‘Big Brother Canada 2’ full interview: Sabrina Abbate on the First Five, regrets, and Rachelle

In the latest chapter in our “Big Brother Canada 2” long-form interview series, we are sitting down with the runner-up for the season in Sabrina Abbate. She was a polarizing figure to many and a source of drama at times, but as a live feed viewer, she was one of those people who constantly kept things crazy and exciting. She was able to use the cards dealt to her in order to finish second place, and $20,000 is not a bad way to cap off a few months in a house.

Sabrina told us on Friday, less than 24 hours removed from the end of the game, a little about her strategy, her regrets, her friendship with Rachelle, and a ton of other things.

CarterMatt – So what has it been like for you since getting out of the house?

Sabrina Abbate – I’ve been with my mother, my sister, my best friend. Rachelle on the floor of my hotel room just talking all night long.

Did you have a chance to talk to the Canadian season 1 players or the ‘Big Brother’ US people last night?

Yeah, they were awesome! I hope they weren’t fake because they were so nice to me.

Who were you the most excited to see?

I was really excited to see from the Canadian season Alec, who I had a big crush on. And of course Peter, I was a big fan of them. I love the Sheyld, and I was happy to see Amanda [Zuckerman], I was excited to see Andy, McCrae, Spencer, Judd; I love ‘Big Brother,’ you guys.

Let’s go all the way back here to the beginning with the First Five. How does the idea for making an alliance within the first five minutes come together?

I wanted to make an alliance with people right away because it was a risky move and an unbiased move. People weren’t going to see us form relationships, and it was going to take them a lot longer to figure out our alliance. That was my plan. I like that I didn’t get to know them, and I had to put my trust in them like I had no choice. Let’s do this.

Was it a good thing or a bad thing that they relied so much on you early in the game to do the talking? While it did let you make connections, at the same time it caused you to be the person stabbing people in the back?

I do think that it helped and it hindered. It did help me to create relationships with people, and at the same time I created relationships with people that I wanted to create relationships with anyway. But that’s the bad part. The people that I actually liked that I had a relationship with, I would have to turn on them because they wanted to take out my alliance. I would have had to vote them out.

And for you, it got worse before it started to get better with the downfall of the First Five. That week with you and Andrew on the block, was that the worst week of the whole season for you?

Yeah, after that it was just boom, boom, boom, with every one of them gone. I was just destroyed. I love Andrew, he has a heart of gold, but sometimes things are perceived a certain way. It was a really hard point because I know that Andrew had my back. But at that point I knew we needed to change because Canada wanted to shake things up.

Do you think that this is something that future players are going to have in their mind? Canada has played such a big role in this season, and it’s a natural sort of tendency for viewers to want to root for the underdog and not the people in power. Do you think this could change how people make alliances in the future?

I think so. I don’t think that people want to get shaken up the way that I did. I knew the moment that Canada was HoH that it was going to be me and Andrew on the block. I couldn’t say it, because people would catch on to my game and wonder ‘why does she think she’s going on the block.’ I didn’t want them to know I was playing such a strong game.

At the same time, I’m glad it happened on the first part [of the game] because if [being in power happened in the second part] I would have been evicted. I became the underdog with Rachelle, and she left and I became a one-woman alliance. Sabrina Abbate, what’s up Canada?!

What was the feeling like having to be on the block so many times? Did it get easier over time?

I love animals, so I kept telling myself I’m like a cat with nine lives. And I’m like okay, if I’m up six times, then I have three lives left and okay, I win! It just made me more motivated and more focused, saying ‘I’m not a threat guys,’ and I wasn’t competitively, as much as I tried.

At the same time, the whole jury was the sloppy seconds alliance, so I said ‘guys, they are all on your side. They are going to vote for you in the end.’ $20,000 is better than zero, so I’m super happy.

That super-crazy week where it looked like you and Rachelle were going to be in trouble, and then Arlie and Adel ended up on the block. What was that like?

Those two Vetoes were my favorite moment ever, because it saved the Gremlins and just the night before, me and Rachelle were saying ‘Canada, save the Gremlins! #SaveTheGremlins!’ I was like ‘I love you Canada, and I love you Allison! Allison White, you rock!’

So the Arlie and Adel vote…

My biggest regret.

Well, do you think your alliance would have stuck together a lot longer had Arlie stayed?

Me and Rachelle and Allison could have stayed a little bit longer, with me and Rachelle a little longer than Allison because she was a physical threat to people in their eyes. That’s the only thing, in that she would have stayed with me a little longer and I would’ve had my Gremlin with me.

I will give you a lot of credit in that boat competition [for the final Head of Household]. That looked miserable.

It was so hard! But I really tried my hardest, and then I lost the second one. It really pissed me off because the Veto that saved me also killed me, because I couldn’t remember it. But, it is what it is, and everything happens for a reason!

So where do you go from here? Are you going to go back and watch all the show right away?

No. I do not want to watch right away. If I was going to get evicted at a certain point along the way, I would’ve wanted to see the plot leading to my eviction. But I got to where I am. I really don’t care what was said or what was done. I understand it’s ‘Big Brother’ and it’s a game. I also understand that the emotions run wind in the house, and people do and say crazy crap. I’m guilty of it. I’m leaving it in the game. All these people are fabulous, and at the end of the day it is what it is. I just can’t wait to meet everyone outside of this house.

Are you nervous to see the reactions to you online? Obviously everyone has people who both like and dislike them online.

I’m not nervous. I know that I was a big personality on the show and with that comes a lot of haters, but hopefully it comes with a lot of lovers. I’m going to take the lovers in stride and to the haters, I’m sorry you hate me so much.

So let’s say Sabrina enters the game again. Can the same strategy be used a second time?

No, because people are going to know. They’ll be like ‘oh my gosh, she just made an alliance two seconds ago. Who did she walk in the house with?’ So no, I’m probably not going to make any alliances for four weeks.

You were ultimately loyal to the First Five, and then Rachelle in the game. Do you think that loyalty would help you in another season?

I think the loyalty is going to help me if I ever came back to play this amazing game in the ‘Big Brother’ house, because my loyalty is true. People know that if I align with them, I’m not going to turn on them and I will do anything for those people.

So what did you think about Adel’s crazy Veto that he made up as he went along?

That little bugger, eh? He’s smart! He’s more than just funny. That was a crazy move. Good for him.

What do you say about an Adel / Sabrina talk show, where you two just spend the entire time fighting?

Sure, whatever you guys want to call it! The Sabrina & Adel Show, the Wife & the Husband, the two divorcees…

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If you still have some time to check out some in-depth “Big Brother Canada” interviews, you can click here to see Neda’s, and here to see Jon’s. We’re going to roll some of these out over the next several days.

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Photo: Slice