(Courtesy of CBS)

Celebrity Big Brother has hit the scene! After every eviction, Parade’s Mike Bloom interviews the latest celebrity to leave the Big Brother house.

The cast that made up Celebrity Big Brother covered a wide variety of fields of notoriety. It ranged from people who had their most prominent work back in the day, like Shannon Elizabeth in American Pie or Mark McGrath in the very specific situation where he opened for The Rolling Stones after “Every Morning” hit #1 on the Billboard charts, to someone like Omarosa, whose name had been popping up in the news after since she first hit the screen in 2004. Ariadna Gutierrez sticks out among them, as she may be the only celebrity known not for something she did, but something did to her. The 24-year-old model and beauty queen was involved in the most controversial moment in Miss Universe history when she was given the crown by mistake and asked to give it back in a quick mea culpa. Perhaps it was her infamy that informed Ariadna’s major successes in the Celebrity Big Brother house. She wasn’t going to let things happen to her anymore; she was going to make things happen.

When Ariadna entered the house, she fell in quickly with the women, who had been corraled together by Shannon and Omarosa. They, along with Ross Mathews, formed a united front against the rest of the house. She was picked to play in the first Veto competition and got her first taste of real Big Brother when after coming in last place, her and James Maslow (ironically enough the youngest contestants in the house) were put in baby costumes and subjected to crawling the rest of the week. Despite her physical position, she was standing tall strategically speaking. She was part of the new alliance Shannon had culled together when she grew suspicious of Omarosa and Keshia Knight-Pulliam, and all the while she was growing closer to real housewife Brandi Glanville (who was herself growing closer to the end of the wine supply). When Ross won Head of Household, it seemed like the alliance would stick with the plan of going after the outsiders. But Ari and Brandi had other ideas, pitching to Ross and Marissa Jaret Winokur that now was the time to cut Shannon loose before she took control of the ship. They were successful in convincing Shannon’s closest allies to turn against her, but unsuccessful in the actual execution of the plan, as Keshia’s decision to leave the house nullified Marissa’s Veto win. Despite this momentary setback, Ari felt the literal wind in her sails as she put up a hole-y performance in the “Get Your Putt in Gear” HoH competition. Now the keeper of the keys, she decided not to tempt fate and put Shannon up directly alongside her new ally James. With Shannon out of the house, all seemed primed for Ari, Brandi, Ross, and Marissa to run the house.

Unfortunately for the dominant quartet, that run was about to slow to a jog very soon. The worst-case scenario happened when Omarosa won the next HoH competition. She aimed straight for the center of their alliance, putting Ross and Brandi up against each other with a suspicious wink thrown Marissa’s way for good measure. She promised Ari safety, but when Ross won a crucial Veto competition, it seemed like the same could not be guaranteed for her allies. Brandi was luckily saved by Metta World Peace’s decision to make like an owl and fly. But, much like what happened a week prior, the main plan was only put temporarily in stasis. When Mark became HoH, he took specific aim at breaking up Ari and Brandi due to a deal with Marissa and Ross, making the model walk to the nomination chair for the first time. Luckily, her time there was limited, as her hours unintentionally studying the faces of her fellow houseguests while doing their hair and makeup made her a shoe-in when she faced a mish-mash of action figures in the Veto competition. Though she was safe, Ari was still primed to lose her closest ally and Brandi, knowing her fate, passed her Big Brother daughter to a new stepmother in the form of Omarosa. The two grew closer over the next few days, which helped keep her in the clear when Omarosa won HoH during the double eviction night. Despite being safe at that moment, the stakes became immediately clear. Ari was the only one who could compete on behalf of both of them in the next competition; if she lost, there was a near-certain chance the two of them would go up. Ari performed admirably as she clung to her flying skis, but she eventually fell into the snow below, while Omarosa witnessed herself getting snowed over in seeing Mark and Ross make a deal for safety. Ross was finally able to accomplish his long-term goal of getting rid of Omarosa, putting Ari in another must-win scenario in the final HoH competition. She stayed in it with the other competitors until the final question, when a last-minute change put her out of contention for the power and, by proxy, a spot in the final two. She could only watch as Marissa picked Ross to join her in the finals (a move that she admits she would have done as well to honor his protection of her the entire competition), as she and Mark moved from nomination chairs to jury chairs in a mere two minutes.

Now out of the house, Ariadna talks with me about how she struggled with trying not to lie, what she found in Brandi as an alliance mate, and the whereabouts of her baby costume from the first week.

Let’s start with where the season ended. What made you decide to cast your jury vote for Marissa?

(Laughs.) That’s a very good question. During the show and the final day, I promised Ross that I would take him to the finals if I had the opportunity. When I went out, and I saw all the jury, talking about everything Ross did inside the house that I didn’t know, I started thinking, “Oh my God, [I have to vote for] Marissa.” First of all, she was a woman. Second of all, the whole season she was the most honest with me, she was always true to herself with me. She was very kind to me, and she took care of me when I had the crazy baby punishment. She would take care of me all the time like a mama bird. And so I was like, “Okay, she needs to win. She deserves it.” She was so hard on herself because she didn’t think she could win. So I thought, “Okay, she deserves this, and we’re going to give this to her.”

I know there was a lot of whispering going on in the jury when you were getting up to vote. Was that talk about Ross that you mentioned before the subject of discussion?

Yes. It definitely bumped me [in the other direction]. I knew something was going on in the house; I knew he had other alliances. I never confronted him because I didn’t want to create more controversy and drama. But I knew something was happening in the house. We were [in] the first alliance we made with Brandi and Marissa. So I was bummed out by that. But in the end, he won as well. He got second place, which is amazing, and he played an incredible game. So I was happy for him too.

What made you want to take him to the final two, had you won that final HoH?

During the game, I stayed true to my word, myself, and my friendships. He asked me, and I said, “I will take you no matter what.” I was sure I could win in front of the jury, and he was my closest friend after Brandi. So I was like, “It’s ok, I can take you. It’s a pleasure for me if I can take you to the finals.

Let’s talk about your game. I know that going into the house, you talked about how you’re a bad liar and you hate people who betray you. How much did you struggle with that in the house?

(Laughs.) It [was] pretty hard. You want to stay true to yourself, your beliefs, and your personality. But when you have ten people coming to you every single time and (Chattering noises.) and “He said this” and “She said that” it’s hard. There’s doubt sometimes. But I think my game was basically [staying] true to myself, believing my friends, trying not to lie the whole game. Which I think I did, even though it’s very hard. I mean, I made it [to the final four], and I feel proud because I didn’t have to lie and betray my friends. So I’m proud of that.

One of those friends was Brandi, your tightest ally in the game. What did you think made you two become such a solid pair?

People were saying, “Oh my God! Why are you with her all the time?!” I think I’m totally the opposite of Brandi’s personality. (Laughs.) But I think that’s what I like about her. I’m very honest, and I like honest and straightforward people. And she will always tell you the truth! (Laughs.) Even though most of the time she was awful to everybody. I didn’t care about that. I don’t judge; we’re humans, we’re not perfect. So I like that she was super honest and sincere. She was like a mama bear with me; she was very protective and taking care of me all the time. I really love her for that.

I talked with her before about how she felt the two of you worked as a pair, and she mentioned that you filled in each other’s gaps. For example, she may be more vocal and abrasive, while you are more calculating and observing. Do you agree with that?

She definitely cannot keep anything to herself, (Laughs.) and I definitely can listen. I tried to think more about talking. I prefer first analyzing something, then saying something. She cannot keep anything to herself though; I think that’s the difference between us. (Laughs.)

How important was observation to your game?

I think the most important thing in the house during the first day is observation. Not only because you’re listening to all the craziness [the houseguests] are saying, but you’re listening to their strategies. They’re talking about competitions too, so you’re grabbing onto the most important stuff from every single conversation. By staring and observing, I won one of the most important Veto competitions when I was on the block: the action figures one! It [let] me win one of the most important competitions; staring at people saved me. I think it’s pretty important. But you have to do it naturally because they’re going to suspect you. (Laughs.)

Yeah, there were a few times during the game where we would see people talk about how smart you were. Did you have any idea how big of a threat you were appearing?

No! I was like, “Thank God my first language isn’t English, so they could say, ‘Maybe she doesn’t understand.'” (Laughs.) I would always pay attention to everything, and if they asked me, I would say, “Yeah” very shorthanded, because I didn’t want to put a target on my back in the first days. I think it worked, but at the same time, it’s who I am. In the real world, I don’t like to talk crazy right away; I prefer to observe and analyze before I say something that I don’t mean to.

Speaking to that, was your plan going into the house just to be yourself? Can you only be yourself in the Big Brother house?

Yes, definitely. I will never change the person I am for money or a prize. It’s my persona; it’s the way I feel and the way I was raised. I will never change my values and compromise them for a prize. I have people who follow me and have followed me before anything, so I cannot let them down. I have a very hard time with lies and changing my perspective on lies. I don’t think I could do it.

After Brandi leaves, Omarosa ends up being the person you trusted in the most. How did that end up happening?

Omarosa, since Day 1, was one of the kindest and nicest people in the house with me. She was always nice to me. People tell me every single day, “Don’t trust her, she’s this. She’s done this.” But I’m like, “She has been very kind to me and very nice to me, even though she may have said a few lies.” But in general, she was always true to me. I felt I could trust her in the end. When she got the opportunity to backdoor me, she didn’t do it. She saved me and backdoored James instead, which was one of the biggest threats left in the house. So she did us a huge favor. There’s nothing bad I can say about her.

You went into the game with this tough situation with your father being hospitalized. There was a truly beautiful moment when you got a message from him on the TV screen during a live show and broke down in tears. How difficult was it for you play the game when you have something like that looming so large on the outside? Or did it make you stronger instead?

It definitely made me stronger. But I had a few days where I could find myself crying or waking up in the middle of the night, thinking that something horrible happened to my father, like a nightmare. You definitely overthink during your time in the house, so sometimes I had a pretty hard time [and] sometimes it made me stronger. I think that was my goal: to make them feel part of me. It definitely made me stronger, but it was hard, let me tell you. It was hard, and I had some days where I was like, “Oh my God. I need to get out of here.” I’m not a quitter, so I kept trying!

Last thing I want to ask you: what are the chances your next modeling campaign is going to contain a baby outfit, considering how much you rocked it that first week?

(Laughs.) Oh, my God, I hope not!

Leave that in the house!

Believe me; I left it in the house! I didn’t bring it with me.