Big Brother Star Joseph Rodriguez Calls Eviction A ‘F‑‑‑Ing Relief,’ Shares Brutally Honest Opinion Of Cast

The ousted player also calls the show “cheap” for not making the jury larger this season and claims he never got to play for “real” because of the A.I. Arena.

Joseph Rodriguez lasted just over 50 days in the Big Brother 26 house. But the 31-year-old video store clerk tells Entertainment Weekly he was ready to quit on day 2.

“As a super fan, I knew a lot of what was to be expected: the downtime, you always hear people talk about that and the sleep deprivation,” says the Tampa resident. “But it’s different once you’re in there. It’s so intense.”

Though he put those feelings aside and made it to the final eviction before Jury, Joseph was voted out 4-3 against Kimo on Thursday’s episode after losing to Rubina in the A.I. Arena. Joseph had been working with Head of Household Quinn, but his ally put him on the block after Leah used the Veto on Angela.

Just hours after exiting the house, Joseph tells EW you have to become a “sociopath” to last in the game, shares who he’s still rooting for, and reveals what he’s most excited to do now that he’s out of the house. (Spoiler alert, it’s “smoke weed.”)

How are you doing this morning?

JOSEPH RODRIGUEZ: I’ve been better. But it’s a f—ing relief dude. Most of those people in the house were super annoying, and to have been in the jury house with them for another month … This game was way harder than I expected. Just the grind of it, having to work every single day, and the paranoia, the claustrophobia — and, surprisingly, the moral kind of duality of it all, which I didn’t expect. As hard as it was compromising with those things, I thought I’d go in there and not give a s— about anyone. But that part of it was also hard.

As you’ve learned more about what was going on in the house that you didn’t know about, what’s surprised you the most?

Not a whole lot. It kind surprises me that Makensy voted me out. I feel like she had zero relationship with Kimo …She didn’t really have a game relationship with anybody. But I was one of the people in the house who was giving her the most. I genuinely would have gone far with her in the game, and I kind of talked to her about that, so that’s kind of puzzling to me why she decided to vote to keep Kimo when he really did not care for her from the get go. He never talked game with her, and I told her as much, so that confuses me. But her gameplay has been puzzling all season, so in some ways I should be surprised.

That was prompted out of me, by the way. I wasn’t just an ass in the diary room and just brought it up. I was asked for comparisons of who I was. I just want to put that out there. But go ahead.

Well Julie Chen Moonves told us she agrees with you, at least. Was that strategy of losing all the competitions something you planned on before entering the house? Did your plans change at all once you were in the game?

I feel like once I realized how genuinely bad I was going to be in the competitions, I realized that that’s kind of what I had to go with and try to kind of seem weak — weaker than I was, at least. So I acted like I had no clue what was going on, that I didn’t really care about the show or whatever, which oftentimes was kind of authentic. I’ve not liked super fans in the past who’ve constantly referenced the show while they’re in there. It’s just like, “Hey, be in the moment when you’re there. Don’t focus on other seasons.” So it was kind of easy for me in that regard. The one thing I didn’t realize until, honestly, I went to bed last night is I feel like that game works better when there’s less people. Because on Dr. Will’s season there were only 12 people. On [Big Brother 10 winner Dan Gheesling’s], there were only 13, so you can get away with it for six or seven people and then you’re at the end. With me, I got away with this six or seven people and we only started to hit jury. So I think that part of it I didn’t really foresee, but also I don’t know if it was the best move for certain people to get me out, and it seemed like it was close.

Did the A.I. Arena twist throw you as well?

It screwed me over completely, literally. I thought it was a good twist from a fan perspective, but I feel like seven evictions is way too much. I feel like they should have done five evictions and a jury of nine, especially with such a good cast. But obviously they’re cheap and want to save on money, so they don’t want to add more people to the jury. So I think that once you get down to 10 people and you’re nominating almost half the damn house … Let’s say it was just two nominees: There’s no way I would’ve ever been on the block because Angela would’ve been on there with Kimo or Rubina and the replacement on would’ve been a Kimo or Rubina. I feel like it took a litany of things to even get me on there, so obviously I feel like it screwed me over. But also from a fan perspective, I thought it lasted too long. I was very upset that I never actually got to play real Big Brother.

Between expectation and reality of being on the show, what surprised you the most?

As a super fan, I knew a lot of what was to be expected: the downtime, you always hear people talk about that and the sleep deprivation. But it’s different once you’re in there. It’s so intense. It’s so much. On the second day I wanted to quit, legitimately, for two hours. I was like, “This is horrible.” I knew from day two that I’d have to backstab Matt because he was so just all over the place. I wouldn’t be able to work with him, and I felt really bad about that. I knew he was genuinely such a good person. And so that kind of moral conflict … I woke up one morning, I was like, “You literally have to be a sociopath to play this game in a way that’s supposed to be played.” You know what I mean? Because you really do have to compartmentalize, and it makes sense to me now why players in the past have to find certain flaws with people’s personality to justify what they did. Otherwise you would not be able to handle it. You’d drive yourself crazy. So that, I did not expect the moral conflict of it all to really affect me as much as it did.

I don’t think any cast has cried on eviction nights as much as this one.

I was crying a bunch. I thought I was going to be cold as [Survivor winner Tyson Apostol,] but I was blubbering all the time.

So who is being the best “sociopath,” and who are you rooting for now that you’re out of the house?

Chelsie is playing the best game by far. She’s been the best player since day one, day two, and I knew it from the get go. That’s why I was almost — in some senses — too obsessed with getting her out, because I saw it from the get go and that’s why I wanted to work with her. I meant it when I said “We could just steamroll these people if you and me just stick together.” To say I’m necessarily “rooting” for her … She wasn’t my favorite to live with in the house. I thought she could be pretty mean and judgmental. Sometimes she drinks a lot of haterade, so “rooting”… I wouldn’t say that. But game recognizes the game. I think she’s the best player. Who am I rooting for? Probably Leah. Or Quinn. Even though he screwed me over and his move to put me up was idiotic in so many ways, but whatever. He’s a super fan. So I guess I want him to win. I don’t really care, to be honest.

You were pretty blunt with Angela about her chances of staying in the house if she was still on the block this week, and then had to reassess that conversation after she was taken down and you were put up. And you tried to frame conversations with Chelsie by saying you were playing similar games, but she interpreted that as you seeing her as a threat…

To be honest with you, I feel like with the Angela thing … I feel like she just took it the wrong way, to be honest with you. If I would really look at it, I feel like it was a very delicate conversation I had with her and a lot of advice I gave her is advice I’ve given to myself. Like, going out of the house, I don’t think anything I said to her was that crazy. The fact that she mentioned it … That’s just been her the whole season. She just takes little things and recontextualizes it in her own way. She’s super delusional as far as the game goes. And the thing with Chelsie, it’s like me and her have seen each other as threats from the get go. You know what I mean? This isn’t new information. I’m telling her literally on day three, me and her looked at each other and we’re like, “Oh, we’re playing the same game.”

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