Big Brother: OTT: Julie Chen talks Alex, Whitney, double eviction

Each week, following her live Q&A with the houseguests and with the evicted guest, Big Brother host Julie Chen answers a few questions just for EW about the latest events in the house. Here, she talks about week 6, including thoughts on the double eviction and why it was important to reveal the election news to the houseguests.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: As the past few days have proven, you can’t predict what America is thinking! You thought Alex was going to go far and she was a strong Big Brother favorite. How surprised were you that America nominated and voted her out?

JULIE CHEN: I was very surprised America nominated and voted out Alex. Goes to show me to expect the unexpected. I am very curious to see who America DOES like, ’cause this season has me baffled.

Morgan had quite a few words to say to the Late Night Jamboree in her last-chance speech because she thought she’d be out the door next. It felt familiar, because last season Michelle attacked Nicole in her speech because she thought she’d be leaving. Using that speech as a way to vent: good idea or bad?

Making a speech where you “vent” and tell off your housemates is not necessarily a bad idea, because we have seen both Michelle and Morgan survive it! Maybe there’s a lesson here: The truth may hurt, but it doesn’t hurt the truth-tellers’ game!

Jason said one of the reasons he went after Morgan and Alex was because he didn’t like their disloyalty to their previous alliance members. But there are no rules in this game! How do you think players draw the line between a game move and a personal move?

Houseguests have very different ways of drawing the line between a game move and a personal move. Those who are smart gamers set their personal feelings aside and keep their eye on the prize (like when Danielle became HOH and said as much as she disliked Scott, she wasn’t targeting him… but due to circumstances like the care package and veto, etc., he ended up being evicted). But sometimes people act emotionally and make personal moves but just call it a “game move.” Sometimes I think they are lying to themselves, sometimes I think they know they’re lying… but are just trying to soften the blow in case the person they are targeting survives the week.

You revealed to the houseguests on Thursday that Donald Trump had won the presidential election. Like much of America, they were all shocked. Why was it important for them to find out this news even though they’re supposed to be isolated from the outside world?

We thought it would be fascinating to see how young Americans reacted to the news without the influence of watching or reading anything. They may just be the most genuine in their reactions out of any of us. They only have each other to be possibly influenced on what to make of it.

For more Big Brother: Over the Top, read our two recaps of week 6 plus our exit interviews with Alex Willett and Whitney Hogg.