Alright so I actually don't really know who I want to vote at the moment, so I will ask you both questions.

Nathan, why did you take Brad over Ryan when you had a much better shot at beating him over Brad?

Brad, Unlike most of the other Jurors, I feel that you did not have direct control over Nathan, Ryan and me, I felt that we were all playing our own games respectfully. Do you agree with this?

@Craig

Nathan, why did you take Brad over Ryan when you had a much better shot at beating him over Brad?

I took Brad to the final 2 for a few reasons.
- I had told myself day 1 that Brad would be my #1, and I would never screw him over.
- while I did feel like the jury would respect me getting brad out, I think Ryan had just a great a shot of beating me. He played loyal and got out huge targets even after he told nearly everyone that he would target them and the STILL kept him.
- I truly wanted the jury to decide which game they respected more and deserved to win - someone who played more socially than physically, or someone who played more aggressive and dominated comps

@Craig

Thank you for the question. I’ll answer all 3 individually, but on the whole, I’d say that I saw all 3 of you as my equals throughout the game. I never saw any of you three as people I was directly controlling or people that I was trying to throw to the dogs. What I do believe though is that I had quite a bit of INFLUENCE in a lot of the decisions being made.

Craig – I think before our call during the endurance comp, you saw yourself as being at the bottom of your alliance but felt a bit stuck. Our conversation meant you felt a bit more comfortable flipping to our side. While it got you out of the game the next round, it’s the risky gameplay I admire. I feel that you got a bit unlucky with who won the next HOH but had you of not flipped I think you would’ve been out a few days after anyway. I see myself as having quite a bit of influence on your decision to flip, but I don't think it was to the personal expense of your game.

Ryan – I saw Ryan as a very loyal ally, someone I could rely on in this game and somebody who I knew had my back. Every-time he won HOH he made his own decision and I respected that about his game. I felt very safe with Ryan and that we could have discussions which would stay between us. It always benefited my personal game to have Ryan though, because not only was he extremely loyal to me, but he also had burned bridges with a lot of the other players who I wanted to target/who would ultimately be on the jury.

Nathan – Again, with Nathan I don’t feel that I had direct control over him as such, but I think I had influence on some of his decisions. I’m not sure exactly how things would’ve played out if Jake had stayed in the game, but I do think encouraging Nathan to veto Eoin that week was mainly beneficial to MY game, as it put me in good graces with both Eoin and Ben while also getting my personal biggest target out. I think Nathan allowing Ben to stay in the game another week was riskier for him. I hugely commend Nathan’s physical game though because it was mainly due to him being a beast in comps that I could get those people to go home – so once again I saw our strengths as lying-in different places, but I do think I had quite strong influence on his decisions.

I hope that answers your question.

Even not taking emotions into play, brad wasnt evicted, you were

Every move you made, seemed like a move to strengthen brads game and not your own

Congrats on Final 2 guys, you both played amazing games, but i have a question to the both of you. Just some basic questions.

Nathan - What were some of the biggest moves you made and if they benefited you then how? Also, i do feel like you'd have a greater shot at beating me if you brought me to the final two, but with your own words can you tell me why you evicted me specifically and why you brought Darbe despite me giving you valid points.

Darbe - So I heard my name was brought up Week 2 as a nomination, I'd just like to know who threw my name out there as a potential nominee. Also, I'd like to know what were some of the smartest and riskiest moves you made while you weren't power. And why do you deserve my jury vote?

Hey guys! I want to congratulate both of you for making it to the final 2, and let you know that I am genuinely happy with the way this game is ending. I do think that my mind has been made up, but there's always some room for change :)

Nathan- Your chances of winning appear to be rather bleak right at this moment. I have a quite simple question. You're saying that both of you deserve the win equally, but who do you think deserves it more? You must have some kind of opinion, unless it's literally 50/50 in your mind, which I doubt.

Brad- You went through a rough patch during the first half of the season, and it did seem that you hit rock bottom during Nathan’s elimination. I would like to know how you would have carried your game if production had not gone wild and had not decided to bring back the jury battleback twist for the first time in ten seasons.

Question to both of you, just out of curiosity :p Were you guys genuinely trying to keep me during my eviction night, or was saving ryan the plan from the beginning, since it was arguably the better strategic move for your game?

@Eoin

Even not taking emotions into play, brad wasnt evicted, you were

Every move you made, seemed like a move to strengthen brads game and not your own

- You are absolutely right. I did take a tumble in this game. However, I was able to not only get back on my feet, I sprinted to the finish line. I think my path to the end was much more difficult than Brad's because of his past relationships in this game. He had you & Ben on the opposite side of the house, while it felt like I really only had him and Jake.

- As I stated a few times, I always wanted to take Brad to the end of this game. But I knew that if I took him there, I was going to need a lengthy resume. I feel like I accomplished many things in this game, and while Brad did too, we both did different things in this game to get us to the end.

@Ryan

I think my biggest move in this game was using the veto on Eoin and not Jake, and here's why. Whether it garnered trust with Eoin or not, I had made a promise to him that if I had power later in the game, I would use it to his benefit. Even before Brad asked me to use the veto on Eoin, I was leaning that way because Jake was 100% the glue that kept the opposite side of the house together. Jake was also really only targeting my #1 ally, and I knew that if I could give a little by getting out Jake, when the time came, Brad would be more comfortable getting out someone like Ben or Eoin, who he had prior relationships with, as well. I've played BB before where people always kept targets  bigger than themselves in the game this late, and it always results in pawns going home. I knew this was the moment to strike, and one by one the other side of the house went home. It was a move that got out the biggest threat in the game, but also set me up for the next few eliminations.

- Also, I think a subtle move that really impacted my game was my strength. From the first week, people knew that I was strong. I started using this to my advantaged very early in the game. It was easier for people to believe I could keep my end of the deal because I had a good chance at winning power. Also, I wanted those on the block to feel comfortable with me, and let them know that I'd be happy to play for them in veto. Would I have used the veto on them? More than likely, yes, but this was my way of making sure I got to play in the veto almost every chance I could.

- I evicted you because oh the clean game you played, Ryan. Literally at final 10 you told Adam and Kat you were going to nominate them, and you made it very clear that you were out for blood if you stayed in the house. Everyone underestimated you and decided to evict me and Craig against you, but you literally came back and won 2 very important HOHs and 2 vetoes that were arguably the most important of the season. You were able to get Eoin, Ben, and Adam out of this game, and you did so by remaining loyal. I think your chances at the final 2 would've outweighed mine, because you played a much cleaner game than I did. You made very valid points on why I should evict Brad, but I don't discredit your game for a second - you were a threat to win and I stand by my decision because I made a promise to Brad Day 1.

@Hong

Nathan- Your chances of winning appear to be rather bleak right at this moment. I have a quite simple question. You're saying that both of you deserve the win equally, but who do you think deserves it more? You must have some kind of opinion, unless it's literally 50/50 in your mind, which I doubt.

Hi Hong! Yes, it does seem that the jury respects Brad's game more than mine. That was something I struggled with in deciding who to take to the end. But do I think he deserves it more than me? Absolutely not.

Without me in this game, I don't think Brad would be able to have this resume he has built. The FF that followed after my eviction was a disaster for Brad. Both of his targets stayed in the game, and he wasn't able to play in the next HOH. More than likely, Brad was going to follow Kat out the door.

My return to the game is the sole reason this house flipped upside down. Not only did I come back with two people I trusted completely, I was able to win very crucial comps that allowed me to take those I was loyal to as far in the game as we could go. I had my back against the wall week 1 because of how few people I knew, so to make it as far as I did the first time was that in itself. But to come back in this game and really take control of it, I would say makes me a deserving winner.

@Ryan

Thank you, Ryan, I appreciate it.

1)        During Week 2, I’d been told by Eoin that nominating either you or Craig against Jake would’ve been a good way to isolate votes and that you guys were working with them (which at the time I was unaware of). Eoin and Matte both told me you and Craig were best friends outside the game also, and I remember Nathan being quite scared of you and Craig as a duo also. So yeah, I don’t think anybody was actively pushing for you to go home or anything, but when discussing options, your name had been brought up a few times by different people.

2)        I think I made quite a lot of big moves this season, but I’ll highlight the 2 moves that I think were most impressive and were the reason I deserve to win

-        A) Getting you and Craig to flip on your alliance – During the HOH competition, I stayed on a call with Craig for 7 hours where we went from being enemies in this game, to suddenly being a strong alliance where we told each other our game-plan and he told me about his sunset power. I told him I would be happy for Ryan to win HOH and that I would drop out because I trusted you both. I also warned him of the hierarchy in Jake’s alliance, which I think slowly turned him against Jake over the course of the next few days leading to the veto being used on me. Then, by saving you in the vote over my friend Hong, it meant you/Craig would be loyal to me going forward. This meant that when the other side won HOH the following week, the target was deflected away from me and Nathan and placed onto you and Craig. It then cemented our trust and bond which carried us to the end of the game!
-        B) Jake’s eviction – When Nathan won HOH, I thought there was no shot in hell he’d betray Jake. I knew he wanted Ben out, but I really wanted him to break up the Jake/Eoin duo. I told him nominating those two together would be the move that NEEDED to happen to change the course of the game, and then I would be happy to be involved in backdooring Ben if necessary. Once the nominees were locked, I told Nathan that if Eoin remains on the block he goes home. Taking him off the block would make Eoin trust us going forward as he feels vulnerable, whereas if Eoin stays on the block he goes home and both Ben/Jake stay in the game coming after us. When Nathan vetoed Eoin, it put me in a great position in the house. Eoin knew I was responsible for him being vetoed, which repaired our shaky relationship from my HOH reign. Ben knew I was the one campaigning for him to stay despite him being the target, which would keep him on my side. I then used Jake and Nathan’s fight as ammunition to make Nathan be unbothered if I targeted Jake instead of Ben, and also got Pickles to evict Jake at the very last minute (I’m not joking – it was literally ON the hour this happened). This move pushed me from being quite low on the totem pole and an easy target, to being in a position where I had strong allegiances with almost everybody in the game and didn’t feel worried about my position regardless of who won the next HOH.

^ In both of these weeks I did not have any power. They were all risky decisions I made.

Some other big moves I made would be the round I threw the veto to you in order to take out Ben and I would even say convincing Nathan to take me to the final 2 instead of you was quite a big move too.

3)        As for why you should vote for me, I think the moves I have mentioned are deserving of a win. In terms of getting YOUR jury vote, I would say that I was a loyal ally to you throughout this game and always wanted to create situations where we were BOTH safe, rather than just me (e.g., giving you vetoes instead of taking it for myself at f6 and you potentially going home). And also, I knew you hadn’t won a comp win before this group game, so on a person level I genuinely did want to help as much as possible to get you get those wins, and I was proud when you turned into a comp beast LOL. I would love to have your jury vote!

@Hong

Hey Hong! Thank you for the comments, good to hear!

1)        Nathan returning: This question is a really interesting one because Nathan returning was crazy and had a HUGE impact on my game at the time. I disagree with Nathan’s comments that I would’ve followed Kat out the door, however. After my 2nd HOH reign (i.e., the position I was in just before Nathan returned), I knew I’d secured strong trust with Ben because he knew how screwed he would’ve been if I had used him as a replacement nominee over Kat. I also had begun working on mending my relationship with both Eoin and Pickles before Nathan had returned anyway.

It’s very hard to give a concrete strategy of what I would’ve done because I always tried to be as adaptable as possible to the situation at hand but if Eoin/Ben had won HOH I probably would’ve encouraged them to go after the middle players. Adam wasn’t in a position where he needed HOH so I assumed he would not fight to get the blood on his hands. The only ‘bad’ scenario for me would’ve been if Jake had won HOH – but even then I think I had a strong case to make. I assume he would’ve nominated myself and Ryan, but then I would’ve used the angle of “You need someone in this game willing to take out Jake because I’m the only one left remaining willing to do it” to his alliance members. I know that all of Jake’s allies didn’t want to be seen as ‘playing Jake’s game’ so I would’ve definitely used that to my advantage going forward. I do think I had a fair shot with this strategy, because it was a similar tactic to the one that I used to get Ryan/Craig to flip to my side during the endurance competition.

Had there of been no battleback, I also would’ve tried way harder in the HOH competitions: as with Nathan in the game I was primarily concerned with helping him and Ryan do well.

So ultimately, I think I would’ve had a fair chance at doing well based on my social/physical game even if the battle-back had not happened, but I do believe Nathan returning and being a comp beast/loyal ally was one of the main reasons that I was able to get my way strategically in the jury stage of this game.

2)        Voting you out: I was being genuine to you when I told you I had went to Craig and told him Ryan going home was the better option. I wanted to find a situation where you stayed, and Craig remained aligned with us also. The problem was I had promised Craig that if he vetoed me. I would save Ryan, and if I betrayed that trust Craig would’ve likely flipped on me. Plus, I had a bad feeling that if me/Nathan saved you, the other alliance would have got rid of YOU – which would’ve forced Craig/Ryan to both work with their side again and lost me another ally. There was a lot of back and forth on what was the best option, as at the time we trusted you more than Ryan, but numbers were so important to us and at that point having 2 numbers on our side (Craig/Ryan) who were bigger targets than both me and Nathan at the time, seemed like the best strategy. You were somebody who was incredibly loyal to me and whose presence I really liked in the game, so I KNEW that the only way I would vote you out was if I had a gut feeling it would be the best thing for me long-term. I think it worked out for me!

thank you both for your explanations. :)

sits on stage with jake and eoin

Finale time !