'Big Brother 10''s Jerry MacDonald: EW's exit interview | EW.com
EW.com talked to Jerry MacDonald, the 75-year-old great-grandpa from Texas, about feeling lonely in the house, fighting with Dan, and how he didn’t really touch April’s boobs in the beginning of the season. (When you're done reading, click here for Josh Wolk's hilarious recap of last night's episode.)
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How many seasons of Big Brother have you watched? More importantly, why watch Big Brother than say, C-SPAN or The History Channel?
JERRY MACDONALD: I’ve seen every season. I like the challenge of Big Brother, the excitement of it. I like to see people go at it, people who use their brains and their hearts to play the game.
How much were you sure that Dan would take you to the final 2? Were you 50 percent sure? 100 percent sure?
None, because of his relationship with Memphis. I knew I was out because Memphis returned two shirts I had given him that my daughter had sent to me. They were a little big so to test the waters, I gave them to Memphis. He wouldn’t try them on. Just before the vote, he brought them back to me and told me to give them to my son-in-law. That was a signal that he and Dan had made a deal.
Maybe he just didn’t like the shirts.
They were nice, expensive shirts. They were brand new.
Let’s be honest, though -- for a good while in the house, you didn’t seem to like Dan at all and yelled at him constantly.
I don’t think he was friendly. He played a pretty nasty game over all, not just with me, but with other people. He’s not too well liked among the jury.
After the jump, Jerry talks about calling Dan "Judas," wearing his military hat, and touching April's boobs...
You called Dan "Judas," which means Jessie would have been Jesus. Why the biblical references? Why didn’t you just call him a miserable little putz and call it a day?
He was using religion. He kept saying if he confesses, all will be forgiven. He kept pushing the Bible thing so heavy, so I used Bible references. I think Dan’s a bright young man who is arrogant. And I think he needs to grow up. He’s like a child -- rather, I think he’s a grandchild.
You lost your temper a lot in the house. Do you usually behave that way at home or was it just these kids who set you off?
I was never as mad in the inside as I appeared on the outside. Whenever I’d walk away from a fight, you could see me smiling. I knew what I was doing.
Big Brother watchers say the Jerry we saw in primetime was much different than the Jerry we saw on the Internet. How would you describe your behavior in the house?
I was really polite to everyone. When someone won a competition I complimented them. When someone got nominated I shook their hand. I never really got nasty or mean about anything. The only time I really had a confrontation was with Dan and Memphis and when I suggested to Memphis that he was a womanizer. He told me he was going to become my biggest nightmare. I looked up to him and said, "I don’t think so." I don’t fear people.
Were you lonely? We often saw you wandering alone. Would people talk to you?
I played the game alone. It seemed like people were afraid to align to me. I had to zig-zag alone through there. Everybody I tried to make a deal with broke their word to me right up to the end. To get this far under those circumstances was quite amazing.
A lot was made out of the fact that you were the oldest person ever to play Big Brother. Why on earth would a mature man like you want to hang out with a bunch of 20-something knuckleheads?
It doesn’t matter whether they were 20 or 30. I wanted to do it for myself. I like the challenge. I was in sales and marketing for 38 years. I like games. I can carry my weight. I’m healthy and strong to mentally compete. I thought I did a pretty good job. Of course, if I had won the money I would have found something to spend it on.
You touched April’s boobs in the first week. Dude, explain yourself.
You know, that wasn’t me touching her boobs. That was her walking into my hands. That’s exactly what happened. She started walking up to me and pushed them into me to show that they were real so I put my hands up to protect myself.
That’s pretty funny, Jerry.
I meant it to be.
You talked a lot about bringing honor to the Corps. Jerry, really: How does appearing on a cheesy reality show where women run around in bikinis bring honor to the Corps?
That has nothing to do with bringing honor to the Corps. I wore my military hat and things like that to bring honor to the troops serving in our country. Because of them we remain free. The game has nothing to do with that.
You told Julie that this was your last hurrah. That’s so...depressing. If anything, shouldn’t this empower you? Why not do Survivor or The Amazing Race now?
You know, I may just try that, if I get home and get in better shape. Half the people on those shows self-destruct early. I could just lie down, act passive and probably get halfway through doing nothing. I may just do it.