‘Big Brother Canada 4’ finale exclusive: Tim Dormer on strategy, Cassandra, desire to win

Tim Dormer was without a doubt one of the stars of “Big Brother Canada” this season. He was incredibly entertaining, and at the same time he probably lived up to his wild card billing in so many ways by being incredibly unpredictable and entertaining. We were bummed out that he didn’t end up winning, but we got a little bit of a further depiction as to some of his thinking on the subject in a one-on-one interview earlier today.

This is one of many exit chats that we’re doing for the finale; you can see all of the rest over here!

CarterMatt – Having gone through this experience before, has it prepared you more for suddenly going out of the house and having communication with the outside world again?

Tim Dormer – You never get used to it. It is that sort of feeling where you’re on a speed train, and then it just stops and it’s a whole new world. I have no idea! I’m not even in my home country. I don’t know what’s going to go on. And it’s so weird that they’ve watched me for the past few months, and now I get to explore them. It’s exciting. I’m going to go back to Australia and sort some stuff out, but I’m going to come back and have a sort of vacation over here.

What have the past 12 or so hours been like getting some reception from the fans? I’m sure it’s been nice to know that people were really rooting for you.

As far as how Canada has perceived me, in the interviews I’ve done today I’m blown away! I had no idea that Canada would get behind Tim the crazy Australian. I always thought was too much of an outsider for Canada, and I had a little bit of self-doubt.

It feels really nice, because I am a visitor and it feels really special to be welcomed in with open arms. I think I’ll always have this bond with Canada now; it’s a little like a second home.

Okay, so you were a little bit of an enigma in the game about this, so I’m really curious: Just how badly did you want to win?

(Laughs) Good question, and something that I struggled with myself the entire season. I didn’t sign up for this; I didn’t line up with the other houseguests to audition with the dream of winning ‘Big Brother Canada.’ I had that in Australia and I achieved that goal. For me, it was an adventure, a bit of a game, and a bit of fun. Even when I got here I was like ‘do I wanna win? Do I not? Can I win?’ It was a big question in my head, and I decided in the end that I didn’t want to win doing certain things. I didn’t want to win by being the best at competitions. I feel like I show Canada who I was, and I feel like I’ve gotten a big reward out of it all.

I’ve talked to a lot of houseguests, so is it an extra bit of validation to know that you would have won had you been in the final two against either Kelsey or the brothers?

I think maybe I underestimated myself a little bit (laughs), because I didn’t know what I was doing. I was bluffing my way through. You’re right; it is an extra reward. It doesn’t put food on the table, but I didn’t come here for the money. At the end of the day, I’m proud of the decision that I made.

Just because you can have something, doesn’t mean you should want it. I didn’t want that at the end of the day.

Tell me about the foundation of your relationship with Cassandra? You guy were very entertaining throughout the season in that you played together, but also squabbled and got angry with each other from time to time.

I’ve never met a girl like Cassandra. She’s smoking hot, and she’s the full package: She’s smart, she’s confident, and she’s fun. There’s not many good-looking girls who have that full package.

That first night I was looking for a bed to sleep in and she was like ‘you can sleep with me,’ and I was like ‘oh my god, she’s trouble.’ I kind of saw something in her that the other houseguests hadn’t yet seen. I saw the player — she was going to be ruthless in the game, and I knew that I wanted to work with that, rather than having that work against me. It ended up being great strategy that the other houseguests couldn’t quite pinpoint what the relationship was between Cassandra and me. Was it a working relationship, were we more than just friends? It was that confusion that enabled us strategically and get away with what we did.

Sometimes we hated each other, but at the end of the day we helped each other, and I don’t know if we would have done it without each other.

How big of an asset was it for you to have Mitch leave the game when he did? I feel like the perception on the outside were that you two were two of the strongest players, and there was going to be a clash of the titans because he was one of the few people who recognized the game you were playing.

I’m glad that was said on the outside, because I knew that he was the only one who knew what I was capable of. He had spent no time on social game with me because he didn’t need me and he was afraid of me in the end, and I knew that he was going to make a move against me, and I was getting ready to make a move against him. But, fate happened and Kelsey came back into the game, and his own sort of alliance did it to him. Then, it was like ‘you came to me only when you need me. We could’ve worked really well together in this game, and I don’t need you for what I’ve got planned in this game. So, see you later.’ It was the beginning of the reign of the Freakshow. It formed that week, and Cassandra and Joel and I had our targets, and they all went home. It was dumb luck that Kelsey had come back and taken out one of the biggest targets. There’s probably and all that, but it was just luck.

I love it! Mitch is into science, and that is my background as well. My mum’s a mathematics lecturer. I really thought that Mitch week was a pivotal one in the game, yeah.

So we’ve got time for one more thing, Tim. Let’s say ‘Big Brother US’ calls you — are you interested?

So many people have asked, and I don’t think I could ever really walk away from ‘Big Brother.’ I love it. I absolutely love how it was formed on a social experiment, with strangers coming into the house from all walks of life and how we react to different situations, whether it is from the format I come from in Australia where it’s not about competitions or alliances or the version in Canada. It is about strategy, but it is the same thing. It’s about human nature and watching it unfold naturally.

That’s why I’m good at it! I’m not afraid of going by my gut instinct and the reactions that I have. I would do it again. Would I make it to the end again? I would hope so. Maybe ‘Big Brother US’ is the next step, or maybe ‘Big Brother World,’ or ‘Big Brother the Moon,’ imagine that?

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So there you have it: Somebody get your season of the show set on the Moon going!

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