Jumbotron engineer Barrett Pfeiffer has no regrets about his jumbo-sized game move that resulted in his ouster from the Big Brother house.
Last week when he was Head of Household, the Austin resident nominated all three reality TV icons for eviction: Dee Valladares, Rick Devens, and Angela Murray (who was eliminated). This week, the two Survivor legends made good on their threat to retaliate against Barrett — with a little help from their new allies, Taylor Brown and Yash Patel.
“I have never regretted for a second going after the icons,” Barrett tells Gold Derby shortly after his eviction on Thursday. After Dee betrayed the Mosh Pit alliance by going after Mallory Aurichio, “There was no trust there with me and Dee by the time I got to be HOH,” he confirms.
Also in our morning-after exit interview, Barrett explains why Drew Campbell is the most annoying houseguest, why he rushed out of the house without saying goodbye to anyone, and why Zingbot “better watch out” if they ever see each other on the street.
Gold Derby: Which houseguest annoyed you the most, and why?
Barrett Pfeiffer: Of the whole season? It’s a complicated question. I think someone like Drew is annoying in a really specific way. It’s probably Drew, and he’s not going to be surprised that I said this. Drew is somebody that in a game sense can get on your nerves, but also, you can’t have a conversation for more than five minutes without Drew entering it. Is it possible to talk about that guy behind his back? I was stuck in a competition for 13 hours with that guy just in the past week, and I can’t tell you how many times he annoyed me then. I love him to death, but yeah, Drew, hands down.
After you nominated the icons, Dee said you would regret that decision for the rest of your life. Was she right or wrong?
Oh, Dee is absolutely wrong. I have never regretted for a second going after the icons, and Dee is a big reason why I went after them in the first place. In her second HOH, she went against my own interest and not only went against the Mosh Pit alliance, but she nominated Mallory and sent Mallory packing and made a deal with Yash with the power that she didn’t even tell me about. So, no, there was no trust there with me and Dee by the time I got to be HOH. I don’t regret it for a second.
I would’ve looked like the idiot who followed the icons after all of that, especially with the deal that they made with Yash behind my back that I didn’t even know about until my HOH, when they collectively made the bribe together. Staying with them would’ve just been being another lapdog for them. And I wasn’t going to be somebody’s lapdog in this game. I would’ve rather taken the risk, put them all on the block and reformed my game to maybe get to the end. But bribes be bribes, $5,000 goes a long way in Yash’s mind and here I am.
What did you think of Zingbot’s personal attack against your looks?
You know what? Not everyone’s chest hair and nipples get zinged on national television, and I think Zingbot should check himself because he ain’t got any hair and I think he’s mainly just jealous. But no, I’m very proud of my chest hair and I think that Zingbot should definitely think twice before coming after me again. I love him. I was a big fan, but this was a very personal attack on me and I won’t forget it. So, Zingbot, if I see you on the street, you better watch out.
Tell us about rushing out of the house without saying goodbye to anyone.
Oh, dream come true. I don’t think you understand: 73 days really adds up. So, the second you were told that you don’t have to stay around any of these people anymore, sprinting out seems like the best option. I’ve said goodbye to them in my own way before then, whether they knew it or not. [Laughs.] They just voted me out. What am I going to do? Give them hugs and be like, “Thank you for this experience. Thank you for voting me out.” No, not going to do that. I’m out of there. I’ve got to go interview with Julie [Chen Moonves]. We’re on a tight schedule here, and I want to talk to Julie as much as possible.
Melody Morris, Drew Campbell, Mallory Aurichio, and Barrett Pfeiffer on ‘Big Brother 28‘CBS
Looking back on your entire BB28 journey, what were your favorite and least favorite moments in the house?
My favorite moments absolutely were getting to be in alliances, to have these moves. To scheme and plot is so exciting in the Big Brother house. To get with someone and say, “Hey, maybe we can flip this vote.” To go up to an HOH room and say, “I think we’re going to backdoor this person.” The forming of the Toolshed was really fun for me, even though it was at 5 in the morning. Being in these alliances and making moves in Big Brother and blindsiding people even, like the Haley [Thogmartin] vote, when Lyric [Medeiros] went out and everyone was like, “Where did those votes go? We’re a little confused.” All of that is so exciting, especially when you’re on the right side of it.
My least favorite moment, of course, was Mallory going home. That was the moment my entire game changed. That was the moment I probably cried the most. From then on, the game felt very, very different for me. The path going forward was going to be risky and rocky. And so, that was the moment I think that I would point to as my least favorite by far. But saying goodbye to anybody in that house is a least favorite moment, for sure.
Barrett is the third member of the BB28 jury, alongside Angela Murray and LaTrice “Lala” Verrett. The jury of seven will vote to decide the winner of the $750K grand prize on Oct. 1.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.