We start off with the show’s first ever champion.
“My show was like watching f—ing paint drying, man.
My show was boring.
Eddie McGee on ‘Big Brother’ season 1.LUCY NICHOLSON/AFP via Getty Images
It was f—ing terrible, from what I heard.
I don’t know.
I never watched it.”
Eddie McGee on ‘Big Brother’ season 1.LUCY NICHOLSON/AFP via Getty Images
EDDIE McGEE:I’ve been acting in film and television since I got off.
Most recently I got a small recurring role on Fox’s9-1-1show.
I playJennifer Love Hewitt’s therapist on it.
The cast of ‘Big Brother’ season 1.LUCY NICHOLSON/AFP/Getty Images
I’ve done a couple episodes for them on the show, which is fantastic.
I just taped a pilot for a show calledEddie’s.
It’s kind of like a modern-dayCheers, starring me and George Wendt, who was Norm onCheers.
Eddie McGee on ‘Big Brother’ season 1.LUCY NICHOLSON/AFP/Getty Images
The next project I have coming out is calledThe Creepy School Bus.
We’ve been doing these little horror stories.
Our targeted audience is middle school and high school kids.
It’s kind of like aGooniesmeetsAliens.
TheCreepy School Busaudiobook comes out later this year.
It’s actually going to be in every school library in the country.
Besides winning, what is your proudest moment from playingBig Brother?
I was the same person from the day I went in until the day I got out.
What is your biggest regret from yourBig Brotherexperience in terms of anything that happened in the house?
When I went into the house, my grandmother was sick with cancer.
So I do regret that.
I do regret not being there for her and for my mom and for my brother.
That is the only regret I have.
What are your thoughts about how you were portrayed on the data pipe episodes of the show?
I never watched my show, never mind somebody else’s f—ing show.
My show was like watching f—ing paint drying, man.
My show was boring.
It was f—ing terrible, from what I heard.
I don’t know.
I never watched it.
I go, “No, I lived it!”
If there was an argument, well, I know what happened because I was f—ing there.
And if they were talking behind my back, I don’t give a s—.
Endemol was the production company.
They came over from the Netherlands and executed it the way they did in Europe.
We sat around the table one night.
They were going around, “So why are you here?”
And guys were saying, “Well, I’m here for the experience.”
And it got to me, I go, “Look, I’m 21-years-old, man.
There’s $500,000 at the end of this game.
If you get in my way, I’ll cut your f—ing throat.”
The people in the house did not like that, and they started putting me up.
The first two, I squeaked by.
Other than that, I was on the block.
I was packing my bags every f—ing week to get kicked out.
But again, I knew I didn’t need to c’mon the people in the house.
I was just honest.
I was a wheelchair basketball player.
I was just a competitive guy.
That’s what I was f—ing there for.
I was super comfortable.
The producers that we had to speak to on the other side were super cool.
It was brand f—ing new for them, and brand f—king new for us.
If there was anything I wanted to express or vent about or something, they were there.
The producers over there on my season were fantastic.
I can’t say enough about them.
What was it like coming back to regular society after being in the house?
Was there culture shock or an adjustment coming back?
There was a song that came out by 3 Doors Down called"Kryptonite.
“Apparently, it was a big hit that summer.
We went into the house.
We didn’t have s—.
And I remember playing it over and over again.
And my friends were like, “That song is so played out!”
And I’d be like, “Yeah, what’s up, dude?”
“Hey man, how’s your mom?
How’s your brother?”
I’m like, “Do I know this f—ing guy?
He’s asking me about my brother.
He’s asking me about my mother.
He’s asking me how my friends are.”
It’s literally like going to high school with half the country.
Because I’m a 6-foot-3 guy with one leg, walking down a city block.
you’re able to see me from miles away.
Oh, and I got a cell phone.
I’d never had a cell phone.
I had a beeper before I went into the house.
But then when I came out, I got a cell phone.
I have the acting career I have now because of it.
I will never deny where I’m from, and I know I come from reality TV.
I wanted to be an actor since I was like 5 years old.
Then I lost my leg to cancer when I was 11.
I was a broadcasting major and a theater minor.
And I was going to go into broadcasting.
I was hopefully going to get a job on a Long Island radio station.
I said, “Well, this wouldn’t be a bad life.
Get paid to listen to AC/DC and tell you about traffic on the 495.
That doesn’t sound terrible.”
Can I get you on my short?”
So I did like three or four short films in college, and thenBig Brotherhappened.
And then when I came off, I wound up getting an agent in New York.
And I’ve been happily working in television since, which is great.
Whom do you still talk, text, or email with the most from your season?
Brittany Petros and I are super close.
I talk to her all the time.
That’s it, though.
She’s the only one I talk to.
Going into the show, Brittany was actually the first girl that I actually loved unconditionally.
I saw her, and there was something about her, and I was like, “Come here.
I want to just love you and protect you and take care of you.”
I’d never loved a girl like that before.
It was interesting for me.
Who’s one player from anotherBig Brotherseason you wish you could have played with or against, and why?
I met the second guy who won, Will Kirby.
I bumped into him in a supermarket about two years ago.
He’s like, “Eddie?”
And I looked at him.
I was like, “Oh yeah.”
He was familiar to me, because he was the next guy and he was pretty popular.
But we wound up bulls—-ing and taking a photo.
Those were the only two I really met.
If you could make one change to any aspect ofBig Brother, what would it be and why?
More money, baby!
What did you do with your prize money from winning the game?
So to win the half a mil was great.
I got out of the house, and a week later CBS sent the check for $500,000.
Super f—ing cool to open up the mail and get a check for 500K.
And I threw it right in the bank.
I was making like $103 a day in interest.
We’re going to go buy fishing gear.
We’re going to buy shoes.
We’re going to go to dinner.
What the f— am I going to blow $103 that’s not mine anyway?"
My uncle Mike was a banker over at Citibank, and he referred me to a broker.
They brought him back with the paddles, whole nine yards.
So the massive heart attack wound up putting in a pacemaker-defibrillator in him.
I paid off my parents' house, and everybody’s fine now.
They can breathe a little easier now, and the house is paid off.
I’m 43 now.
Trust me, $4 million in a few years sounds f—ing wonderful.
[Laughs]
Finally, would you play again if asked?
No f—ing way.
They asked me a few times and I politely declined.
I go in there, I know I’m a dead man.
I’m first one out.
There’s no doubt about it.
So I’ll do it, but I got to get $100,000 up front.
I know goddamn well they’re going to kick my ass out right away.
And I tell you, it’s all different now.
F— that.
We never did any of that.
We didn’t know about any of that s— with alliances.
Because they let the viewers play God, basically.
They got to say who stays and goes.
