'Big Brother' Winner Dan's Exit Interview

As I'm sure you all know, Dan won Big Brother 10 last night by a 7-0 vote. I was rooting for him all along, but wasn't sure he could pull it off. I certainly didn't expect a unanimous vote.  But congratulations to both Memphis and Dan. Dan was absolutely delightful to speak with today. Follow along after the jump for the interview.

First off, congratulations!
For what?

Winning Big Brother!
Did I win something?  [laughs]

How do you feel?
Excellent!  I haven't slept a wink in the past 24 hours, but it's great.  I've had Bunky and Evel Dick asking me questions and all these interviews and I'm enjoying every second of it. People are coming up to me, saying they wanted me to win and it's completely overwhelming. I thought I'd have three fans: my mom, my sister and my girlfriend, but it seems like there are a few Dan Fans out there!

Why did you audition to be on Big Brother?
It goes back to season two. I was 15 or 16 at the time and I was enamored with season two. I decided when I turned 21 that I'd give it a shot. I went through the casting process a couple times and we had some missed timings but then here I am in season ten.

So you've been through casting for seasons before now?
I can't really talk about it much, but yes. I had to back out for career reasons and lucky for me I did!

It worked out okay for you.
Yes, it worked out great.

Did you actually think before the season started that you could win it all?
Yeah, definitely. I treated Big Brother like an examination. I had eight seasons to study from and so going into this house I felt really prepared. However, the second I stepped into the house I saw a physical threat in Memphis and two master manipulators in Brian and Libra and a superb athlete like Michelle and that was a big dose of reality. I still thought I could win if I played it right, though.

Would you have done anything differently in your game play?
[laughs] Ah regrets, I have a few. But then again, too few to mention.

Awesome.  [both laugh]

How do you respond to the poeple who think you were hiding behind your religion or using it as a crutch?
Do I need to thank Jerry for stirring that up? I came into the house as a Catholic school teacher and I'm leaving as a Catholic school teacher. Yes, I go to church, but I don't walk around in my every day life with a Bible in my hand, reciting verses. People in the house wanted me to be that person. Libra called me Father Dan and I tried to play that role as long as I could, but eventually I had to play the game the way it is meant to be played. I wanted to get as far as I could and knew I had to play the game that I wanted to play.

Were you surprised by the vote?
Memphis and I talked right before the vote and I felt I had Keesha and Renny's votes and that Memphis had Libra and Jerry's votes. I thought it'd be 4-3 and I'd be fighting to get two more people over on my side. It coming down unanimous was shocking. I can't remember if someone's ever won unanimously. I'm sure they have, but I can't remember any. It was very surprising.

Were you really throwing competitions early on in the game?
Yes, I definitely was. I think one of my biggest risks was throwing the HOH competition with Steven and Keesha both competing. I threw everything up until the Braveyard competition. I wanted to throw that one too but Renny made such a bad guess with the snake that it kind-of forced me to play and once you win one competition you can't go back to throwing them, so I had to play hard from there on out. I'm a competitor, I coach football, so I don't like to lose, but I tried to make it fun and make it laughable for myself.

Any other thoughts you'd like to add?
Yes, there is. I talked to my girlfriend and she was a little disturbed by my perception in the pre-show stuff, like my bio on the website. I want to clear up that I was playing this game starting in the casting process. I was saying extreme things because they weren't going to put a 5'9 150 lb Catholic school teacher in the house unless I had some extreme views. I started playing the game in the casting process because half the battle is getting in the house.

Thank you so much for talking to me today and congratulations again!
Thank you. I had a tremendous time on Big Brother.

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