Anthony, Lexus review their distinctly different Big Brother Canada starring performances

By John Powell – GlobalTV.com

They won’t be going home any gold statuettes but their performances made for an unforgettable Big Brother Canada season. Anthony Douglas, the audacious All-Star and Lexus Jackson, the resilient rookie, reached the season 12 finale by playing very different games.

Enjoying freedom for the first time in 69 days Anthony and Lexus has a lot to say as they reflected on Big Brother Canada’s blockbuster of a season.

John Powell: Anthony, Lexus, it’s great to be talking to you. How are you both feeling today?

Lexus: Feeling good!

Anthony: Feeling great! Definitely a new day and happy to be out of the house!

John Powell: Anthony, congratulations on making the finals for the second time! You must be really proud of how you played.

Anthony Douglas: Thank you very much! I am very proud of how I played! I feel like I played it to the best of my ability. I learned a lot from my past season that I tried to implement in this one. I feel like I did a great job.

John Powell: Lexus, were you surprised that the guy sitting next to you didn’t take you to the finals with him?

Lexus Jackson: Yeah, I was pretty shocked in that moment! I had been praying for days that Anthony would win that final HoH. I thought it would be a win for the both of us but I’m not going to hold any resentment. I’m a woman of grace.

John Powell: Anthony, what was your thought process in taking Bayleigh over Lexus?

Anthony Douglas: Leading up to it, I was planning on evicting Bayleigh but the more I thought about it the more it worried me who was on the jury. I felt that because of the Hot Chocolate alliance and the constant conversations that I heard of not just a woman winning this season but a person of colour winning this season I figured that’s an automatic three votes. It just seemed like I would lose 100 per cent to Lexus because I thought she played a much better game than Bailey.

Looking at the optics of what’s the best situation for me, to actually win this game, I felt as if I had a better shot against Bayleigh. It was an absolutely heartbreaking decision and it really hurts that I had to betray one of my best friends. It’s a very difficult game. At the end of the day, it’s just a game. I love her to death.

John Powell: Lexus, despite your bond with him you didn’t vote for Anthony to win. Was that a little ‘get back’ on your part for him not choosing you?

Lexus Jackson: Maybe in the moment. (laughs) I walked out of those doors after getting evicted and I did think I’m still going to vote for him even if the jury is not on his side. I still felt maybe I would. There were a lot of split decisions, last minute things running through my head and I made the decision that I made.

John Powell: Anthony, looking back at the finale do you think it was poor jury management on your part or a ‘hurt’, ‘bitter’ jury that factored into your loss?

Anthony Douglas: I think it was a combination. I think that whichever way you decide to look at it and break it down it does come down to jury management.

Now, the people that were on the jury, I feel were very bitter about being sent home. That is understandable. Nobody wants to get evicted and nobody just wants to go ahead and vote for someone who evicted them.

I feel like the jury being upset with me was a huge contribution towards why they didn’t vote for me, which is understandable. It’s kind of like one of those things where you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t play the game the way it’s designed. While you’re a backstabber and a betrayer you are also one hell of a Big Brother player and some people appreciate that. Super fans appreciate it. The people who enjoy the show appreciate it but other people don’t. I feel like the people on the jury had a very similar perspective on who they wanted to win and what they appreciated in terms of the knowledge they had of the game.

John Powell: Did you get to speak to the jury and hear from them afterwards?

Anthony Douglas: What I’m sure of is that when Spicy Vee was evicted she just went to jury and did everything in her power to sewer my game. I thought that Victoria was a game player but she’s clearly not. I just think that she just went to jury lied about tons of things that she had been lying about the entire game.

I feel like the houseguests confirmed that last night when we spoke. She basically went there and just told them a whole bunch of nonsense. At the end of the day, she did her job right. I took her out and she was upset with that because she is a bitter. She just wanted to make sure that another All Star didn’t win.

John Powell: Lexus, I am going to give you the opportunity you never had. What would have been your argument to the jury?

Lexus Jackson: I really just would have emphasized how I came into this game, not really knowing the game too well. I came into the game very much myself which is a reserved and introverted individual. I was put into a house with people who have very outgoing, bubbly and loud personalities. I didn’t really know how or where it was going to fit in.

I’m sure people have seen that I didn’t really fit in with many people. I was very much kind of on my own or if I found one person I was comfortable that’s who I stuck to. I really just would have said I navigated a lot of this game on my own and got through it by being myself and using my introverted identity as a strength opposed to a weakness.

John Powell: Anthony, when Bayleigh gave her final speech she essentially torpedoed your game when she brought up the issue of loyalty. That was the heart of her argument. What do you think about that?

Anthony Douglas: I think that she was on the low end of the totem pole with the girls, especially those who were in Hot Chocolate. I think that she was dragged along for the most part. She had no choice but to be loyal even though they weren’t necessarily the most loyal to her. She was a third and fourth option to every single person.

When you look at it that way her argument of being loyal is correct. She was loyal to them. She had no choice but to be loyal to them, whereas they were not loyal to her. It was a great argument because I know the majority of them do know the fact that she was loyal to them but they were not loyal to her.

John Powell: Anthony, what is your reaction to the things Spicy has had to say? She did call you “trash” numerous times.

Anthony Douglas: I have no hate towards Victoria. They put two players into the house and they called us All Stars. I was brought back because I’m a strategic game player who went very far in my season. She was brought back because she’s a personality.

I think that with all the lies that she was telling in the house, and actually believing them herself, I feel like she really exposed the type of player that she is.

I have no hate or resentment towards her. I know she wanted to see me in the jury too but the fact of the matter is I haven’t touched the block. I’ve never been nominated and set a North American record for amount of time not touching the block. Victoria set a record for a houseguest who spent the most amount of time in jury so you can see the difference between a real All Star and just a regular veteran player.

John Powell: Lexus, what did you learn about yourself and others in the Big Brother house?

Lexus Jackson: It gave me a lot of reassurance of who I am because sometimes I am a bit unconventional based on the way I am perceived and the way I put myself out there. It’s just give me a lot of reassurance that I am the way I am for the reasons that I am. What Anthony did to me is exactly why I behave the way that I do. I’m very guarded and I need to observe situations and feel that I can be safe in those environments and then I flourish and then I open myself up. If I don’t feel that way that person is not going to get the full version of me and I don’t think everyone deserves the full version of who I am.

John Powell: Anthony, you played the game twice now. What did you learn?

Anthony Douglas: I learned a lot about myself. The circumstances of my life going into this game were far different than they were last time. I still managed to put on a face every day and play the game. I had a lot of breaks. I had to sit in the washroom with my tears but I felt extremely supported inside of that house, which is very difficult to explain unless you played the game but I made family members while being inside of that house. I am so very happy with the people that I met. This entire experience was a wonderful journey for me.