Our fourth entry is with the season 10 winner wholater staged his own on-air funeral.
(Also confirm to check out our Q&As withEddie McGee,Derrick Levasseur, andJun Song.)
Dan Gheesling’sBig Brothercareer did not begin well.
Dan Gheesling on ‘Big Brother’.Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images
Which is what makes what happened next so shocking.
Dan went on to win that season in dominant fashion, beating Memphis Garrett in a unanimous 7-0 vote.
DAN GHEESLING:I am 100% a family man now.
Ian Terry, Julie Chen Moonves, and Dan Gheesling on CBS' ‘Big Brother’.Sonja Flemming/CBS
I have a five-year-old boy, four-year-old boy, and then a six-month-old girl.
And so any free time I have, I venture to free up to spend with them.
Me and my wife are just enjoying raising a house full of young kids.
Dan Gheesling on ‘Big Brother’.Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images
Outside of that, I’m back into coaching football and then stillrunning my Twitch showfive days a week.
Besides winning, what is your proudest moment from playingBig Brother?
The first time I was on the show, I was really a fish out of water.
Dan Gheesling on ‘Big Brother’.John P. Filo/CBS
Through that first season, I learned a lot about interacting with people and really gaining some confidence.
Playing twice, I really feel like I don’t regret anything.
I made the most of every moment.
But there is one just an absolute off the wall regret.
And that’s my biggest regret.
I just would’ve liked to have seen how that thing played out, but we never did it.
I know a lot of people say, “What about the jury segment in season 14?”
It was what it was.
I don’t regret anything.
And so I don’t really have any regrets and I’m really at peace with both experiences.
I guess it helps when you get first and second to be at peace with it.
What are your thoughts about how you were portrayed on the web link episodes of the show?
I was always aware of that on the show.
So, because of that, I don’t have a problem with how I was portrayed.
And at the end of the day, it’s a TV show.
So they have to have good guys and they have to have bad guys.
So I don’t have any problem with that.
Some people may say I got a good edit.
I would just say it’s an accurate edit.
What are your feelings on the Diary Room and the interviews you would do in there?
It’s such a unique experience because you get to know the voices.
You don’t know who they are, but you have a general tone of who they are.
My take on the Diary Room is that they’ve got to make a show.
Things like that, I understand, in terms of being able to make an entertaining show.
But, ultimately, you have to make your own decisions in the game.
You’re a human.
You’re your own individual.
You make the decisions at the end of the day.
What was it like coming back to regular society after being in the house?
Was there culture shock or an adjustment coming back?
For me, that’s always the hardest part ofBig Brother.It’s not playing the game.
It’s not maneuvering in the game.
It’s the decompression after the season.
After the first season, I’m like, “Okay, I’ve been through this once.
I know how to expect the decompression.”
But after the second season, I think it wasmoreof a struggle than the first season for me.
There are just so many facets to it.
One, you’re cut off from everyone you care about.
When I play that game, I literally shut my emotions down.
So when I get back into real life, you don’t just turn them back on.
It’s like a slow drip.
So that was always a hard part for me.
For someone like me, I consider myself the average person.
Because it’s different thanSurvivoror shows that air real time.
It’s just a lot to digest.
And so I will always say the hardest part is that decompression.
And I think it’s a couple things.
Because once you leave that bubble of online and social media, no one really cares.
And I think the faster it’s possible for you to realize that, the easier it will be.
And people can get into situations where people are still talking about their season years later.
For me, it was always a childhood dream to go on.
And then seeingBig Brotherand being, “I’d love to do this.”
And then to have that dream realized, it’s pretty cool.
I’ve never regretted any of it.
It’s impacted my life tremendously in a lot of different ways.
Whom do you still talk, text, or email with the most from your seasons?
I still speak with Memphis.
He just got married.
Outside of that, around whenBig Brotherstarts, Britney Haynes and I will start chirping a little bit.
She’ll send me just gold commentary, absolutely what you would expect from Britney Haynes.
She doesn’t do it publicly, but she’ll text it to me.
So I’ll text with her and then Janelle a little bit.
And they’re not of the age to watchBig Brother.
So I don’t watch a ton.
If something big happens, I stay informed through Twitter and social media.
It was a little nostalgic to watch theAll-Starsseason just to see Memphis.
Before that, I think the last full season I watched was season 20 with Tyler.
I also found that to be a very landmark season.
I think you look at how Tyler played.
He upset some people, but was not malicious, didn’t embarrass anyone, that kind of stuff.
I just don’t think you’re able to win the game that way anymore.
And it’s been proven over time that juries are not rewarding that bang out of gameplay anymore.
I don’t have any feelings on it.
It is what it is.
So if you’re playing now, that’s the landscape.
you gotta adapt to it.
So it’s possible for you to’t cry over how the game’s being played.
You either adapt to it or you will continue to lose.
Who’s one player from anotherBig Brotherseason you wish you could have played with or against and why?
My thought immediately goes to personalities that I think would be fun to be around.
I was always geeked on season 14.
So I’d say anyone from that earlyAll-Starsera.
I think it would be fun to play with Will, but it’ll never happen.
If you could make one change to any aspect ofBig Brother, what would it be and why?
I would go one season back to basics, zero twists.
And I know that the executives wouldn’t approve that or anything like that.
I just feel like that could be really, really interesting.
And just see how it plays out, one season where it’s vanilla and see what happens.
Because, to me, the most interesting part ofBig Brotherare the people and the interactions between the people.
Selfishly, I’d like to see what a vanilla no twist season would look like.
What did you do with your prize money from winning the game?
I was still living at home and that’s all I bought, and then I invested the rest.
And I’m like, “It’s the first thing I ever bought!”
Finally, would you play again if asked?
For me, it’s a non-option for a couple of reasons.
The number one reason is my family.
I’m starting to realize when people say it goes by fast, I can already feel that.
And to be gone from my three kids for three months, I couldn’t do that.
At the same time, when I say I couldn’t, there’s a price tag on everything.
So I just don’t see that happening ever.
If we were to boil it down to like two points, one is my family.
Both times, I was willing to do whatever it took.
I was like training before the season.
And I can tell you right now, I don’t have that passion to play right now.
I don’t really have an incentive to play.
I don’t have that drive to play the game.
I just don’t.
I like to compete in other things, butBig Brother, I just don’t have that.
I feel like I’m done.
