Big Brother’s house is open once more! Every week, Parade’s Mike Bloom will be bringing you interviews with houseguests as they get evicted from the game.

[WARNING! The last couple of questions for this interview reveal the winner of the next Head of Household competition, which was not completed on last night’s eviction show. Please look out for the warning further down if you do not wish to be spoiled before Sunday’s episode.]

Just like Batman and Robin or Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn, the Big Brother 20 house has been filled with pairs. Unfortunately, these dynamic duos have not functioned as well as their fictional counterparts, with every week seeing one member of the pair leave, while the other rises through the ranks solo. First, Steve Arienta got blindsided, leaving Scottie Salton to grow power as well as a goatee with his Head of Household victory. In Week 2, Chris “Swaggy C” Williams walked out the door with T-shirts in hand, while his sister/bedmate Bayleigh Dalton earned the final power from the BB App Store. And the trilogy completed itself this week, when Winston Hines got the boot over his beloved bro Brett Robinson, shellshocked as he walked out of the house with nary a hug.

The medical sales rep walked into through Big Brother’s doors a month ago, locked and loaded to play. He became the architect for the alliance that would soon dub themselves “Level 6” with himself, Brett, Angela Rummans, Rachel Swindler, Kaycee Clark and Tyler Crispen. It was only a matter of time before Winston and Brett would become as inseparable as a band like ABBA. They worked out together, whitened their teeth together and even gave themselves the names “Brad and Chad.” The good times kept coming when Tyler was able to get Sam Bledsoe on their side with her Bonus Life power in hand, as well as swing Kaitlyn Herman away from her “FOUTTE” alliance. But the man who declared himself pre-season to be “Mr. Good Time Charlie” was about to show how quickly his smile could turn into a grimace of paranoia.

When Kaitlyn won the next HoH, she and Tyler came up with a way to work both sides of the house, as well as backdoor their prime target Swaggy C. She put up Winston to appease her old allies, specifically Swaggy C, and Scottie as a willing pawn. Luckily, all went according to schedule; Scottie went down, and Swaggy went up and out. But Winston couldn’t let out a sigh of relief before Scottie found himself shipping up to the HoH bedroom. He was eyeing Brett and Winston as a pair, and their target only intensified when he discovered Winston had lied to him about voting to keep Steve in the first eviction. Getting caught sent Winston into an emotional tailspin, culminating in his railing against Scottie after being nominated. After losing the Veto–due mostly because his stacking glasses was as delicate as his handling of being nominated–he dreamed up a last-minute Hail Mary. The bros approached Scottie under cover of darkness, proposing a final three deal and putting up Kaitlyn as a renomination to appease both sides of the house. But someone else was dreaming as well, as Kaitlyn’s premonition about her targeting led to a confrontation in the kitchen. Though Scottie did not go through with the pitch, Winston was still confident that Brett was too threatening and made too many waves to stay. But little did he know that his own alliance had decided to cut bait with Winston, feeling he was a weaker ally regarding competition prospects and tact. Though Brett gave yet another rousing speech on eviction night, Winston shockingly left in a close 6-5 vote, a poem never read in his back pocket.

Now out of the house, Winston talks to Parade.com about why he chose not to go with his original speech, how he tried to handle his emotions, and what his reactions are to the new Head of Household.

So I noticed when you found out you were evicted, you hugged Brett, then walked out, refusing to acknowledge anyone else. Why did you choose to do that?

With the votes, I knew my alliance turned their back on me. I knew Tyler and them lied to my face, and that was upsetting. I didn’t want to hug them goodbye. At that point in time, I’m mad; I’m frustrated, and like I [told Julie] I hope they crash and burn. I was mad.

Why not hug the five people that keep you safe? Or were you trying to be an “equal opportunity offender” and give everyone the cold shoulder instead?

Exactly [what] I wanted! I hope it came off that way. It was an equal opportunity here. It was like, “You know what? You guys are going to stab me; I’m going to walk right out. I’m not even going to look at you guys. You’re not getting in a last hug in with me.” [Laughs.] It was genuine. I said, “Good luck” to Brett and then walked out. I’m still wrapping my head around as to why they kept Brett, but I guess they think he was a bigger target and going to keep the heat off of them. That’s the way I rationalize it in my head.

After Brett’s speech targeted at Rockstar [Lantry], you pulled an audible with your own eviction speech, saying you chose not to read a poem and instead give an ode to Brett. Was that prompted by Brett’s words?

Every single thing leading up to that point was calculated. I had a speech at that point planned out. “Roses are red. Violets are blue.” I was going to rip Scottie a new one. [Laughs.] Air some dirty laundry and have fun with it. I thought, “If this is going to be my speech, I’m going to air out all kinds of dirty secrets here.” However, I knew going to the [eviction chairs] and sitting down, I felt pretty confident I was going to stay. I had this gut feeling of, “You know what? If I go heartfelt here, maybe I can work with Scottie next week.” I didn’t want to offend anyone. So here I am, walking on eggshells again, then Brett stands up and does some crazy speech throwing Rockstar under the bus. I’m thinking at that point, “He’s painting an even bigger target!” That’s where my head was at.

Going back to your previous answer, from what we saw at home, it appeared that “Level 6” wanted to save Brett and “FOUTTE” wanted to get rid of Brett because he was both better in competitions and more even-keeled. How do you react to that?

No, not necessarily. I’m frustrated with the way the competitions played out, just because there wasn’t anything to play to my skill set. But that’s just part of Big Brother. You can watch these seasons all day, [but] the moment you’re in there, things happen. Brett didn’t get to play in many either. [It was] frustrating, but I tried to play the cards of “He is a bigger threat, get him out now.” I was looking for any reason to stick [around]. So every one-on-one and conversation I had, I played that card.

[With regards to my reactions], that’s their own opinion. I tried to do what I could with hiding my emotions. Maybe I wear it too much on my sleeve, but ultimately you’re going to be yourself in this house. It’s hard to play 24/7. I realize now that half the time I was in the house, I was on the block. So here I am, walking on eggshells, trying to make sure my face was a certain way throughout the day. It was extremely exhausting.

You came into the game pretty confident that you could remain cool under pressure. But the past couple of weeks, we’ve seen a certain amount of paranoia and anger out of you. What caused that?

The first couple of weeks, we’re waiting for some big twist to send some vet into the house. [Laughs.] So we all [have] a heightened sense of paranoia, and it especially got to me. Then the moment Kaitlyn threw me up [on the block], I knew my entire strategy was thrown. HEre I am on the block in the second week. It was not ideal; I had to adapt. I knew every conversation, whether genuine or game, was part of my strategy. So every conversation I’m having, I’m trying to separate [in] my brain, “Is this is a real, genuine conversation, or this game-related in some way?”

I would argue you were at your most emotional after Scottie nominated you. You certainly did not mince words, both in front of him and in private. What caused you to have that reaction?

What made me so mad was that he voted for me to stay! [Laughs.] Then I had a conversation with 3:00 A.M. the night before, hanging out in the HoH room. We’re chit-chatting like normal; my name’s not coming up. Then he’s going to blindside me with this nomination. That was all genuine. I tried to bite my tongue, and obviously, I didn’t do a great job. I understood his logic, he made a great move, and it paid out for him. My hat tips to him; that’s part of Big Brother. I do think he made too big of a move too early. Especially the way he handled our two-on-one talk, offering him that deal and then him running and telling Kaitlyn everything. People are going to remember that. I thought he was playing a great game, now not so much.

Let’s talk about that pitch you made to Scottie, a final three with the two of you and Brett. Did you have any intention of actually sticking through with that if Scottie agreed to it and put up Kaitlyn?

Yeah! The best part about that plan is that [Brett and I] would be able to decide. If he bit and kept us, we would be able to decide if we wanted to work with him or not. We had the numbers regardless to get him out if we needed. It was the best scenario for us, but we truly thought it was a great scenario for him. Nobody would see Scottie and me working together at that point! I think we could have flown under the radar with a deal like that. I knew it was a last-ditch effort, and I wasn’t going to go down without at least presenting him that and trying. The fact that he didn’t bite sucks, but I would have been even madder if I hadn’t presented it.

Talk to me about the situation where you lied to Scottie that you and Brett voted to keep Steve in Week 1, only for Sam to say the opposite later on. Did that contribute to you guys getting targeted?

Oh, man. That was extremely tough to balance. But I do believe Scottie bought my lie. He even told me he did; right after the nominations, he said, “Look, man, [your story] checks out. Being honest, I just can’t beat you.” And I respect that, [even though ] I was angry in the moment. Sam going up and blowing my cover, typical Sam. [Laughs.] I love the girl, but she doesn’t know the game that well. She went up and released some information, and I wish she wouldn’t have. But I covered it up with a lie, and I think Scottie bought it. I don’t know if that necessarily played into him putting me up. I’m sure it did a little bit, but not the majority. I think more so he saw we had relationships in the house and he wanted us up.

You made a concentrated effort not to campaign against Brett until a day or so leading up to the eviction. Looking back, do you regret not doing that sooner?

No. I did it exactly the way I should have. We waited until the day before to really separate and do this. I knew after the blow-up with [Brett] and Kaitlyn, I didn’t necessarily have to campaign as hard. I knew I was getting those five votes. I knew from that moment on, the bigger target he paints on his back, the better for me. So Kaitlyn did my campaigning for me at that point. I knew I just needed that sixth vote.

Let’s say you ended up staying, having gotten that sixth vote. Knowing how “Level 6” would have tried to turn on you, would you have instead embraced those who kept you?

I definitely would have. I would not have gone back on that. I told everybody, “Look, I’ll remember who votes for me, and that will weigh heavily in the future.” You can speculate and try to strategize all day, but if I had stayed and would have been frustrated that my alliance flipped on me, that would have made for an awkward next week. You better believe it.

That being said, were you eyeing anyone for the end game besides Brett as possible close allies?

Tyler is playing a great game, fiddling [with] both sides. Nobody knows that he and I were working together, it was great. It made sense for him to keep me, that was my pitch. I would love to run with him. However, I do think with him drawing the line here, he’s not going to last now. Kaitlyn and that side will have a vendetta against Tyler for switching the vote. So ultimately, I think he made a bad long-term move. But [as] a short-term move, he had the numbers, and he wanted to do it. But I know that if they didn’t win the HoH last night, they’re in trouble.

How much do you think you getting targeted in the beginning was caused by Swaggy being so vocally against you? In his time in the house, he was constantly jockeying to get you up on the block.

What did I do? [Laughs.] I barely talked to the kid. Night One he had a house meeting, and I wasn’t involved. I know [his targeting] didn’t help my game. I don’t know what I did to rub him wrong at the very beginning, but it was obvious I was targeted from the time I walked into the house.

What was your take on the scuffle between Kaitlyn and Brett after she found out about the meeting you had?

I was involved, that’s what’s so funny to me! [Laughs.] I was involved in that conversation. I was the primary suspect! [Laughs.] I love Kaitlyn, and I think we’ll get along well outside of the house. Crazy personality. But I know her and Brett had this whole special relationship; they were a little closer than her and me. So when she came down the stairs, she just zeroed in on Brett. And I just stepped back and watched. It was a Top Gun situation, like Maverick and Goose. We’re going down and my parachute’s working, and yours isn’t. It was an interesting little dynamic in the kitchen. [Laughs.]

I know you talked with Julie [Chen] about your relationship with Brett. But what in particular made him such a compelling ally and friend?

We’re very similar. We both came from a similar background; we’re both in sales. We just kind of clicked. Beyond that, we both came to play. When we started talking game, we were in the same breath saying the same thing. I knew from that moment on, he would be my confidante and “ride or die.” We talked about if we hid in plain sight, maybe this could work. Play up the stupidity, hope everybody’s buying that “They’re just here for a good time, they’re not here to play.” But ultimately, it led to my demise. Honestly, I wouldn’t have done anything differently. I could have wound up in the same situation if we weren’t bros, so it is what it is.

What about Sam? You discarded her friendship bracelet once you found out she voted to evict you.

I’m pretty mad, man! I love her to death, and I can’t say enough sweet things about her. She’s a very sweet girl; she was the house mom, cooking and cleaning. But she’s playing a different game, or she doesn’t know what game she’s playing. I was very frustrated. I knew she had a Power App. I don’t know what it could have done, but again I’m walking on eggshells trying to get Brett to have that conversation with her. I’m trying to get him to have a one-on-one with her because I knew if Sam gets pushed in the wrong direction, she can be vocal and not vote for me. So here I was, trying to influence Brett because I’m thinking, “The bigger target he has on his back, the better chances [I have].” I was trying right up until the vote.

[SPOILER ALERT! Information about the next Head of Household is below. Please do not continue if you do not wish to know the winner of last night’s competition]

Well, I will disclose to you that Sam is the new HoH.

You’re lying to me! Sam is the new HoH. She won some endurance comp last night; you’re kidding me. Oh my gosh, that is awesome! That’s hilarious.

I’m not! So how do you think the week will look with her in power?

This could be the weirdest week in Big Brother history. She didn’t even understand what to do! [Laughs.] Oh man, that’s great. I don’t’ know what she’ll do. I know she had a little argument with Kaitlyn; I can see her putting her up. It’s about time some of these girls feel the wrath of being on the block. But I know Tyler and them will have a huge influence over Sam because they all voted for her to stay. It will be interesting. I feel “Level 6” might have the power to manipulate her into doing what they want. But Sam’s a wildcard; she might do her own thing.