In a world beforeJankie(or evenZingbot!
CBS
A lot of people don’t know this, but I’m a bigSurvivorfan huge, ridiculously.
My VHS tape is somewhere in the library of theSurvivorcastingvault.
Danielle Reyes on ‘Big Brother 3’.Credit:CBS; Adobe Stock - Design: Alex Sandoval
She would give me a play-by-play every week about this guy, and I would listen to her.
She was like, “Oh, he’s a villain.”
I’m like, “Oh, he’s so going to lose.”
Danielle Reyes talks to Jason Guy on ‘Big Brother’ season 3.CBS
And then she came back the next day and gave me the report: “Danielle,Dr.
I said, “Are you serious?”
She was like, “Danielle, I need you to audition for this show.
Danielle Reyes on ‘Big Brother 3’.CBS
c’mon do it.”
That’s how arrogant I was at the time.
I wanted the $1 million thatSurvivorgot.
Danielle Reyes in ‘Big Brother 3’ diary room.CBS
But I said, “Okay, well, we’ll make it work.
When is it due?”
And I think I only had, like, 24 hours to make this tape.
Danielle Reyes and Lisa Donahue on ‘Big Brother 3’.Monty Brinton/CBS Photo Archive/Getty
At the time, there was usually one Black female contestant on these shows and one Black male.
We called it “token casting.”
I can’t do that, right?
So I knew it was important to appear docile to appear submissive, and very empathetic.
But I also knew I was going to be calculating.
And what was so unique about that was the other contestants were not aware of it.
And I get in there and it worked out beautifully, because I found my person: Jason Guy.
My dad was a minister.
It was just a masterpiece to watch, quite frankly, as I think about it.
I’m a very good communicator.
I’m not saying I speak well, but I really listen.
Making people feel heard made them trust me more in the house.
What they didn’t know was that I was a very strategic, cutthroat key in of killer.
I needed people to understand where my brain was going, how I was thinking.
I was being raw.
I was being real.
I was being organic.
I expected them to look at me like the season 2 cast looked at Dr. Will.
It was a goal.
I made it to the finale.
But after the jury Q&A, I knew, “Okay, it’s a wrap.
I’m not going to win this game.”
IknewI’d get votes from Jason and Josh’s but in the end I only got Jason’s.
I didn’t know why everyone voted against me.
So I’m in my hotel room after the finale and Lori comes to my room.
She goes, “Yeah, doll.”
I said, “Why didn’t you vote for me?”
And she said, “Your diary rooms, they were really bad.”
I don’t understand what the problem was.”
Losing actually hit harder when I watched the episodes, because I didn’t understand.
But then again, I wouldn’t have became legendary based on my diary rooms.
What makes this jury a “bad jury” inBig Brotherhistory is….
When you think of the other players who got “robbed,” they didn’t get robbed.
That said, I failed to play the way they expected a winner to play.
I want to be clear, I’m not talking bad about Lisa.
She played the perfect game for that season, and I’ll always give her flowers.
And she played a brilliant, masterful game especially at the end.
She kicked Jason’s and my asses.
So kudos to her.
And ultimately, the jury wanted to reward that girl next door, that hero.
They didn’t want to reward, as they will say, “evil.”
They didn’t want to do that again because, they said, Dr. Will won the previous season.
You were not going to get people’s real raw reactions.
We wouldn’t get the legendaries, the Britney’s of future seasons.
But I wasn’t as cutthroat or vicious in my diary rooms.
And I regret that.
But I know that’s led to my legacy in the game.
It’s surreal when people meet me and go “Oh my God, Danielle!”
because I was just being me.
It’s humbling that people got so much out of that.
I wish I’d won the money, though.
