Kevin Martin was the biggest casualty of last week’s triple eviction on Big Brother Canada. The poker player had just seemed to find his stride in the game when he was nominated by Brittnee (alongside Zach and Pili) and the writing for his dismissal was on the wall as soon as he lost the POV competition to Bruno.
I had the chance to catch up with one of Canada’s favorite players this season to ask him where he thought he went wrong. We also discussed how much the game would have changed if he hadn’t been forced to instantly nominate Naeha. We also chatted about his relationship with Zach and if their bond grew tighter after Jordan was voted off. Kevin also told me why he decided not to nominate Bruno and how shocked he was by Bruno using the POV on Zach. Finally, the Albertan gave me an update on the status of his relationship with Pili and if it will continue outside of the house.
Check it out!
Kevin Martin: Hey Murtz!
Murtz Jaffer: Hey how are you?
KM: I am awful! I am really bad! How are you?
MJ: I am good. I want to jump right into it. Were you surprised by the Triple Eviction or did you sense that one was coming?
KM: I was shocked, absolutely shocked. Lots of speculation… Double double? Back-to-back doubles potentially? Maybe a double? Maybe a Canada’s HOH? The rumors were flying. One time Godfrey did mention ‘triple eviction’ and we just laughed at him. Look who is laughing now?! Canada is.
MJ: I really believe that the story of this season is the instant eviction that sent Naeha home. Right after you were forced to put her on the block, you basically made a strong alliance with her. When she was evicted, it completely broke up that alliance. In hindsight, do you think that if you hadn’t nominated Naeha, you would be running things with her, Jordan, Zach, Sarah and Brittnee?
KM: Great question and we can speculate. Again, my biggest regret of that whole thing is that I was in a position to make that decision in the first place. Accidentally winning that HOH was so detrimental but it happened. So I went with Naeha and Brittnee. I mean in hindsight, I came out of that okay I think. Naeha went home I was able to skate for a couple of weeks. So no, I don’t regret that decision but again could have went with that group of people and who would have known though? Who would have known? But I am okay with my decision.
MJ: Last week you won HOH and the POV. While you definitely had the desire to flush out Bobby’s fake veto… it seemed like you also had an inner turmoil in deciding to potentially use it on Brittnee to backdoor Bruno. Can you talk about that decision and why you ultimately decided not to use it?
KM: True, it was a huge inner turmoil and I went back and forth a couple times on this decision. Simply I said ‘alright, Brittnee is going to be upset with me.’ I would rather take my shot with Brittnee, you know what I mean? I was like ‘I will just leave Brittnee upset at me than possibly Bruno,’ you know what I mean? It looks dumb because Brittnee won the next HOH but it was like … I felt like I was playing the odds by making that decision. It bit me in the butt… I ultimately decided not to use it because it was hopefully going to reform a relationship with Bruno but yeah.
MJ: While you were part of the Bromuda Triangle with Jordan and Zach, it seemed like you were definitely closer to Jordan as he was your Fortress partner-in-crime. How surprised were you by his blindside and how did that change your relationship with Zach? Did it push you guys to form a tighter bond?
KM: The Bromuda triangle is down to one member… it’s not good. Absolutely. I was shocked by that vote. Sarah came and told me about 20 minutes before the eviction (so I actually knew when the vote went down), but besides that, I was absolutely floored that the house flipped. It kind of makes sense though, and yes, it brought me and Zach very close together. We were very closely aligned after that and it was super valuable to me. So yes, it was sad to see my Fortress partner-in-crime go that way. It would have been interesting to see what we could have done together (if we stayed a couple more weeks), but the Fortress has failed my friend.
MJ: In your eviction speech, you made a plea to the guys (Bruno, Zach, and Godfrey) to save you and to ensure that they would keep the numbers against the girls. This obviously fell on deaf ears. By using that as your tactic to try and stay, do you think that this will definitely result in the girls now voting together and that this will spell disaster for the guys or can the remnants of the Diaper Alliance stay loyal to each other?
KM: Great question. My plea to Zach, Bruno and Godfrey was a weak one but it was the only logical one I had at that point. It wasn’t going to work but I felt like if I didn’t try, I wouldn’t have been playing to my potential. So I went with it and of course it fell on deaf ears. Does this mean girls versus guys are going forward? No. There is a lot more dynamics going on in that house than girls versus guys, but I think the Diaper Alliance came out of this okay. I mean Zach, Ashleigh, Pili are going to be loyal to each other. Depending on who picks up the power, they could really make it to the end. But guys versus girls? It’s all a myth, my friend. It’s not what’s happening.
MJ: While it must not have been a shock to you that Bruno would want revenge after your HOH was responsible for sending home Bobby, were you at all surprised that he used his veto on Zach?
KM: Yes. I was shocked because I know that (or at least to my knowledge) Zach’s loyalty is not to Bruno. They have somewhat of a relationship but his true loyalty is to Ashleigh… and, as a result, Pili. When Bruno saved Zach, I was like pretty shocked. I am trying to provide logic to it. I guess Bruno just missed his friend Bobby, and he wanted to create something with Zach but keeping a big threat like that in the house… I don’t know if it’s going to work out for him.
MJ: As a superfan, you know that winning competitions rarely works. In the last few weeks, you started winning them and put a bigger target on yourself. Does it bother you at all that players who haven’t really won anything are still in the house and you aren’t?
KM: That’s the game, my friend. I never wanted to win anything coming into this season. On the block the first week… I had to win the POV. Then I accidentally won that HOH, so I had two major competition wins in two weeks. That was such a bad start of the game and then this week I was like ‘all right I am seen as a threat no matter what… I might as well try to slug out,’ so I mean that’s why winning competitions sucks so badly. Does it bother me that people in the house haven’t won anything? No, they are still in the house because they haven’t won anything! That’s how Big Brother works and that’s the game. Congratulations to them for staying under the radar, I wasn’t able to.
MJ: While there is no good time to leave the Big Brother, is it better to leave in a twist like an instant or triple eviction because then you can at least say that there isn’t anything else you could have done?
KM: Oh Murtz! Yeah I can always kind of play that card but I don’t think I will. There really was nothing I could do besides win that POV and after I lost that POV, I was still trying. I don’t want to give the impression that I gave up. There was just literally nothing I could do. When someone says ‘hey Kev you lost Big Brother I can always be like ‘oh but it was a triple eviction’ but no that’s part of the game. A part of the game is adapting to twists as quickly as possible. This one was just a little bit too twisty to deal with though.
MJ: In terms of sheer entertainment value, what do you think about the houseguests that are still in the house?
KM: Love it. Okay, so not game related… just pure entertainment?
MJ: Exactly.
KM: Give me Godfrey…Godfrey’s gotta be the most entertaining (at least from what I am seeing). The kid is all over the place! His entertainment value is through the roof. I will pick a girl just for fun as well. Give me Sarah. She is a wild card too! Getting in fights! Talking about crazy radical ideas. Sarah and Godfrey are entertainment value for sure.
MJ: I have to ask you one Pili question before I let you go. Is it a relationship that you see continuing outside of the house and do you prefer your showmance being called Kevlar or Kili?
KM: Oh the Pili questions! They always come! Yes, what kind of relationship? I am not sure, but we are going to be best friends. That girl and I? We just fit so perfectly. Lots of feelings grew obviously in the last couple of weeks between us so I can’t wait to see her outside of this house. Obviously I don’t want to see her for a while (go Pili go!) but yeah that relationship will be continuing. Official? Hmmm, we will wait and see Murtz! Kevlar or Kili? I feel like I am going to go with Kevlar!
MJ: Kevin, do you think Pili can survive in the house without you?
KM: Me leaving the Big Brother house is good for Pili’s game. It sounds crazy but it’s true. Pili is now … she is by herself now. She is alone. Who is going to use their power to go after Pili? No, it’s going to be Zach and Ashleigh or Bruno or Godfrey. She is not a target at this point. She is going to slide to five or maybe even four. Pull out a competition win? You never know. Pili could go the distance. Me leaving is great for her game (even though she would not tell you that).
MJ: Amazing Kevin, thank you so much.
KM: Murtz, you’re the best! Have a good one!
