‘Big Brother 19’ First Evictee Opens Up About His Early Exit

Cameron Heard’s Big Brother journey has come to a short and not-so-sweet end. 

Heard’s stint on the reality show juggernaut only lasted a mere 12 hours, before he even had time to memorize any of his competitors’ names. Due to the first-ever “Big Brother Swap” twist, the return of season 18 runner-up Paul Abrahamian sent the microbiologist packing. And how everything went down shocked both viewers and executive producers Allison Grodner and Rich Meehan. 

“It was very surprising to us,” Meehan tells The Hollywood Reporter about the choices made on night one that left Heard meeting host Julie Chen again sooner than he thought he would. Sitting on the nomination block, Heard, Christmas Abbott and Jillian Parker had the choice of either competing or leaving their fate in the hands of the house for the first-ever eviction vote.

Heard chose to fight it out in a competition, but was outnumbered by the other two who opted for a vote instead. That left the superfan facing an early eviction and a similar fate to past houseguests Jodi Rollins and Glenn Garcia, who were also ousted before truly having a chance to play the game. Says Garcia about this recurring twist throughout the show, “You never get to see our full potential on how we could have played. I totally can relate and I feel his pain.”

Below, Heard opens up to THR about what went wrong and how tough it was to see his game end so fast. 

Why do you think Christmas chose a live vote instead of a competition? As a superfan, was that a bad move for all of you?

Christmas and Jillian obviously made the right decision because they’re sitting inside, and I’m sitting outside. I’m not surprised by Jillian’s’ decision, but I’m still confused by Christmas’ decision. 

Kevin called you out on night one saying that you looked nervous. What was going through your mind after what he said to you?

Immediately, I was confused and angry because I was wondering what he was doing, trying to make us threats. I didn’t want anyone hearing those ridiculous statements. Also, he kept calling me “IllinoiS.” Dude, there is a silent “S”!

Why do you think the majority of the house voted you out? Did they know you were a superfan? 

No, I played down my fandom. I told them I watched a few seasons. They were threatened by my microbiology background and intimidated by how smart I was, not anything else.

How crushed were you after your eviction? How many times did you cry about having to leave? 

(Laughs.) There’s a pit in your stomach. You want to throw up and you can’t believe you’re walking out of the house 12 hours in. I had nightmares of the exact same scenario. I cried probably a dozen times in the first 48 hours. I’m getting back to my old self, but it definitely took some time. 

Do you think you’ll ever be able to play the game again?

I don’t think anyone who has been evicted first has been asked back, so it breaks my heart that it happened to me. However, I would 100 percent come back if I were asked. In terms of playing differently, I didn’t get to play at all! I didn’t get to build the relationships with people, which is what you need to do in Big Brother to stay alive! 

Were you sad to see Cameron go? Do you think the series should get rid of this early evictee twist? Sound off in the comments section below and stay tuned to The Live Feed for all things Big Brother.