It's no secret my favorite Big Brother player of all time is Dan Gheesling. And after his epic Hail Mary move last week to save himself from eviction, I don't think anyone has a right to contest that. Dan did what he does best. And while his smooth talking helped him win $500K back in season 10, I don't think any of us really knew what we were in for once he walked out of solitary confinement. I mean, who would guess he'd throw his own funeral?!
I knew I just had to talk to his wife Chelsea to get her take on this whole thing. I caught up with her during last week's HOH endurance competition (and sadly had to break the news that Dan fell off), and she was an absolute pleasure to talk to. She's been updating Dan's blog and keeping up on every second of the game just like the rest of us. Check out our interview below!
First of all, let's talk about Dan's funeral and how that all went down. How did you react to seeing it?
I was shocked. On Saturday, I was so sad. I ate ice cream on the couch. I was crying. On Sunday, I was still bummed all day especially him in the room, I was just like, "What else could happen to the poor guy?" When I'm getting ready for bed, and I hate to admit this, but I have my laptop in the bathroom while I'm brushing my teeth and I was watching the live feeds. And I just see him pacing like a mad man. And I'm like, "I really think something's about to go down. Something has to be going down." So I get my brother on FaceTime on our phones. I'm like, "You have to tune into this." So we're sitting there and literally, I think it was an hour and a half start-to-finish. We were just at the edge of our seats screaming and just going nuts. I was in complete shock.
At that point, did you think he really meant what he said to Danielle? Or did you know he was going to smooth things over?
I didn't know he was going to make up with her at all. Because everything happened and it was really hard to process what exactly was going on. But I think his thing with Danielle had several meanings. I think the first one was to just make Frank think that Dan didn't have that strong alliance with Danielle. But then I think the second one was... just that no one focused on the fact that Dan and Frank were alone in the HOH room for an hour. No one even focused on that. Everybody was comforting Danielle, so it was just so smart on Dan's part. The more you think about, the more it kinda unfolds and you're like, "There's another reason!"
And who knew Frank would actually take Dan's offer!?
I was just so surprised about everything. It was literally like everything happened in slow motion. It was so strange. When Frank said that, I was like, "You've got to be kidding me! This is happening?" And then the Jenn thing, I'm like, "I can't not believe he pulled this thing off."
Britney was obviously upset about her eviction and said some not-so-nice things about Dan...
She was, but I think when she came out, she explained herself very well. She was frustrated but she could still admit that he was good at this game. The way I look at is, you can't expect someone to be just totally emotionless when they're being evicted and I think that's why she said those things about Dan. Just to hear that she can still rationalize the reason she's upset is because he outplayed her. I think her last speech was half for show and half just Britney-esque.
Definitely! I think he may still have her vote if he makes it to the final two.
That's what I was thinking. I think her last speech was half for show and half just Britney-esque.
Definitely. So what is Dan's best move right now?
I go back and forth with what he's going to do. Because just the way this season has been, I feel like every week is almost like a reset, just depending on who's HOH and who wins veto. It's just like everything that happened the week before is out the window.
Very true! Do you think he threw that HOH?
I wonder... I can't wait to ask him this. You remember in his season when he won that one when he was sitting on a rope swinging into the walls? Well ever since then, he pinched a nerve in his leg and if he sits in the same position for a long time, his whole leg goes numb. Like if he's driving for more than 20 minutes, his leg goes numb. I'm wondering if that had anything to do with it.
Wow, maybe. Either way, you have to be pretty proud of the guy.
I am so proud and the reason is, and you guys all got a little insight into it, but Dan does truly love this game," she says. "So as a wife, just to see your husband succeed at something he truly loves, there's no better feeling than that. This is just so amazing because I'm so proud of him and he's reaching a goal that he would be so proud to reach, so it's awesome.
He even named Big Brother among the top 3 things in his life. And he's so good at knowing what America is thinking...
He just loves it. He's the type of person that loves a challenge. He loves competition. And he just loves Big Brother. As funny as people might find that. He just does. It's a passion of his. I mean you even see that with the time he's put into those books. Now that I'm answering his emails, I see how many people who are getting in touch with him and who have reached out in the past and he has given them tips on how to get on Big Brother. That's his true passion. He honestly put weeks and weeks straight thinking about the preplanning, and writing all those blog posts and leaving picures for me to post and reporting those videos down to writing things for me to post while he was in the sequester. And now once he's in there, I know every single thing he's saying strategically for the fans of Big Brother and for America. He is the type of guy that has every little thing planned out for a reason.
Did you watch Big Brother prior to dating Dan?
No, I didn't watch it all. The only thing I knew of Dan was he taught my brothers and my cousins at St. Mary's. So he was their teacher. So my poor brother (laughs) was in Dan's class and his teacher is dating his sister. I of course Googled him before we got set up. So I did my homework and read a lot of articles that said he was one of the nicest winners ever and this and that. To be honest, I was a little hesitant with going on a date with someone who went on reality TV (laughs). But after our first date, I was like "This is awesome. He's awesome." I never thought twice about it. But I hadn't seen anything before I met him, but then once we were dating for a while, we watched his season together which was cool.
Is Dan the same in real life as he is on TV?
The thing that is surprising about the way Dan is on the show that not many people would know is that he is a pretty shy guy. So Dan is the Dan you see on Big Brother when he's in a really small group. But if he's in a large group of people, he sits back, he's kinda the watcher, kinda taking it all in. And a lot of people are surprised by that. So I was a little bit surprised that he could be so outgoing when thousands of people are watching. But I guess you kinda forget about that once you're in there for a while. But the Dan you see on TV, not many people see in real life.
I have to ask about those shorts. He really hasn't washed them in 4 years?
It's gross (laughs), but he's a football coach and that stuff happens all the time. I have three brothers and they are boys boys and played sports forever and they've done the grossest things too. So I think it's a football thing, your lucky socks, your lucky shorts, you're not washing them. And those stinky shorts, those bathing suit shorts, I mean they sat in his drawer. And he was like, "Never wash those."
Haha! So double eviction is coming up. Are you nervous? Because I am!
I just hate double evictions because like I said before, I'm not a Big Brother expert by any means. I watched Dan's season and the past two seasons, but other than that, I'm pretty unfamiliar. But from what I've seen, most of the time, strong players go home in the double eviction. Like last season with Jeff because it was such a scramble. Everyone was like," Jeff's good. Let's get him out." I just feel like it's so rash and the unexpected can happen, which makes me so nervous. And I think it's so hard to plan out what he's going to do in the double eviction. And then the HOH after that. I'm sure Dan has though it through, but it still makes me so nervous.
What do you think will happen this week? Let us know in the comments!
Follow Sharon Tharp on Twitter: @sharontharp
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