Big Brother Canada threw caution to the wind in this week’s eviction episode. The Executive Veto was unveiled, shaking up the nominees and eventually sending Vivek Sabbarwal packing in a unanimous 8-0 vote. It was an emotional show as Vivek was forced to say goodbye. This, just one week after being manipulated into sending his closest ally, Dinis Freitas, out of the door. Reality Tea Managing Editor, Daniel Falconer, got the chance to chat to Vivek following his eviction. They spoke all about his regret in backstabbing Dinis, as well as the rest of the game. Plus, who he thinks will be sitting in the final three when BBCAN12 reaches its conclusion.
Vivek on his Big Brother Canada eviction
Daniel Falconer: I was not expecting to see you here! Now that you’ve had a little bit of time to process things, how are you feeling?
Vivek Sabbarwal: Even that little bit of time is not enough to process everything, it’s so much. My emotions are all over the place right now. I am shocked, confused, happy, filled with love … it’s all over the place. But at the end of the day it’s the game, and I’m so glad to be part of it.
Daniel: So, you’re all waiting for some sort of announcement, and Arisa pops up on the screen, sending you to the Executive Veto meeting! What’s going through your mind in this moment as the Executive Veto and its powers are revealed?
Vivek: Complete shock. This is crazy. We’re all sitting around the table and Arisa reveals that, and in my head I’m thinking, ‘Who’s gonna win this Executive Power of Veto?’ Immediately, two names come into mind: Spicy Vee or Anthony. Because I had that alliance with them that I built in my HOH, I felt like they would keep me safe and probably not use the Veto, but obviously I was wrong.
Playing BBCAN12 with two All-Stars
Daniel: Spicy Vee ended up winning the Executive Veto, why do you think that she was chosen above everybody else?
Vivek: I think Spicy’s in a really good spot in the house right now. All the girls are backing her. Even the guys, they are liking her more than any of the other girls. So, from both sides of the house, everybody seems to really like her and feel like they’re really close with her, which puts her in a really good spot.
Daniel: Right at the beginning of the game we saw all of the new players come together and say, ‘these All-Stars have had their shot, let’s get them out!’ When, or why did that change?
Vivek: I think the main reason why that perception really changed was when we found out one of them was gonna be Head of Household. If we’re gonna be talking smack about that HOH, that’s probably not a good idea. Initially in that first week, even though we had all of those assumptions when we first came, that first week we let go of it all because one of them would be Head of Household. We know it [can’t be] Spicy, so it’s gonna be one of us. At that point, it’s just everybody throwing each other’s names under the bus and hoping for the best.
A spicy regret
Daniel: Did you talk to Spicy at all after she won the Executive Veto, and before she made her decision?
Vivek: That is something that I regret right now. I really wish I got the chance to talk to her. Every time I thought I was up next, somebody would cut me off or get in front of me. It was usually Matt or one of the girls that I felt close with, so I was like, ‘It’s okay, I’ll be fine.’ I really had trust in Spicy Vee. I thought she really had my back, so I didn’t think I was gonna be the replacement. Obviously, the move she made [with] Todd was a clear indication that she wanted me to go out, because Todd and Bayleigh were definitely coming after me, as I was to them.
Vivek explains his decision to betray Dinis
Daniel: You shocked the house and Canada when you nominated Dinis for eviction and he was sent packing. In your chat with Arisa you said you now regret that move. A lot of people don’t understand that move, so can you tell us a little bit about coming to that conclusion?
Vivek: At the end of the day, Dinis is definitely my – when I said to him, ‘I’m going to the end with you,’ I really meant it. But, when I found out as HOH how the other houseguests are feeling about him, and then finding out he’s rubbing people the wrong way; and also that if I didn’t win HOH, I would be sitting on the block next to him … and then realizing that, yes, me and Dinis can really work and try to get power every week, that’s not a good plan moving forward. We need numbers.
When I got that alliance coming to me, where Kayla, Spicy and Dougie were actually coming to me … those people, I knew they had numbers behind them, so it set me up for a few weeks to be safe at least. But the one thing to show my loyalty to them is to get out Dinis. As much as I loved him, I had to get him out to prove my loyalty to them, even though in the back of my head I’m thinking, ‘Yeah they’re manipulating me, they just need me for a number,’ at least them thinking that is good in a way in that they think they can control [me]. It gives them some kind of comfort.
My full intention was, once I won HOH again to actually try to put them on the block, but obviously that turned around because they weren’t really in that alliance with me. I got what I did to Dinis, which, at the end of the day I do regret. If I was gonna go out, I’d rather go out with Dinis, rather than stabbing him in the back and then going out the week after.
Daniel: Dinis’ final speech must have been hard to hear. Do you think you can reform a friendship with him on the outside?
Vivek: Dinis told me multiple times before leaving, it’s gonna be very difficult for [him] to forgive, but he wants me to keep trying. ‘Reach out as many times as you can, and hopefully I will find the heart to forgive you.’ I’m gonna do exactly that. I will reach out to Dinis every single day until he responds, and I know I’m gonna see him at finale. I really have a strong feeling that our love and our friendship is not over yet.
How the other Houseguests are playing the game
Daniel: You said in your exit interview with Arisa that the remaining Houseguests don’t want “to shuffle what’s going on with their alliances.” Could you expand on that a little bit?
Vivek: It really seems like the house is going with whatever Anthony and Spicy Vee really want, and it seems like both of them are the heads of their own alliances. Anthony’s really got the guys on lock right now with Matthew and Tola. Spicy really has the girls on lock in terms of Kayla, Bayleigh, and Avery also. The fact that Todd is attached to Bayleigh is another number for Spicy Vee.
Whatever those two decides, the house pretty much goes with. Anybody that votes against them is seen as target number one. When you look at the last three people now who have gone, they’ve had an idea or said something bad about either Anthony or Spicy Vee.
Daniel: Your bust-up with Bayleigh was one for the books! Did you think that beef was squashed, or was there always some underlying tension there?
Vivek: Yeah, even though we tried to squash it, it was just for the game. Both of us looked at each other and we knew we were coming after each other. There was no repairing that.
What if things were different for Vivek, and who could win Big Brother Canada Season 12?
Daniel: Do you think the move of sending you home draws a line in the sand?
Vivek: Absolutely not, in fact it was unanimous. Still, the house is voting the way [Anthony and Spicy Vee] want to, and there’s no sides picked yet. Until either Anthony or Spicy have to reveal their hands through an HOH or a Veto, the lines are gonna be blurry. It’s unfortunate. But, I really hope, even though I know somebody is gonna go home, they get the chance to show those hands.
Daniel: In an alternate universe where you stay in the game and win the next HOH, who are you putting up on the block and targeting for eviction?
Vivek: It would definitely be Bayleigh. And if the POV was used on Bayleigh it’d be good, because I’d put Anthony up. The person beside them, that is the tough part. Because even if Anthony or Spicy Vee are on the block, they would still have the numbers to stay inside the game. So the only way I can actually think about either of them going home is to put both of them up on the block.
Daniel: Who do you think has what it takes to go all the way to the final three?
Vivek: I think Spicy Vee, Anthony, and I think Kayla.
Big Brother Canada Season 12 airs three nights a week. New episodes broadcast every Sunday at 9 p.m., Tuesday at 7 p.m. and Wednesday at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT.
This interview has been edited for conciseness and clarity.
TELL US – WERE YOU SHOCKED TO SEE VIVEK EVICTED FROM BIG BROTHER CANADA? WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE EXECUTIVE VETO TWIST?
