After 50 days in the Big Brother house, Jaycee Edwards — known mononymously as Jaycee — found himself up for eviction, against his Day One alliance members, Aleisha Campbell and Johnson Ashak. In an emotional Eviction Ceremony, Jaycee tried to fall on his sword, telling his housemates to vote him out, rather and Campbell or Ashak.
It worked, and Jaycee was eliminated with five votes going to him, two to Ashak, and none to Campbell. Chatting to The Latch over the phone, Jaycee said that he had no regrets about the move.
“After 50 out of 63 days, I’d had challenge wins, Head of House, I felt like I’d played a good game and it really became apparent to me after being in there that I’d got what I needed out of the experience,” he said.
Jaycee went into the house with the intent to “show Australia a different side” of himself, one that was separate from his career as a musician and content creator.
“I want Australia to know Jaycee, and I wanted to challenge myself,” he explained. “I definitely did that — I’ve never physically worked so hard in my life, mentally worked so hard in my life, I was quite happy giving it to Johnson and Aleisha.”
Big Brother Australia is a game known for its twists, and this year was no exception, with the twist coming in the form of the Big Brother Royalty; eight iconic housemates from past seasons, including three former winners in Reggie Bird, Trevor Butler and Tim Dormer.
Calling it “such a surprise”, Jaycee said that “it made the game so much harder”, and not just because they had previous experience lasting in the house.
Related: Can Big Brother Royalty Reggie Bird Be the First Contestant to Win Twice?
Related: Life After Big Brother: Tully Smyth Reveals What’s Next for Her
“It was really the OGs featuring the newbies, and it’s quite apparent,” Jaycee said.
Noting that some of the OGs have already won Big Brother Australia previously, and have racked up hundreds of days in the house, Jaycee said that without them, “it would’ve been a completely different game, and much easier”.
One of the ways it would’ve been easier? The New Contenders wouldn’t have been fighting for screen time.
He explained: “I don’t know if the edit would’ve been different — the newbies are really underrepresented, I felt like I was underrepresented”.
While he understands that it’s a TV show, where “they pick a storyline and they’ve got an agenda”, Jaycee was frustrated to find that the OGs were featured so heavily throughout the show, while the newbies were pushed to the wayside.
“You can tell by the emotions at last night’s eviction that I made an impact, and I don’t feel like that was necessarily reflected until I was going,” he said.
Rather, Jaycee said, the producers chose to show “15 minutes at the start of the episode just featuring Reggie and her story”, but then cut the FaceTime call that he won with his mother, which was “a beautiful moment that the whole house was involved in”.
“It’s just little things like that,” he explained, adding: “I had to surrender, I had to just disconnect. It’s like, I have my experiences, they have the TV show.”
Related: Big Brother’s Jules: “Reggie Must Have a Thing Against Strong Women”
Related: Farmer Dave on Why He Tried to Vote Himself Out and Why Reggie Should Win
Noting the “beauty of the old format”, with its live streams and “drawn out scenes”, Jaycee said that he found that he just had to “roll with the punches” in the end.
“It’s better that I had that than nothing!” Jaycee said of his emotional farewell. “I had to do 50 days, and I worked for my screen time. It wasn’t given to me.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, then, Jaycee believes Bird will take out the win when the series crowns its 2022 winner on July 12th.
Asked who he thinks is going to win, Jaycee said: “Who do I think is gonna win, or who do I want to win?”
He continued: “Look, it seems as though Reggie has this one in the bag. She’s got a compelling story, she deserves the money — well, she needs the money — the most. You know, she was protected by everyone in the house, even the newbies. But I would love to see a newbie win, for them to experience that feeling for the first time.”
As for what’s next for Jaycee, the musician just released an album and is currently on tour. You can catch him live at the following venues:
Brisbane
Black Bear Lodge, July 3, 2022 (18+)
Sydney
The Chippo Hotel, July 9, 2022 (18+)
Hobart
Republic Bar, July 16th, 2022 (18+)
Longhouse Hobart, July 17, 2022 (All ages)
Big Brother Royalty Vs New Contenders airs at 7.30pm Monday — Wednesdays, only on 7 and 7 Plus.
Want more Big Brother? Read all of our Big Brother Australia content here, and check out the stories below.
- Everyone Who’s Been Evicted From Big Brother Royalty Vs New Contenders
- Big Brother Australia: Get to Know Triple Threat Aleisha Campbell
- Big Brother Australia: Will Gabbie Keevill Be Able to Charm Her Way to the End?
- Everything You Need to Know About Big Brother’s Jaycee
- Will Big Brother Superfan Johnson Ashak Be Able to Beat His Idols?
- Can Big Brother Australia’s Taras Hrubyj-Piper Take on the Royals?
- Could Master Strategist Tim Dormer Become Big Brother’s First Two-Time Winner?
- Intruder Alert! Meet Big Brother Australia Intruders Brenton and Jules
- Big Brother Australia: Does Lulu Oliveira Have What It Takes to Go All the Way?
- Big Brother’s Estelle Landy Shares Her Emotional Journey With Chronic Pain
- Big Brother Australia: Meet Sam Manovski, Drew’s New Girlfriend
- Does Joel Have What It Takes to Win Big Brother Royalty Vs New Contenders?
- Your Definitive Guide to Tuning In to Big Brother Royalty Vs New Contenders
- Where to Follow the Cast of ‘Big Brother Royalty Vs New Contenders’ On Instagram
- Can Big Brother’s Trevor Win Again?
- Meet the Cast Entering the ‘Big Brother Australia’ House in 2022
- Farmer Dave Is Back for More on Big Brother Royalty Vs New Contenders
- When Does ‘Big Brother Royalty Vs New Contenders’ Start?
- A Refresher: Tully Smyth and Anthony Drew’s ‘Big Brother’ Relationship
- Ex-Model Josh Is Ready to Cause Chaos on ‘Big Brother Royalty vs New Contenders’
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