‘Big Brother Canada 4’ finale exclusive: Cassandra Shahinfar on working with Tim, gameplan, having fun

There have been few players on “Big Brother Canada” this season quite like Cassandra Shahinfar, at least in terms of the enthusiasm and cutthroat gameplay she brought to the show. She wasn’t afraid to cut anyone on her way to the grand prize, but at the same time she also had a real talent for manipulating other people into thinking she was with them. All of this made for a lively and lengthy interview, with you can see below.

Remember that this is just a small fraction of our “Big Brother Canada” season 4 finale coverage. You can head over here to see some of our other interviews from today over at the link here.

CarterMatt – So how is it feeling now that you are out of the house, and you can actually start to get accustomed again to life in the real world?

Cassandra Shahinfar – My brain was fried by the end of it. [I was wondering] how to get out of every situation. Even with that last Head of Household Competition, I was not throwing it. I needed to win it, and [there were questions] about a Veto comp just three days prior. I couldn’t even remember it.

Since I’ve left the house, I’ve been really happy. It has been a weight off my shoulders, I’m happy with my work in the house, and happy about the whole experience. I’m great! I put so much into this experience and I thought I’d be upset, but I’m not. It’s totally the opposite.

I’m sure it has to help that there were a lot of people this season who really loved you and some of the stuff you did. Have you gotten that sense from Canada?

When I was evicted I had no audience, for the side show there was no audience. So when I came yesterday and the audience roared, it was such a relief. It was so nice.

I spoke with you before the season, and you talked about how you were going to make moves and be an assassin and cut people when they needed to. How were you effective in doing this in the game?

The first few weeks, I just wanted to dedicate to making personal relationships with the people, finding common interests and just working on that. I knew about halfway through, I wanted the power and to be the assassin I said that I was going to be. But, people believed what I told them! Like, the brothers. I lied to them over and over again, but they continued to believe me. Like with the double-eviction: Why? I just wanted you out two days ago, and you were my main target. You have an opportunity to get me out right now, and you’re not putting me up?! It’s ridiculous. It’s funny! (Laughs.)

How nervous were you early on when you were on the block with Christine?

You know, I just knew I couldn’t go home so early. I was in it to win it. But, I knew that I could get out of it. I knew I had a gift of gab and I could get out of that situation, just like I got out of the situation the week against Joel. At the beginning of the week when I got into a huge fight with the brothers, I was 100% going. I was already out the door. There was no way anyone was changing their vote, and nobody was talking to me. The brothers didn’t even want to be in the same room with me. So, how I flipped the house to get Joel out was just a miracle.

How much did you feel like you were able to sway people? I love Joel, but he certainly didn’t help himself and kind of imploded that week.

I love Joel, but the thing was that when I made moves, it was kind of out in the open, and everyone knew what I had done. Nobody knew about my alliance, so that was one thing I had kept a secret. Joel had been in an alliance with me, and backed me up on all the moves that I had made. He also had final two deals with a lot of people, and that made a lot of people feel betrayed and helped me to turn things around.

How would you describe your relationship with Tim in the game?

We were like an old married couple, oh my god! He’s like a brother; we’re going to be great friends outside of the house, and I needed him in the house! Day 7 I was looking around in the house, wondering ‘who am I going to work with?’ There’s like nobody in the house! I wanted a kind of Jon-and-Neda alliance, and when he walked in, he was this former winner of this game, really intelligent, and he was really goofy and fun to be around. It was a perfect match for me, and it worked!

Are you a little annoyed with Tim, that he didn’t let you go to the final three given that he gave up during the second part of the final HoH?

I told that dumbo to study with me! I told him ‘you need to know your stuff, these final Vetoes are going to be knowledge! You need to know what’s happened in the house. He irritated me in that sense, and his goal coming in was to make it to finale night, because in all his previous reality shows he’s always made it to the finale. I wish that he would’ve just let me have it, because I think I could have won the final HoH and beat the brothers or Kelsey, because people in the jury told me I’d be the winner.

So yeah, I’m a little irritated, but not really since I didn’t want someone to self-evict. I wanted to do it for myself at the end of the day.

If you were in the final two with Tim, do you think you would have won?

I think Tim would’ve been my biggest competition. At final three, I would’ve cut him there and taken either the brothers or Kelsey. I don’t know! I think it would have been 50-50. I could’ve played the card that he had already played, and in a sense I did play a better game than him. I got out of stickier situations, and I taught him the game at times. I don’t know.

How were you able to maintain so many relationships at the same time? For example, even when Jared was upset with you, you still had Kelsey you were trying to work with.

It was entertainment for me! It is 24/7 for me, and I have to do things to pass the time. Everything I would do was fun for me. Even my relationship with the brothers; when they were yelling at me about being a ‘liar’ or a ‘snake,’ I just sat there and took it because I knew it’d make them look like idiots (laughs).

Were you able to just compartmentalize this better, and not take it so seriously. You seemed to realize that in the end, this is just a game. It’s a television show. You seemed to really enjoy it in there, which is something not everyone is like on like day 50, when they are losing their minds.

I embraced every second of it. I wanted to be on ‘Big Brother’ growing up, and that’s why I was so excited for my dad when he won the HoH comp, because he has watched it with me growing up. It was really nice to see him there.

I feel like a lot of people stressed and didn’t have the manipulation skills I did in the house, so for me, it was kind of easy! (Laughs.) I would 100% come back and play again.

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Kudos to Cassandra for being a great winner pick, and for being one of the most entertaining people this season.

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