Big Brother housemate Talia Rycroft became the fourth evicted, after being unceremoniously kicked out of the house with 11 votes against her.
Even though she was in the house for only two weeks, the construction worker ruffled more than a few feathers, including those of the fans.
According to the 22-year-old, Rycroft believes she was portrayed as a “bully” and a “villain” but swears, her true personality is the total opposite.
“Everyone keeps saying I’m the mean girl, I’m the villain,” Rycroft said in an interview with TheLatch— post her eviction.
“I’m not, I’m such a beautiful person. I go to the RSPCA every week. I am such a lovely person and it sucks that Australia has seen the worst edit of my personality.”
Rycroft was nominated by Angela Clancy who claimed she was trying to “dethrone” her, but that was the least of her problems.
Since the Wednesday, June 10 episode aired, Rycroft had been subject to death threats and bullying on her Instagram account, and since then, has handed her account over to Channel 7 for monitoring.
Now, Rycroft explains to TheLatch— what she believed really went on in the house, and reveals that Clancy had a lot of apologising to do.
Anita Lyons: Hi Talia, firstly, I am so sorry to hear you’ve had such a tough week. How are you feeling about it all now?
Talia Rycroft: Oh, thank you so much. It’s amazing hearing all of these people saying that they’re here for you and they’re sorry I’m going through this. It means the world, honestly.
I feel good today because I’m out of the firing line. I’m kind of glad that I’m gone because that hate feeling is just there for two nights and then it goes and I’m glad that I was the first episode of the week, because people will forget everything that happened tonight and not be talking about it tomorrow.
AL: I believe you were bullied over social media? Casey [Mazzuchelli] even came to your defence saying you had death threats. What was that like?
TR: Yeah, I was bullied to the max on social media. I don’t have control over my social media accounts anymore.
AL: Wow, are Channel 7 going to give you back control soon?
TR: It’s 100% in my favour that they have it. I just asked them, “Hey, do you mind taking it over”. They even offered to take it over and then when I want it back, I’ll take it back.
I have it on my phone still and I can log on and see but right now I just don’t want to deal with those negative comments because I’m just not in the mood.
AL: Absolutely! Let’s talk about how you were portrayed on the show. Were you shocked at how you were perceived?
TR: Yeah, I was so shocked because I wasn’t the bully. I wasn’t the mean girl in the house, it was definitely other people.
I went into the game going, “OK, this is going to be on TV” and I honestly need to be very careful because I have a career, I have a future and I didn’t want to jeopardise anything, so I was very careful what I said in my actions.
I actually went in there being loyal, strong and confident and then they [Endemol Shine], just picked and choose what they wanted.
It’s like when Angela [Clancy] raises her eyebrows, the audience goes, “oh, what happened there”.
The one thing that really got me was when Hannah came to sit down next to me and then I just walk off. That didn’t happen in real life. I said to Hannah, “Hey, Hannah! Come over and chat with us.” And then she and I had a great chat for half-an-hour or an hour, then I went and got food and then all of a sudden it made me look like I didn’t want to talk to her and I was bullying her.
AL: Wow. And what have the cast said about it now?
TR: Yeah, they really turned it on me. A lot of the cast have reached out saying that they’re disgusted watching the show, they didn’t expect me to be the mean girl.
If anything, it was other people in the house that definitely portray a very mean, villain character.
I came off the show very confident, like, yep. I’m going to be portrayed as that strong, confident girl that doesn’t care who’s just there for a good time and it was the opposite. I was a little bit upset.
“If anything, it was other people in the house that definitely portray a very mean, villain character.”
AL: I can totally understand why this has been such a rough week for you. What did you learn about yourself from this experience?
TR: I’ve learned that I’m really competitive. I learned that I’m pretty good at challenged and good at endurance. If I had stayed in the house for longer, I would have won more challenges — I’ve seen the episodes and known that I could have won them.
So, it’s kind of good that I’m out of the game early because I would have had a lot of focus on me due to winning so many challenges.
I wouldn’t have changed anything I did in the house in all honesty though.
AL: So, no regrets?
TR: No regrets.
AL: You had 11 votes against you in the elimination. Did that surprise you at all?
TR: Not at all. I knew I was going as soon as Big Brother said my name. They didn’t show it but I was actually telling everyone, “Hey, I know I’m going. If you want to save me, then that’s up to you.”
I knew because Angela had tried to start this bloody crew, and my group, because there were three of us put up, so Zoe [George] went around saying lets split the votes evenly. Everyone split the votes evenly so I knew it was always going to come out this way. They knew that but they wanted to be very fair because they loved us all.
AL: Are you and Angela speaking at all now?
TR: We’re talking. I kind of forgave her in a way even though she lied to me really badly and straight to my face and was pretending to be my friend the whole game because I was winning challenges and she knew that I was a person big on friendships and loyalty in the house.
She played me big time. I’ve forgiven her and she has reached out which is nice. We have a group chat, the housemates and she’s reached out in the group chat. She didn’t just apologise to me, she’s had to apologise to a fair few people.
“She played me big time. I’ve forgiven her and she has reached out which is nice.”
AL: Do you think the way she is portrayed is her as a person or is it her playing the game?
TR: Angela hasn’t come across any different to what she was in the house. She was a very strong character. One thing that really pissed me off is that she kept labelling me the “Queen” and I didn’t like that.
When she kept saying: “It’s too early to have a queen in the house” and then as soon as she got rid of me, she was saying, “I decrowned the queen so now I can take the crown”. I thought that was contradictory.
Everyone’s at a really good place now, all the housemates love each other and we talk every single day. I have a lot of support from Dan, Casey, Xavier, Matt, Ian, Sophie and Garth — all my friends in the house. We talk every single day.
AL: Was being on the show what you thought it was going to be?
TR: I didn’t think Big Brother would turn it the way they did because when we applied, they said it’s not like Married at First Sight. It’s not like any of these other shows. We’re not going to twist it to make someone look evil, we’re not going to do that.
But they kind of did, which is fine because they need to make the show entertaining, I guess.
AL: Do you think you were prepared at all for what has happened to you?
TR: 100% no. I only got a call the day of my episode to say: “Hey, just letting you know that your episode’s going to be a bit fiery tonight, nothing bad. You come across as a really strong person.”
I was in tears watching that episode. I was disgusted. My family were in tears. It was disgusting.
“I was in tears watching that episode. I was disgusted. My family were in tears. It was disgusting.”
AL: Who do you think is playing the most strategic game and why? You’re going to say Angela right?
TR: I don’t think Angela is playing a strategic game at all. I don’t think she’s playing a good game at all right now.
It’s hard to say. I feel like some people have definitely tried to become that innocent nice person so they can be liked by other housemates but the other housemates just know it’s fake and they’re just using them as bait to get them in the long run.
AL: Who do you think will win?
TR: Daniel. He’s such a strong player and he will get back at anyone who disrespects his family, and I’m part of his family. I know that he is a very strong character.
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Big Brother continues Sunday at 7.00 pm and Monday and Tuesday at 7.30pm, only on Channel 7.