Janelle Pierzina from Big Brother: All-Stars wants to do Survivor next
Exclusive look at the new 'Big Brother: All-Stars' stage
'Big Brother' host Julie Chen previews the new front-of-house stage, and more.
Janelle Pierzina walked into the Big Brother: All-Stars house with the biggest target on her back out of any player, which is why she walked out of the house just three weeks later. The only four-time Big Brother player ever, Janelle’s reputation as a social dynamo and challenge beast was simply too much for the BB queen to overcome, and once she used her Safety Suite pass in week 1, it was only a matter of time.
What does Janelle make of her fourth stint inside the house? Is she pissed at Memphis for stringing her along? Does she still harbor bad feelings towards Nicole Franzel after Nicole’s wedding disinvitation? We asked the fan favorite all that and more when she called into EW Live (SiriusXM, channel 109) to discuss her latest outing and she pitched herself for another big CBS reality show.
CBS
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: First off, Janelle. Do you now know the name of the guy from New Jersey in the house?
JANELLE PIERZINA: Yes, Enzo.
Very good! Okay, you said you were blown away and pissed when you found out Memphis was part of the big alliance of six that took you out. Now that you’ve had a night to sleep on it, how are you feeling about him today knowing that he strung you along like that?
Oh, no hard feelings. I mean, I'm not really that pissed. You know, good on him. Good gameplay. I definitely believed him. I'm just really worried, obviously, about Kaysar in the house. My only concern is Kaysar.
How are you feeling about his chances without you in the house? Sometimes when someone is all alone, they can skate by for a while.
Yeah, I told Kaysar for his game that he has a really great shot if he can just honestly take a blanket and go in the shadows of the house and the crevices and just don't do much. That's what I told him to do, which will be hard for Kaysar.
Why will that be hard?
Because Kaysar wants to put up Tyler and Cody.
You watched Nicole Franzel’s goodbye message in which she essentially told you not to come to her wedding. What did you make of that?
We had a little bit of beef on The Amazing Race and that's where all this crap started surfacing from. I wasn't going to go to her wedding anyway. I have a cheer competition that weekend, so no worries. I'll still send them a gift. I don't hate the girl. I just never trusted her in the house. I just never trusted her.
So when you saw that you and Nicole were in the house together, what were your thoughts on “How am I going to manage this situation? Because we are not seeing eye to eye here.”
Nicole is very insecure in general. I knew that she's the kind of person where you have to tell her that she's good daily. Unfortunately, I didn't have the energy to do that. And early on, I saw that she was in a pretty tight, solid alliance, so there's really no room for me there. And once she moved out of the key room, that's when our relationship deteriorated.
You and Kaysar seemed to do a good job of figuring out that big alliance. You had four of the six members down, but it seems like Memphis was just a blind spot for you.
Memphis was a blind spot because we honestly believed that Memphis wanted to work with us. We believe Memphis wanted to work with us old players. Memphis told us repeatedly he didn’t want to do a big alliance, so we thought in the future maybe he'd want to work with us.
Julie told you about how Da’Vonne, Bayleigh, and Kevin actually all expressed wanting to keep you in the house, but that they didn't want to make waves. You said you totally get it and understand. It has to be a little frustrating though, right? It's an all-star season. We want people to be bold and make big moves.
They're not like that though. They played the game differently than me, which is fine. I mean, I want to make moves. I want to take people out. I want to do things. They really — especially Kevin — are people that would like to sit back and just kind of wait it out. That's their gameplay.
It's frustrating playing with people like that, isn’t it?
It freakin’ sucks. I aligned myself with floaters! It is frustrating ’cause basically when I saw the alliance that was in the house, I was kind of like, "Shoot. I don't have the A-team here. I have what's left, and it's not pretty." I don't have anyone. I don't have a comp beast. I have older people and then people that want to fly under the radar and they just want to project me in front of them so I can take the shot, which sucks.
Is there anything else you think you could have done to save yourself or was the target just too big the second you entered that house?
I mean, I'm a massive target. Everyone knows me. Everyone's heard about me. I think, initially, people wanted to play with me, but unfortunately… My initial game plan was to try and find players that were good at the game and it just wasn't possible. The younger players maybe didn't want me in their alliance or whatever. Yes, the target was extremely, extremely big for me. It was very difficult.
Knowing what you know, who do you think is playing the best game so far inside the house?
Memphis. I think he really tricked me. I'm very impressed.
If Kaysar can’t win, whom would you be rooting for to take the title?
Okay, so I think that Dani will most likely win. That's my pick to win. But I obviously would love for Bayleigh or Enzo to do something. I know they're not in that large alliance, but I told Bayleigh before I left, “You can trust Enzo. Work with Enzo.” I hope there's something they can do. I hope they can break that alliance. The thing is, now everyone knows there's four out of those six who [are] in the alliance. If anyone in the house besides the six gets power, those people would probably go up. They should go up.
You had to go in quarantine for two weeks before you could even start the season. And then you're only in there for three weeks. And now, unfortunately for you, you're talking to me. Was it worth it? Was it worth all the extra stuff you guys had to do for this season?
Oh, yeah. When they called me, I was so excited to come back for another all-stars. I thought it was good for the show, the fans, for me just to come in and give it another shot, maybe see some familiar faces. I always do really enjoy playing Big Brother. I did enjoy even playing this season, even though I only lasted three weeks. So yes, it was absolutely worth it.
Did you notice anything different now from the last time you were in there in terms of an evolution of the game or how it has changed?
Definitely. I am such an OG player. I kinda just put it all out there and like to take my shot. The younger people in the house, they like to play a very passive game and the thing that they do is they want everyone to be friends, which is fine, but it's fake. They want to make it seem like every single person in the house is friends. We're all friends and taking out someone is the worst thing in the world. So in that aspect, yes, it's changed.
You've played four times now. The only Big Brother player to play four times. Which season was your favorite?
Always my first. I think any Big Brother houseguest will always say their first season is their most special experience. ’Cause it's new.
Would you do it again? Would you go in for a fifth time?
No, I probably wouldn't. I mean, four times is good, man. I am good. I had a good run.
But is there that part of you that says, “Do I want the run to end this way, with such a short stint in the house?”
If there were a shortened season, another all-stars that was 30 days — I would absolutely do it if it was a shortened version.
Okay, well then let's do this. If you're talking about shorter versions of things, you've done Big Brother a bunch. You've done The Amazing Race. Clearly, there's another big CBS reality show that you haven’t done.
I would absolutely 100 percent do Survivor. Like, it would be the biggest thing in my life. I love the show. I absolutely adore it.
What do you think would be the hardest transition for you in terms of doing that show?
We played The Amazing Race. I did it with Survivor and other Amazing Race people. I always say Big Brother is the best show on CBS. There's great lighting, you get food, you get a bed. I mean, these things are important to me. Now, Survivor is really roughing it, sleeping on bamboo, hungry, you see people flossing their teeth with bamboo and little sticks. But that would be the ultimate challenge for me because I did grow up camping.
Well, some other Big Brother people have done it. Maybe you can be next. So this is your pitch, right?
I would absolutely love it. I think everyone at CBS knows Survivor is my favorite show. I have never missed an episode. I rewatched seasons. I love it. I love the show.
Who's your favorite player ever?
Boston Rob, of course. And then Parvati for a woman. Tyson would be second for a man. And then, you know, I also obviously love the queen, Sandra.
Related content:
