Big Brother Canada 5 – Cassandra Shahinfar exit interview: What went wrong?
While she finished in fourth place back in season 4, things didn’t out for her nearly as well the second go-around. She was a target almost from the jump, and she found herself forced to constantly be on the ropes. When Neda won Head of Household, it looked like her days were numbered; that was confirmed even more when she went on the block and failed to win the Power of Veto. The vote to send her out was unanimous, so going into this exit interview Friday morning, we were curious as to some of what went into her leaving the game, and what she believes were some of the biggest things holding her back.
CarterMatt – We didn’t see the final hours of you in the house. What were you doing at that time in order to save yourself?
Cassandra Shahinfar – I was fighting hard. I was going for those six votes. I kept going and going. They kept leading me on thinking that I could have the votes. I thought it was going to be a 6-5 vote, but I did have this gut feeling that they were acting too calm before I left and that I was going to be next. It was heartbreaking, but I was hustling until the very end.
Obviously, you have to blame Neda for nominating you as Head of Household, but at the moment is there anyone you blame specifically for you not being able to get the votes together?
I knew that Gary and Dre were campaigning for me the hardest, and they were pushing for me to stay this week. I hope they don’t have a target on their backs moving forward.
I think it was Demetres who was the [vote I couldn’t get]. He and Ika were obviously going to stay together. I thought I had Demetres back in week one when he was on the block, but then Bruno tried to pull him in and he was getting close to the guys on the other side. Nobody wants to show where their loyalties are, and nobody wants to show the line in the sand because the house is divided. There were scared, and they want to be good with everyone and cover their butts. That’s fine, but it’s Big Brother Canada — let’s play and go after each other! We’re not all working together; there’s only one winner.
For you, is there any one moment this season you look back to and wish that you’d done a little bit differently?
I always hate it when people say ‘I have no regrets, blah blah blah,’ but I went into the house and I really thought that all of the returning players would have targets on their back. We all played great games, and I really looked up to all of the players who had played before me.
[With that said], I think it was due to me being on last season [that I was a target]. I was still fresh in people’s minds, and they had this idea that I was a black widow and I would backstab and manipulate. They forgot some of the positive qualities, such as the fact that I’m very loyal! None of them wanted to work with me, and it was evident the first week. They saw me as a threat and they weren’t open with me, so I was trying to shift over to the newbies. That’s where I had to go — I had to build those relationships.
I think one conversation I look back on is back when there was chaos before the first eviction. Kevin and Bruno tried to flip the vote for Mark to stay. Someone threw my name out there, and I think Neda tried to make it seem like it was me flipping the house — Gary came and told me that. I was like ‘I’m trying to work with Neda,’ because I really was trying to work with her in this game. After that I said ‘you’re making that up about me and trying to make everyone upset with me, I’ll backdoor [you] next week.’ In that moment, hearing what I heard, that was my response. It was just from that circumstance — it wasn’t anything that I was thinking prior. Going into the game I loved Neda and wanted to work with her. She was not having it from the time I entered the house.
Who did you want to be sitting at the end of the game with?
I wanted to work with Gary until the end of the game — he was loyal to me, and I really think that in his mind he thought that if he went to the end with me, he’d win. So I think he’d take me there. He’s also good at comps.
I would probably go to the end with him, but if there was someone else I was sitting at final three with who I thought was a better candidate for final two (laughs), if I won that final HoH, I would take whoever I thought was better for my game.
More on Big Brother Canada reverse week
If you missed it, we discussed earlier today at this link some of the Veto Players who are going to be taking part in the competition! (Photo: Global.)