Arlie Shaban Exit Interview
April 21, 2014
Are you surprised by the house's decision?
I’m not shocked by the house’s decision, I’m more shocked by Jon being the one to do it. I feel like he has a lot harder road now without me in the house, I just thought from a logical game point of view he wouldn’t have been the one to do it this week. I’m not surprised at all by the house, Neda has a lot of sway in the house so I could see her doing this to me I just couldn’t see her tricking Jon in to doing this to me.
How has Canada’s influence impacted the house this year?
Canada’s influence has greatly impacted the house. It impacted my game a lot too because it had some direction. I’ve always been playing for the fans and I wanted to give the fans what they want so it kind of steered me in a direction I wanted to go in either way, but it also just changed the whole dynamic of the game, Canada having so much influence, Canada having so much say, being HOH, potentially having a seat in jury, it adds a whole new element that’s hard to work in to the game on the fly. My whole game plan was for the fans. If I wanted to go further in this game or if I wanted to have less of a target on myself, I would have just given myself less of a target. I would have gone in to the house 30lbs heavier, I would have just sat in a corner and not talked, and it wouldn’t have been interesting for the fans but it would have been easier to get further with that strategy. I wanted to be exciting, I wanted to do big things, I wanted to sabotage parts of the house – I did that stuff for the fans.
When do you think the competition shifted gears? Was there a definitive moment or was it a process?
It definitely shifted gears when I exposed myself from sabotaging the First Five, when I had my coming out party and let everyone know that’s what I was doing, that’s when the heat really came on for me. If I hadn’t done that, there wouldn’t have been as much heat on me but that’s when I changed gears in the game. My whole game plan was exposed by that because I went in to the house like an unintelligent pushover. That was my strategy for the first half of the game and then as soon as I exposed myself and everyone could see that I wasn’t an unintelligent pushover, I had to step it in to the next gear. I had to change everything about my game, which I expected going in, that I would have to do that, I just never got a shot to start winning my way to the end. That was a strategy. You go in, do something crazy, expose yourself for not being what you said you were going to be and then you win your way to the end and I got blindsided out of the game.
Why did you connect so well with Adel?
Well, me and Adel just clicked from day one. There’s something about Adel, as you can all tell, that he just clicks with a lot of different people. He has a great personality and a great vibe to him and me and him just clicked extra strong and it wasn’t to do with game, even though it helps the game to have personal connections with people, it wasn’t fake on my end like it was for me with most other people. With Adel, it was just natural. We have the same sense of humour, we kind of feed off of each other, and we just had a lot in common especially with how our minds worked so I just look at him like a brother.
Would you choose to align yourself with anyone else if given a second chance?
In all honesty, I would have just aligned myself with Neda. I didn’t realize her game plan until a couple weeks in to the house and there was already so much separation between us, she already had Jon so close so I knew it was almost impossible to get in with her. I always knew that I was going to get her out before she had the chance to get me out and the fact that she got me out and the way she did it, hats off to her. I would have aligned myself with her if I could have.
What was your favourite/worst experience/moment in the house?
My best moment was getting my mission from Marsha, successfully completing it, and getting the reward that came with it. All three of those things combined in to one would be my best moment in the house. It was just a dream of mine to get a secret mission in the Big Brother house and ever since Big Brother Canada came around I just dreamed to get one from Marsha and the fact that I got one – especially a tough one that made me portray myself that way in the house – passing that and getting a sweet reward on slop was the best.
The worst moment was definitely when Jon back-doored me. That POV ceremony hit me like a ton of bricks, I felt it in the air. That was just the worst moment ever, I didn’t think Jon would do it in a million years because I didn’t think it would help his game.
What did you discover about yourself that you didn't know prior to being on the show?
I don’t know if I discovered anything. I honestly think that I was prepared for every aspect of the show. A lot of people went in there and were surprised by different things the show was doing to them physically and mentally. I went in, I was prepared for it, and nothing surprised me so I don’t feel like I learned anything about myself. Maybe that I have good control over my mind and how I react to situations.
If you can go back to any moment in the house and change your reaction, which moment would that be and why?
I would change how I reacted to slop the second time around. I was still looking at it as a joke and I was letting it affect my body physically because I didn’t think I was in trouble in the game. I would have just consumed more slop so I could have competed better in the Veto that took me out of the game.
You’re a huge fan of Big Brother. How did you prepare to compete on the show?
I went on the internet and researched every strategy by the great Big Brother players. I prepared physically a lot by working out, going for runs, taking ice baths, going tanning because I didn’t want to be the whitest guy on the show. I also started doing brain teasers and puzzles to get my mind working different ways. I was just prepared for every aspect of it. I was just studying everything could possibly get my hands on.
Do you have any final thoughts?
I feel like my biggest downfall in the game was feeling comfortable. You should never feel comfortable in the game, and I knew that going in. If you feel comfortable, that’s probably the time something bad is going to happen, but I guess that’s what feeling comfortable is. That, and for any future players, don’t take slop as a joke, you never know when you’re going to compete. Eat more slop.
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