EXCLUSIVE: Hisam Goueli Talks Betrayal, Regrets, and Bad Gameplay

Hisam Goueli
(Photo by Sonja Flemming/CBS via Getty Images)

Houseguest Hisam Goueli was evicted on the Thursday, August 24 episode of Big Brother with an 11-0 vote. Similar to last week’s evictee Reilly Smedley, Hisam’s elimination came on the heels of an HOH reign, proving that power is not always a plus in the Big Brother house.

Hisam ruled his HOH week a bit like a mad king. He made grandiose speeches, had too many demands, and got too high on the power. As a result, his allies in The Professors alliance hatched a plan to backdoor the competition beast once the power was back up for grabs.

We had the chance to catch up with Big Brother’s Hisam Goueli after his eviction to talk about betrayal, regrets, and much more.

Hisam on Being Backdoored

(Photo by Sonja Flemming/CBS via Getty Images)

When houseguest Felicia Cannon won Head of Household this week, Hisam was relieved. After all, he was in an alliance with the 63-year-old. There was no way she was going to nominate him. And she didn’t, at least not at first. When Hisam gleefully handed over his HOH key to Felicia, he had no idea there was an elaborate plan to send him packing via the backdoor method.

During the Veto ceremony, Felicia completed the backdoor plan when one of her original nominees, Jag Bains, used the Power of Veto on himself, forcing her to name a replacement nominee. She chose Hisam.

We asked Hisam to walk us through his thought process after hearing his close ally say his name at the Veto ceremony.

“The thing that I’m thinking about is how much it hurts and how disappointed I am,” he told us. “And the next thing that I think of is, why has this happened? And the third thing I think of is, what can I do to fix it?”

Hisam may have been able to avoid the block entirely if he had played his cards better the previous week. During his HOH reign, Hisam rubbed his allies the wrong way. He talked over them and didn’t seem to value their input. Additionally, word got back to Felicia, Izzy Gleicher, and Cirie Fields that Hisam was trying to form other alliances outside The Professors.

We asked Hisam if he has any regrets about his HOH week.

“Yeah, of course, I would do things differently,” he said. “You know, during my HOH, it was clear that my target was Reilly. I didn’t think that there needed to be a lot of discussion about that. But clearly, I missed that people needed to be heard since they were part of my alliance.”

Hisam told us that in retrospect, he wishes he gave his allies “more time to communicate their thoughts and feelings.”

“If I could do it over again, yeah, I would do that differently,” he added.

Hisam on Blue & Matt’s Shady Goodbye Messages

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At the end of Thursday’s episode, host Julie Chen Moonves played Hisam his goodbye messages from the houseguests. While some houseguests expressed sympathy for the fallen player, others were…less sympathetic.

Matt Klotz and Blue Kim didn’t hold back from sharing their honest thoughts about the former HOH, calling him a “liar.” Blue even went as far as to say, “I’m excited to get your lying a** out of this house.” Yikes.

We asked Hisam how he felt about Blue and Matt’s brutal goodbye messages.

“I don’t always understand them,” he said. “I think that some of [it was] just them expressing emotion, I think some of [it was] misunderstanding [about] who I was.”

He continued, “I hope I get an opportunity to talk to both of them and get some increased clarity on what they meant.”

Hisam on Who He Thinks Is Playing the Worst Game

(Photo by Sonja Flemming/CBS via Getty Images)

Before our interview ended, we had to get Hisam’s thoughts on the current state of the game. We asked the physician who he thinks is playing the best game and who he thinks is playing the worst game.

“I would say that Cory [Wurtenberger], right now, strategically, is probably in the best place,” he told us. “[He] is doing a really good job of being on the middle of both sides…He strategically put himself in the center. That will allow him to get sort of deep in the game.”

“I’m a little envious of his position. One, because he’s still in the house,” the former houseguest joked.

As for the worst player in the house, Hisam gave that title to Felicia.

“Well, I mean, I don’t think it was smart for Felicia to put me on the block, to be honest,” he revealed. “I would have done anything to save Felicia. I think that she’s vulnerable going into the next HOH. She’s vulnerable being an older adult. She’s vulnerable because she’s been on the block before. I would have done anything to save her. I’m not sure other people will stick [out] their neck as far as I did.”

TELL US – DO YOU THINK FELICIA MADE A MISTAKE BACKDOORING HISAM?

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