Hannah Campbell became the 11th housemate evicted from the Big Brother house on Tuesday, after her plan to take out one of the alpha’s backfired.
Making it over the halfway mark, Campbell managed to stay under the radar, something she was very proud of, however, it was the men’s treatment of the women in the house that had her seeing red.
“I’m so proud of myself for making it that far,” she said in a post-eviction interview with TheLatch—.
“I went into Big Brother that morning [of her eviction] and said, ‘Big Brother, we need to take a stand. Why are we letting the boys rule the house? It’s 2020, we’ve all got equal rights.’ It’s sad to see the boys, pretty much putting us girls down, telling us what to do. That really annoyed me.”
While her time in the house seemed to be mostly smooth sailing, the 26-year-old ruffled more than a few feathers when she first entered, seemingly getting under the skin of Talia Rycroft and Sarah McDougal. Even though Rycroft claims it was “all in the editing”, Campbell says it played out exactly as you saw on the screen.
“To be honest, that’s how I was treated. That’s exactly what happened in the house,” she said. “It was hard for me coming in as an intruder and then it was even harder to see the way the girls treated me.”
After Rycroft was evicted, Campbell became a valued member of the house, even working out and baking with Marissa Rancan and getting to know the other housemates.
Here, Campbell tells TheLatch— why she is proud to have stuck up for herself while being “bullied”, how Big Brother is just a “boy’s club” and how her stint in the house gave a nursing home full of elderly people hope during the coronavirus pandemic.
Anita Lyons: Hi Hannah. It’s so great to chat. I know it feels like years ago, but I’ve been waiting to get your side of the story on what really happened between you and Talia?
Hannah Campbell: To be honest, that’s how I was treated. That’s exactly what happened in the house. It was hard for me coming in as an intruder and then it was even harder to see the way the girls treated me.
I didn’t know how bad it was until I actually watched it. I could feel it was bad because everyone was really standoffish with me, so I knew something was up. No one was giving me a chance, no one would talk to me. No one made the effort to get to know me.
For me personally, it was one of the hardest mind-games I had to play to push everything aside and get my head in the game and not focus on how I was being treated in the house.
AL: I’m so sorry that happened to you.
HC: Honestly, that’s how I was treated and I’m glad it was shown because it hurt me. It really, really hurt me. The girls and boys didn’t give me a chance.
AL: Was it hard to watch back?
HC: Yes, to be honest. I definitely cried watching my first episode. The Big Brother experience is supposed to be so exciting to watch and I just sat down and pretty much watched myself be bullied in front of the whole of Australia.
That was so hard. I wanted my first episode to be amazing and to show Australia who I was. I didn’t fight back because, at the end of the day, the way a person treats you says more about them then it does about you.
I’m so glad I pushed through because there was worse stuff than was shown, and I’m so glad I didn’t leave that night and that I was given the opportunity to stay.
AL: Sarah was adamant she knew who “you were” after meeting at the auditions, how did her perception of you change?
HC: Sarah and I ended up being really close which was amazing.
There was a scene where I took her into the diary room and I confronted her about everything and I wish they’d showed that because that was me standing up for myself and showing that it wasn’t right. I’m so proud of myself for doing that and I’m so proud of Sarah for also apologising and taking ownership of her actions. Sarah knows she stuffed up.
I knew Sarah for five minutes and the reason she made up rumours about me was that in our audition I evicted her, so she went into the show thinking I would evict her straight away. She felt that because I did it in the audition process, I could do it in the house and she felt threatened. My hat goes off to her for coming out with the truth why she acted the way she did.
AL: Have you spoken to Talia since?
Talia and I are fine now. I’ve honestly not held anything against anyone in the house, and at the end of the day, I love every single person there.
I do feel sorry for Talia and Sarah as they got death threats and no one should be getting them, but at the end of the day, it was how I was treated and Australia didn’t like that.
I hope they did grow from the experience and realise the effects that words have on people.
AL: You managed to stay under the radar for almost four weeks, and then tried to go for the “alphas”. Do you regret how you played the game?
HC: No, I don’t regret a thing. That group needed to be split up.
I’m so proud of myself for making it that far but I was always so disadvantaged coming in late because the alpha group never gave me a chance. I really wanted to win a challenge.
I went into Big Brother that morning [of her eviction] and said, “Big Brother, we need to take a stand. Why are we letting the boys rule the house? It’s 2020, we’ve all got equal rights. It’s sad to see the boys, pretty much putting us girls down, telling us what to do. That really annoyed me.
I didn’t have the support to fully go through with my plan because a lot of the girls were working with the boys because that was their safe zone. I wanted to make a change in the house, but unfortunately, that backfired on me.
I left the house with my head held high and I gave it all I could.
It’s 2020, stand up girls. The boys are trying to manipulate you. It’s a boys club, they don’t give the girls a chance and I really wish I was an original housemate because I would have done so much more to bring them down.
AL: We didn’t get to know too much about you inside the house. What’s something you may have wanted to share with the public but it wasn’t shown?
HC: There was so much. My love for food, the love for the elderly. I’m so passionate about aged care. My Nonna was a big part of my whole Big Brother story. I spoke about my Nonna every single day in the house.
I don’t like seeing people lonely. I go to my Nonna’s retirement village all the time and it’s so crazy, I’ve actually got the whole of her retirement village — demographics of over 90 years old, watching Big Brother. You’d never think that would happen.
That is so special. I’ve obviously had an impact on these people and they’re supporting my journey and they’re so proud of me.
During COVID, it has given them purpose. It’s given them something to look forward to.
AL: Who do you think is playing the most strategic game and why?
HC: I think Sarah is playing a good game strategically. I would be so happy if she won.
AL: Who do you think will win?
HC: I’m for any girl that can knock out the boys. Marissa, Soph, Casey. Takedown the males. Let’s show Australia we can stand up for ourselves.