mean, I think that was it, right? It was just either Keanu, Kelly, me, Ashley, or Will. So it was like, well, you have 10 minutes to decide. And then it's like, okay, I'm at three and a half minutes. Do I want to go now? Or do I want to risk that Kelly goes in and Kelly wins and puts me in at two and a half minutes?

[01:01:04] Because the only other option was that this chain gets, like, it goes less each time. Yeah, you only have one chance to put in an enemy because if you put in an enemy and it was too much time and they get through, then now they get to retaliate and put in one of your allies. Exactly. And you have even less time. So you really, like, and the thing too is that, like, if they do do this again, there's no guarantee it's a hamster wheel. There's no guarantee it's the same competition.

[01:01:34] Maybe it's easier. Maybe it does go further down the line. And so waiting screws you over. Maybe it's harder. And so going early is actually worse. You can't know until the first person goes. And so I guess the best thing you can do is just, like, really try to, like, before even the first person goes, be like, you know, record as much information as you can about this so that you can come back and tell us exactly how long it took you, exactly what the competition is and how you beat it.

[01:02:04] The more information you have. And that's what we tried to ask. And Vince wasn't telling me that information. That's why it's important to make sure you have an ally. Yeah, that you have an ally that goes. And Lauren wasn't going to tell me. Lauren was telling Keanu and Kelly. And then it was like, Morgan was telling me, she's like, first you go left and then you go right and then you go left. And it's like, she wasn't communicating it in a way where I was hearing it and understanding.

[01:02:30] And at that point also, the only thing you can do is not panic because that is what happened to me. I got out there and I blacked out. And I didn't know if I was going left or right or if the wheel was even turning. And by that time, it was like, I had 30 seconds left before I locked in. And then you panic more. And so it's like, you have to be very calm in your head.

[01:02:58] And I, every round, went out to look at that stupid hamster wheel. And I tried to think in my head, like, okay, first thing you do is go this way and then you go that way. But then when you're actually in there, it's just so different. It's just like, and people are like, oh, Rachel volunteered. That's like the one thing I hear all the time. It's like, I didn't, I did what I thought would be the best outcome. You were for sure going either that time or the next time. A hundred percent. Yeah. Yeah. It was much better to go that time than the next time.

[01:03:28] Yeah, exactly. And you have to assume in something like that, that you are going to go. Like the only person I think would have actually not gone if, let's just say, Kelly went, I think Will would have not gone it. The only person I could have seen that night not playing in this hamster wheel would have been Will. Right? Like, because he wouldn't have been a target.

[01:03:54] So if you can make it so that you're not, if you're not even on people's radar, that's great. But by when you are having what, we had six people at what, seven people at that time in the house? Eight people? Whatever. You have, the numbers are so small that like, you have to keep thinking like, I'm going to be likely, I'm going to be on someone's radar. Right? Yeah. Okay, Rachel. Anything else?

[01:04:22] Any last Rachel Riley tips? Yeah, I wish I had tips. I wish I knew, you know, I think this, I think. Parting words. Watching. Yeah, parting words would be like, watch the people that have won recently have all just done a great game, a great job of being a social player. I mean, if you look back in the line, Ashley, social winner. Chelsea, social player. Like Chelsea was competitive too.

[01:04:51] I'm not taking that away from her. But at the end of the day, Chelsea, extremely social. Xavier, extremely social. Jag won based on competitions. But also, Jag was everybody's best friend too. You know, so it's like, if you look down the line of most of the winners of Big Brother, they are people that everybody liked. And that they wanted, people in the jury wanted them to win. So you're playing two games. You're playing a game of getting to the end.

[01:05:19] And then you're playing a game of making sure that the jury likes you and you have good jury management. And don't forget, you have to play on jury management. Yeah. All right. Well, thank you so much for doing this. This was a lot of fun. This is so fun. Where can people find you if they want to follow along? Well, if they're not already following me. It's at Rachel E. Riley Villegas on Instagram. At Rachel Riley Villegas on TikTok.

[01:05:49] And I mean, like, I'm on Twitter. I'm like on everything. Twitter is like Rachel E. Riley. Facebook is Rachel E. Riley, I think. But yeah, if you like Google it, I think everything pops. Or chat GPT. I don't know what the kids do these days. It's all on the internet. Yeah. Yeah. Of course, I'll be live all summer watching the season, doing live feed updates, all that good stuff. I also did write a book about the show, Behind the Mirror. It will not teach you how to win, but it will teach you about the show a little bit.

[01:06:19] So that's fun. And you can check that out wherever you buy books. And that's what we have. That's what we have for you. Thank you all so much for joining us. Thank you again, Rachel, for giving the tips out. And we will see all of you next time.