The day after she was evicted out of the Big Brother Canada 3 house, I had the chance to catch up with Naeha Sareen to discuss what happened. We talked about a variety of topics including the infamous conversation in the HOH room that Kevin overheard (which subsequently led to both her and Sindy’s evictions). We also chatted about the instant eviction and if she felt like she would have been safe if Kevin had been given more time to make his nominations. Naeha explained why she decided to try and win as many competitions as she did (even though we all know that is a big faux-pas in the Big Brother house). The chiropractor also elaborated on whether the house’s gender divide has allowed other players to float by as it appears two sides are squaring off. My favorite part of the interview is when I got to ask Naeha about why she decided to tie her hair back when the votes to evict her were being read (despite not being able to participate in a veto competition to save herself). She also discussed why she wore a ‘You Can Sit With Us’ t-shirt in the house and this led to her opening up about her only regret in the house.
As we now know, Naeha has the chance to potentially return for a second chance and I asked her what her strategy would be if she is the one who gets to come back. Check it out!
Naeha Sareen: Hey Murtz.
Murtz Jaffer: Hey Naeha how are you?
NS: A little heartbroken, but I am here! I am living!
MJ: Are you ready to jump right in to it?
NS: You know I am always ready.
MJ: I have to say that I am extremely disappointed that you were victim of the instant eviction last night. On Thursday, after Kevin won HOH, you had a long strategy session with him/Zach/Sarah/Johnny where you talked about how the guys needed to go and where you informed him that the other guys would have voted him out if he hadn’t won the veto last week. Did you think you had a solid deal in place and did he give you any kind of hint that he had already made his nominations?
NS: Honestly I thought that I was going to change the game. I felt that that alliance that I was forming was golden. That if this week went the way that I was planning for it to go, the whole game would have changed. And I actually had no indication that he had made his nominations. He kind of acted as if he was down with the plan and honestly I think he would have been, but he had to make that quick decision and I talked to him seven hours too late essentially.
The alliance that I tried to form, I thought that it was honestly just the best possible move for me. I knew that I was a target in the house, (I think that I was a target in the house from Day 1) and Kevin needed to know the reality. If Kevin decided to put me on the block (say it was a regular week and he decided to put me in the block), that obviously wouldn’t be good for my game and a change-up needed to occur and this was the only possible way that it could happen and yeah I am torn. It sucks so bad that it didn’t get to happen.
MJ: Do you blame Kevin for his decision?
NS: Absolutely not. You know what? He was put on the spot and I am a likely target. I am an easy target, because it is very well known that I am a strong player in the house and many people had stated that I had to go. What I do blame is the fact that people want to it ride out easy in this game. They just want to not get any blood on their hands, and that’s why everyone is voting together and not really making any big moves. And I was an easy target; I mean I am a strong player but I was an easy target because people very openly were saying that I am strong so it was like take her out now, take her out when she can’t fight for herself.
MJ: It’s clear that Sindy was voted out because she won the first veto and almost won the first HOH. When you dominated the Q&A HOH competition but didn’t end up winning, did you think that you might be calling attention to how strong of a competitor you are?
NS: Honestly, I knew I was a target. I knew that I was seen as a strong player from the second I walked in the house. It was just clear. When I was chosen to play in that Veto, I was in a really sticky situation because as a player, I think our one goal in the game is to never be the first person to be evicted from the Big Brother house. So with the new twist that they created, I was unsure if I would be the replacement nominee given that the Veto was won by one of the nominees.
I was in a situation where I had to fight for the Veto. I couldn’t take the risk of having one of the girls winning the Veto and then myself being a replacement nominee. I also was unsure of how the replacement nominee was going to be chosen. In my head, I was thinking ‘okay Risha and Sindy have been nominated by my fellow house guests so Arisa is probably just going to choose the third person that had the highest amount of votes’ and in my head I was thinking it could very likely be me just based on my appearance and based on the other nominations.
So I was in a position where I really felt that I had to fight for the Veto. At the same time, I also thought that maybe one of these other three guys who were playing for the Veto are going to win. But when I saw that they weren’t winning, I had to fight hard because I just didn’t want Sindy or Risha to win so I came off as a strong player right from the get go. I knew this because as soon as that Veto competition was over, people came over to me and they are like ‘you are Janelle, you are like the Indian Janelle’ and at that point I am like ‘stop it, don’t say that! That is killing my game already.’ So I knew right then and there that I was going to be seen as a strong player. The same day Graig… again that guy was saying “hey Neda” and calling me Neda. Do not call me Neda! He was trying to kill my game right then and there. So that is it. I was seen as a competitive player from the second I walked into that house.
MJ: When you had the girls vs. guys conversation in the HOH room, and then realized that Kevin overheard, did you immediately recognize how much of an adverse effect that one moment would have on your game (especially after he then became the HOH?)
NS: Yeah, I knew that was bad, but honestly? I worked it. I ensured that I was not the replacement nominee. I made sure that Sindy went up on the block and I had a very likely chance of being on the block. I honestly feel that I have the ability to talk myself out of any situation, and I think that… yeah it was something that did affect my game, but I had the ability to get out of that situation and I did. [If] that instant eviction didn’t happen, I think that I got my name out of Kevin’s head and he would have worked with me. It just so happened that I was seven hours too late [and] that they threw this instant eviction on him.
If he was given the opportunity to make his nominations when we were told about the instant eviction as opposed to the night prior to our conversation, I truly feel like he would not have nominated me because the alliance that I created. That set-up that I created for him and the other six people… it was gold. It was absolutely gold, and it would have changed this game. It is just that my timing was off and honestly? I got screwed by the instant eviction and that is it.
MJ: You are huge Big Brother fan and one of the cardinal rules of the game is to not win any early competitions and fly under the radar. When did that philosophy change for you?
NS: Dude, I just touched on it and it is the exact same thing. When I got into the house, I had to play for the Veto and that Veto was seriously detrimental to my game because I was in a position where I didn’t want to play hard but I had to play hard. Again, the worst possible case scenario is being the first to be evicted. I didn’t want to be nominated because I thought ‘hey I am going to be evicted from the Big Brother house… the first one out. I thought that I could very likely go that night, I thought that is the way they were going with it. So I was in a position where I was thinking ‘I [have] to play hard… I can’t let one of these other girls win the Veto because they are going to take themselves off the block and I am going to be the next girl on the block and I am going to go.’ So I was in a very sticky situation and my philosophy had to change… my whole game had to change in that instant. I saw the response that I was getting from the players and they were already seeing me as a strong player so it was kind of like I had to go with this because I can’t get rid of that label now.
MJ: Three female players have now been evicted in a row. Do you think that the gender divide will allow other players to coast while the others target each other?
NS: This is a tough question. The girls are actually not working with each other in the house (not that I know of anyway) because I was working with a couple of the girls… definitely not all the girls in the house and I think that the girls on the other side are working with some of the other guys in the house. It is really really sticky. I don’t really think… I do think that the guys are targeting the girls because I truly do believe that initially at least four guys did set up a little guys’ alliance.
Girls’ alliances never work. I never intended for there to be a girls’ alliance. I am not sure if you saw on the live feeds but I had another alliance with Zach and JP where I said ‘hey, you guys protect Sarah and I and I will protect you guys if I can based on the contacts that I have in the house.’ That would have worked really well for me. It just didn’t because I think again they had to go against me because of the instant eviction, because of the strong player, because people wanted me out so they couldn’t really expose their alliances to me. I know I am going off on a tangent here… sorry about that but what I truly do feel is that the players in the house are not really thinking. They got rid of me. I am a big target. Why the hell (sorry, I said hell) would you evict me if I am a target? If you are smart, you are going to keep me in the house because, one, I am going to take out the big guns.
I specifically said to everyone in the house I am gunning for Graig and Godfrey. Graig is a strong player, Graig is an annoying player, Graig is someone that people hate, Graig is someone that these big guys don’t want to take out themselves. For example Zach and JP. They want to lay low, they said specifically to me ‘Naeha, we can’t go after him because we are good with him… you are going to have to do it.’ And I said ‘guys I will do it.’ I am already seen as a strong player. This guy is already messing up my game. You better believe I am going for him. I am gunning for him, so why would you take me out of the game? Why would the other girls in the house take me out of the game? If they take me out? Excuse me you are the next target because there are these guys that are gunning for you. It makes absolutely no sense, but again, I think it is just that they saw me as a strong player. They were like ‘let’s get her out now because she could likely beat us in competitions, she could likely win this game,’ so it was an easy avenue and I really don’t think that they looked at the big picture. As a true superfan (and there are so many super fans in the house) they didn’t look at the big picture. They should have kept me and I think it is going to really mess up their games.
MJ: My favorite part of Sunday’s episode was when you started tying your hair back while the votes to evict you were being read. It was almost like you were preparing for war and getting ready for a veto competition that you unfortunately didn’t get the chance to play in. Can you talk about that and whether you were doing it to intimidate the other houseguests or whether it was just completely unintentional?
NS: I have beautiful hair and I just wanted to look good for the camera. That is pretty much it…no I am kidding. Honestly, it was kind of like happening so fast and when I am getting ready to compete, I do put my hair up. You will see (if I get back in the house) every single competition that I will perform, I have to hold my hair up. It just makes me feel like I am ready to go and I think it wasn’t intentional but it’s kind of like innate in me. Like that is just what I do and that is exactly what happened. I knew I wasn’t fighting. I knew. As soon as she said ‘instant eviction,’ I knew right then and there, there was no chance I was playing in Veto.
My heart broke right there. I knew that I was not [getting] the opportunity to fight for my life. I was not [getting] the opportunity to campaign. It was somehow like I was defeated, because I knew they were going to vote me out. I knew they weren’t going to keep me in the house, so it was just natural for me to get in that position with my hair. But I knew right then and there that I wasn’t going to get that opportunity. That my dreams were going to be crushed by Big Brother… so yeah.
MJ: I also loved when you kept hitting the buzzer on the HOH competition, and then apologizing for it after. How competitive would you say you are in real life?
NS: Hey, you saw it. That is exactly how competitive I am. I am one of the most competitive people I have probably ever seen, I love to win, I love challenges and that is why I was in the Big Brother house. You know what I mean? This is a dream of mine and this is the ultimate challenge in life. I strive for challenge with everything I do. I am running multiple businesses because I am striving for success. My goal in life is to be absolutely as successful as possible, and when you are trying to be successful… sometimes you have to be competitive. It is natural for me so that is it and I know you guys saw it in the HOH. There is so much more for you guys to see… I pray to God that you can see it.
MJ: You wore a ‘You Can Sit With Us’ t-shirt in the house. What was the message behind that?
NS: I wore that shirt because, one, I am extremely passionate about anti-bullying and it was my way of saying ‘I don’t agree with this, I don’t like bullying’ and it was just a way to kind of put a message across to the house. And it was so fitting (the day that I wore that shirt) because I am not sure how much you saw or what was depicted on the show but there was an instance where bullying was happening in the house and when that was happening, I couldn’t really stand up and say anything because I feared that it would put a bigger target on my back. Looking back at that situation when it was occurring, I don’t have many regrets in this house (at all actually), but that was one of my regrets. That I didn’t speak up, given the fact that I know right now how big of a target I was in the house and how they wouldn’t change their minds about me. I could have went out guns blazing I think and it wouldn’t have mattered. Whatever I said wouldn’t have mattered so now I look back at that situation, and I am ashamed that I didn’t speak out and say ‘this is not right. You cannot treat people this way.’ In the real world, I would 110% stand up and say ‘I don’t like this, I do not agree with this, this is not right’ and I didn’t.
I didn’t because I felt that it would be detrimental to my game if I spoke up too much. I am already a strong personality, I already have a big ass mouth and it would have put me in more hot water. I wore that shirt because that is what was going on. It was my subtle… and a cute way of wearing a little pink shirt that has a little bit of a hidden message. That message was an anti-bullying message. It was a message saying ‘I don’t agree with this.’ It was my way of speaking out without my mouth. I don’t know. [Laughs].
MJ: It seemed like you really clashed with Graig. What was it like to live with him on a day-to-day basis and what did you think of him comparing you to Neda so often?
NS: I don’t use the word ‘hate,’ often, but in this scenario, I will make an exception.
MJ: [Laughs].
NS: He was horrible! This guy was a bully… this guy (sorry I don’t mean to put that label on him) but he was really hard to live with. He was the kind of person or he is the kind of person that really likes to take control. Like I have a strong personality, but his personality is strong in a way that really just rubs you the wrong way. It is kind of malicious in a sense. It is strong in the sense where people fear him and I think that’s why people in the house are just like ‘Naeha, you take him out… we can’t take him out.’ No one wants to attack this guy. I was the only person in the house who openly said ‘I am going after him. There is nothing in this game that will stop me from going after this guy’ and yeah he was hard to live with. He really made it difficult for a lot of people. He was way too vocal. He had a s***** game (sorry for using that word again). This game came out… he was lying about his profession and then he comes out and tells us?! Like what are you doing?! Do you even know what you are doing right now?
And the Neda comments. The Neda comments started day one. He put a target on my back. I think in this house… any little thing about you, like the slightest look that you make… the slightest smirk that you make… can be detrimental to your game. Me having a name that starts with an N and end with an ‘ah’ essentially helped to kill my game. This guy put it into everyone’s head…
‘Hey, this girl is Neda. Hey, this girl looks like Neda, this girl’s name is close to Neda’s…’ Like that label that was put on me… I am not saying I am Neda. I am honestly… it would be an honor to be like her because she is one of the queens of Big Brother Canada. She is the queen of Big Brother Canada. It’s unfortunate for me that I didn’t get to live up to that, but that label killed me. I did not want to be associated with her just because she is a strong player and this is the guy that did it to me. He put that label on me from the day I walked in the house.
MJ: And final question, Naeha. You had the chance to come back, what would your strategy be?
NS: Oh man, okay. So let’s get started. So the strategy… I know that my strategy has to change and it will be hard for me to change my strategy. First of all, these guys already see me as a strong player. They know I have a strong personality and that I don’t think I can get rid of but that label that I have on my back… it cannot be removed. It is just the way that it is. That’s how they see me. If I were to walk in to the house and be quiet and be like ‘oh, I don’t know what is going on… I can’t compete… I can’t do this…’ that would never work. So that kind of a 360 cannot occur in this game for me, however, I can try to align with different people. I can try to align, I think, with unlikely pairs.
For example, I think clearly I have made it very obvious I absolutely dislike Graig completely. He and I are on opposite sides of the spectrum. We dislike each other. It is very clear that before I left the house, I was going after him and he was clearly going after me. Him and his boys were going after me. So it would be a real twist if I went in there and said to Graig… ‘hey listen. You hate me. I hate you. Everyone in this house knows that I am going after you and you are going after me. Perhaps we should consider working together just for a bit.’ I personally feel this guy is a loose cannon. I personally think that he will probably self-evict… however he is also seen as the villain. He is seen as a player that people don’t want to play with… that he is a bad person so he would be a very good person to take to the end.
So keeping him around in the game might not be so bad for me. That would be one strategy (as much as it would hurt me personally… like I would feel emotional about the fact that I am working with this guy that I dislike). I am about the game 100%. I am willing to do whatever it takes to be in that house. To do whatever it takes to get me further. So if I have to kiss his ass a little and act like I like him… I am willing to do that.
Another strategy of mine… I really feel like I do need to change it up. I am sure in the show, it was obvious to you there were a lot of people in the house that really really loved attention. They really loved the whole idea of sitting in the hot tub and making out and kissing and feeling affection from other houseguests. I didn’t really participate in that. For me, going into the house, I always said to myself… ‘Naeha, you will not be in a showmance. It puts a target on your back.’
However, looking at the dynamics of this house, it became very obvious very fast that people loved that. They loved sitting together. They loved hooking up… this that and the other. I feel like a lot of the guys in the house really really felt loved by a lot of the girls. They were getting so much attention and they were feeding off of that attention. They couldn’t get enough of it. I wasn’t giving them that attention and I think perhaps it would be a big change-up. It would be so unexpected for them to think that ‘hey, she is interested in one of these guys or she is going for one of these guys’ or something along those lines. I don’t really know. Everyone in the house was taking advantage of the whole showmance situation. The whole physical affection for each other. I think I was the only one who really wasn’t and honestly it sucks to say this because I really don’t feel that I should have to use my body or kissing guys to get further in this game, but just based on the personalities in the house they loved it and again… I said I am willing to do anything and everything in this game to get further and if that is what I have to do… I will do it. So I am going to do a change-up. Big time change-up. Whatever it takes, it is going to happen and it is going to be maybe based on the dynamics of the house and whatever I feel will get me further.
MJ: Amazing Naeha, thank you so much!
NS: Okay, thanks dude
