Exclusive: Dan Gheesling talks ‘Big Brother Canada,’ new houseguests, and Dr. Will

If you think about the greatest “Big Brother” players of all time, it’s hard to imagine Dan Gheesling not being near or at the top of the list. He’s the only houseguest to make the final two in both of his appearances, and he was a few jury votes away this summer from being the first two-time winner. He also happens to be our reigning Best Reality Star as voted upon by the Cartermatt.com readers.

With this kind of resume, who better to help Slice out in promoting “Big Brother Canada” north of the border? Just like we did with Dan’s most-recent season all of last summer, we’re going to be covering anything and everything that goes on in the house whether it be on the live feed or the actual episodes; and following the premiere last night, we sat down with the coach and ruthless strategist to get his early take on some of the new houseguests, along with of course a question that we’ve pondered for months about him potentially playing in a season against fellow legend Dr. Will Kirby.

Cartermatt.com – So first of all, what did you think of the premiere?

Dan Gheesling – I was impressed, but I wasn’t surprised. I knew heading into this that there was a lot of time and a lot of money invested in the show, and I think the traditional Canadian standard of how a reality show [adapted from America] is going to go is not very high. But I think that the majority of Canadians will feel that this blows the doors off of their expectations. I was really impressed.

These people that are in the house right now are obviously going through quite a bit. As somebody who has played the game twice, and different ways each time, how much do you think public perception is on their mind while they are making moves?

Of course, the gamer in me wishes that the Canadian houseguests would go in there with their knives sharpened and ready to go, but I think you saw in the first episode the HoH winner [Suzette] crying saying that ‘I don’t want to stab people in the back.’ She’s crying because she can’t do that. That doesn’t mean that she can’t make it to the end; I appreciate the game better when people are able to approach the game with a straight face, and then start shanking people.

The first night when you see somebody like a Gary running around and trying to be this enormous character, what do you do? Does that make him more of a target?

It’s not so much of a target, but he’s going to rub on a lot of people’s nerves. Obviously he’s hilarious and entertaining to watch, but some people don’t want to be around that 24 hours a day. I’m going to say it now: you’re going to see some sort of conflict surrounding him. He may not be the one that initiates it, but somebody is going to initiate it because he is so loud and boisterous.

I want to try to award someone the Chef Joe Arvin DR Award for being really loud and obnoxious…

Well the thing is about the premiere is [that] we had 15 houseguests, and I don’t know if we saw more than 4 of them [in the Diary Room].

There is this Peter guy, and I think he’s hilarious [in the DR], but I don’t think he can keep it up.

I think he’s a much less endearing Ian Terry. I think Ian Terry has some much more endearing qualities about him, and this guy… This guy thinks he’s better than Ian Terry.

I want to touch on something that I’ve thought about for a while. What if Dr. Will called you up tomorrow and said that you guys are going to face off against each other in the house for a season? Would you do it?

I would first of all question why he has more information than me regarding the show, because if he’s calling me and Allison [Grodner] or Rich [Meehan] are not calling me, then something’s not right. In terms of [the idea], the thing about ‘Big Brother’ is that if you like to equate it to sport, let’s say that there are two basketball players. And I’m not trying to compare us to…

LeBron James.

Yeah, like LeBron James or Dwyane Wade … They get to play on a daily basis, and ‘Big Brother’ is not even just an annual thing. I think it’s going to be very difficult to get us both in the house at the same time. And I don’t think he wants to play against me, either.

Really? You don’t think it eats away at him that people are now calling you the best player ever?

I think there is, because Will and I are both really competitive, but he’s in a different place in his life. He’s a little bit older, as am I, but he’s almost turning 40. But Will’s a really great guy and he’s a great player that inspired me to do a lot of things. I’d just be surprised to see us ever play together.

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Thanks again to Dan for chatting with us, and we want to hear from you: do you like this season so far, and are you keen to a Dan vs. Dr. Will showdown? For more on “Big Brother Canada,” including live feed updates and exit interviews (which start off tomorrow), be sure to visit the link here.