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"I'm Not That Cocky or That Arrogant" - An Interview with Big Brother 9's Matt

by David Bloomberg -- 05/01/2008

Matt of course hasn't had a chance yet to see himself on TV, but he's heard a few things and knows how he came across. What does he have to say about that? How about his relationship with Natalie and some of their nocturnal activities? Indeed, what does he think of her and the others in general? Matt has quite a bit to say in this exclusive RealityNewsOnline interview!

Of course, one of the main things Big Brother viewers - especially those who watched or read about the live feeds - want to know relates to his relationship and actions with Natalie. Matt isn't shy about that point - in fact, Matt isn't shy about much, including describing the way he behaved. So let's get to it.

RealityNewsOnline: Hi, Matt, and thanks for taking the time to talk to us here at RealityNewsOnline! Let's start at the beginning. Did you have a specific planned strategy coming into the game?

Matt: Before I found out there was partners, my plan was to try to womanize all the women to get them to love me so I'd always have their vote. That didn't work when I got Natalie in the picture. I usually get along with the guys, I figured I could lie and backstab my way through the game, but things happen.

RNO: How did that strategy change once you got in the house?

Matt: I couldn't go around trying to schmooze over every girl since my partner had it in her head that since CBS said we were soul mates, we really were. I couldn't flirt without her getting aggravated. I tried to do it behind her back but it blew up in my face. It's not my fault Natalie fell in love, but she fell in love since day one. I don't regret having her as my partner, she was a great competitor.

RNO: How much Big Brother had you seen before going into the house?

Matt: I watched most of Season 6 and most of Season 3. I didn't see too much of Season 8. I was hooked. I had never really seen it and then when I was in the process of being cast for it, I saw it and really liked it. It's a fun show to watch, there's a lot going on all the time.

RNO: What did you think of the couples twist?

Matt: I was pretty upset. I come in with a certain strategy, planning on flirting with the girls, and they throw me a steady wife in the house. You have to sleep with her, live with her, she's your shadow. It throws a wrench in the wheel. Looking back, I don't regret having Natalie as a partner, but who knows what would have happened if it were singles all the time.

RNO: What about the various other twists, such as splitting the couples and bringing back James?

Matt: Don't even get me started on bringing back James.

When the couples split, I was very happy because I could try to start playing my own game, but it was too late because the couples stuck through the whole way. They still looked at us that way. It was kind of like it was a twist that was good that we split up but I still had to sleep with Natalie every night and nothing really changed, except I wasn't technically paired up with her.

As far as bringing James back. That's just no common sense on a few people's part. Especially Natalie and Adam - to bring somebody back after voting him out, that's just no common sense.

RNO: Did Natalie ever tell you why she voted to bring him back?

Matt: Yeah, she said she looked at me and asked me what to do and I said do what you want, figuring she'd know enough not to. But I didn't want to announce it to the house. She doesn't have a clue, she said, "I don't like mystery boxes."

RNO: Actually, I'll answer that for you. She was going into the diary room as Josh was coming out. In that little hallway, she told him she didn't know what to do and Josh told her to vote back James.

Matt: No way, she listend to josh? Aw, man. Why would she ever listen to that kid? He tortured her in the house. Well, he tried to, but I stuck up for her, though. He tortured the girls.

RNO: We noticed it was only the girls.

Matt: Yeah, he wouldn't try to say anything to the boys.

RNO: When you successfully got James backdoored instead of you, why did you brag and taunt the others?

Matt: I was holding that secret for like four days. It was so tough - living in the house with a bunch of people that hate you. Every time I'd walk by them, they'd snicker and laugh, when I knew the whole time something different would happen. The anger built up and exploded. It came back to bite me in the ass, but at that time, I had to let it out.

RNO: What would you do differently if you had it to do over again?

Matt: First, I would have been a little nicer to Natalie. There's no telling that girl to not to like me, I've tried time and time again.

The last POV competition, I would have taken it seriously. I thought I was safe, and I tried to take the target off my back so I figured I could not win that one. That turned around and bit me in the ass 'cus that's the week I left.

RNO: At what point did you decide to vote for Adam instead of Ryan?

Matt: Me and Adam stuck together through the whole game. He always voted for me, I always voted for him. I always had his back. I actually sat up in the hotel room and took it really into consideration. It was a very tough choice. I listed all the pros and cons and it just stacked up for Adam.

And Adam had done less harm in the house. I'm not worried about who offended less people. He was very cunning. Adam's going to be a lifelong friend of mine. I didn't see that with Ryan, so I gave it to my boy.

RNO: Was it clear that the majority was going with Adam?

Matt: No. From what it looked like at the roundtable, people were going both ways. It looked like Sheila, Josh, and Sharon were voting for Ryan. James hated Ryan since Ryan screwed him over. Chelsia was up in the air. I thought it might go three to three and I'd be the tiebreaker. Who knew, he won in a landslide.

RNO: Have you had a chance to watch any of the show yet, or have you heard about anything that you didn't know about?

Matt: I've heard some things. I've heard of how I'm viewed in the media. I'm still out here [in California] and haven't seen too much. I'm going home tomorrow and figure what I'm going to do. My best friend's out here and he told me some funny stuff. I hear a lot of good and a lot of bad. I know a lot of women in America are not too pleased with me, but I'm really not that bad of a guy. It's TV that magnifies your personality.

I'm not that cocky or that arrogant. I don't womanize women in real life. I did it to myself and portrayed myself as America's playa. I had to defend myself. I'm really not like that in real life. If I have a girlfriend, I'd never cheat, my exes know that for a fact.

It was tough - my strategy was that I wanted to secretly have a little relationship with every girl, but Natalie would get jealous if I would hang with Sharon or Chelsia.

I'll never be stranded again in a house with 14 people I can't stand. It made me appreciate my family and friends, it really makes you miss what you have at home. I guess I got that out of it - a little wisdom. I would have rather had the 500 grand.

RNO: You mentioned you've heard some good and some bad. What bad have you heard?

Matt: Some people make fun of my looks. They were calling me gay before it started because I was wearing a white belt.

Mostly the womanizing. Women were talking all sorts of stuff on me. "How is this kid treating her like that?" I guess they caught me saying the n-word, but I listen to a lot of hip hop. I grew up in the city and that's how people talk. They put me on TMZ saying a bad word. Whatever, I'm not a bad kid. I'm not racist the least bit and nobody ever called me racist.

RNO: What about discussions of your bedtime activities with Natalie?

Matt: (Laughs) I thought everybody in America would give me high fives on that because I gave thumbs-up to the camera.

RNO: They actually didn't show it on TV.

Matt: I thought it would make it to TV. I guess it leaked out [in the house] after I left the house.

RNO: Yes, and Natalie denied it ever happened.

Matt: Off camera [in the jury house] she said it happened. [When it happened], I made her pinky swear that she would deny it. If the girls found out I hooked up with Natalie on the second night, they'd have looked at me differently. So I made her promise secrecy and she actually kept it.

I can't answer why she worships me, I'm at the hotel and she still follows me around. But she's a great girl. Never going to be a relationship, but she's cool. My mom even called her - she loves her. Probably because Natalie worships me.

RNO: Since we didn't get to see it, what was your reaction - and the reaction of everybody else - when Natalie entered the jury house?

Matt: I was very upset when Natalie arrived. She was my partner in the game and I wanted her to win first or second, she deserved it. She had a tough life and grew up with nothing. She has a schizophrenic mother and I wanted her to win.

She's the most genuinely nice person I've ever met. She can't even get mad. She sees the world as flowers and rainbows. She has the wool pulled over her eyes on the concept of life. It's great she can be so positive.

[When she arrived], I just stood there like a statue. I was hoping it would be her and Adam in the end, but it went a different way.

RNO: Did you ever feel like you were crossing a line in your behavior using Natalie as a tool for your own advancement in the game? Or do you now feel like you crossed any lines?

Matt: Yeah, I probably shouldn't have played with her head the way I did. No matter what, half the people in the house, they wanted me out of the house since day one. I was the most in-shape person there, I'm a smart kid. Regardless of what I did to Natalie, they would still have wanted me out.

Do I regret it? Yeah, maybe things would have been different. But she made it so easy to be my puppet, she did anything I wanted her to do. I don't know why. A person can only push someone away so much. She never got the hint.

She never did anything to me she didn't want to do. I never pressured her - she was happy to do it. She told me she loved me the second day of the house. I got a little nervous. I watched the girl chasing me around from the HOH room. Natalie's a great girl, but I can only take her in small doses. They knew she would drive me nuts, living with her 24/7. I don't mind her positivity, but she's just so clingy. She's a great girl, though. She's great for friendship, but she'll make some guy very happy some day. I hope I'm at the wedding.

RNO: How did you get along with the other jurors?

Matt: When I got kicked out of the house, it was like a big weight off my shoulders. As more jurors rolled in, I realized the game's over and I was really civil. We would chill out, watch movies, read books. I'd talk to them, but not much. James and Chelsia were off in their own love la-la land. Josh actually wasn't a bad kid in the jury house. Regardless of what people think.

He's screwed pretty bad. He seems to have a heart. The house brings the worst out of you. The way he treated women, I think it's despicable. His parents should be very upset at him. I womanize women, but I would never speak to a woman like that. I would never find things out about their family and make fun of Sheila's son or Natalie's mom or Amanda's father. It's one thing to lie to a girl and be playing her, but another thing to make fun of the way she looks or dresses, that's not how you respect women. I know how to respect women in that you don't say certain things to them. I did call him out on that one day, I yelled at him good. I didn't put up with that. I don't know if they aired that.

RNO: I don't really recall. But they did air his and Chelsia's comments about Amanda's father.

Matt: That's despicable. My father died when I was young, if anybody in the house even talked about that, I'd have gotten thrown out of the game [because of what I'd do]. They f***ing suck for saying that. You don't make fun of somebody's father who killed himself. Who do you think you are?

RNO: Do you have anything else to tell us about your time on Big Brother?

Matt: My time on Big Brother was an unforgettable experience. I'll have memories of it for the rest of my life. When I'm old, I'll be the idiot on the reality show. I had a great time. I was miserable half the time because I'm not used to being locked inside with people I can't stand. But it's cool, I had a good time and now it's over.

I thank CBS for the experience, and wish I could have won. As far as women in the world, I hope they can look past the fact of what I did on TV. I'm not really that big an @$$hole or that big a playa. I mostly did that for showmanship for my friends. When I gave thumbs-up to the camera while getting oral fixation, that was for my friends at home. I'm happy for Adam, and happy it was one of my friends and not one of the evildoers - James, Chelsia, or Josh. I can't stand any of them, I think they all suck at life.

RNO: Thanks again, Matt!

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