Did you know it’s been 13 long years since a woman won Big Brother Australia? It’s a fact Big Brother finalist Christina Podolyan shared with POPSUGAR Australia as we chatted about her time in the house and what makes her the most deserving winner.
“I think every single one of us is a deserving winner, but to be honest, it’s been 13 years since a female won Big Brother, and that is not normal,” she said, calling it “predictable and boring” to have back-to-back male winners.
In fact, this was “one of the main reasons” Christina decided to keep fellow housemate Sarah Jane “SJ” Adams when they went into the top four, because, as she put it, “it’s about time that a chick takes this out”.
“It shouldn’t be normalised anymore that guys just keep winning,” she said. “Things really need to change, like come on! It’s time, and now that there’s a 66% chance that a chick can win this, I would be so frickin happy.”
As for why the Australian public should vote for her over SJ and their fellow top three finalist Marley Biyendolo, Christina believes she’s the underdog of the season.
“I’m a 21-year-old woman, un-athletic, hates the gym, competing against some of the best athletes in the country!” she exclaimed. “I carried myself to the end of the game.
“Even if that meant having to stick it out in a challenge for five-and-a-half hours, I kept trying to flip the power and keep things interesting and unpredictable and entertaining,” she said. “I think that’s why I deserve it, because I really gave it my all.”
Christina said that there was a point in the game where she “never, ever” thought she’d make it all the way to the final three, because she played most of the game with a target on her back.
“I’ve never really had any advantages in the game, I’ve never won anything, I’ve never won any crazy prizes from it, and I had to replay my wins that I won fair and square,” she explained.
“I’m the only person who’s had my own back since the beginning. I had my back against the wall and I think I got myself to the end on my own.”
In fact, watching the show back and seeing Ari Kimber plot to evict her, she realised she “really was on [her] own for half the game”, making her spot in the top three feel even more remarkable.
“I thought Ari was my best friend in the house!” she exclaimed. “Watching it back I’m texting him like ‘you’re bloody lucky I love you now!’ Every time I was up on that eviction chair, he couldn’t wait to send me home!”
Christina went on to say that she’s proud of the game she’s played, because “no matter how much [she] was sinking”, she played honestly and with her integrity intact.
Instead, Christina’s strategy was to make her fellow housemates underestimate her so that she could fly under the radar for as long as possible, and it was a game plan she “executed perfectly”.
“My strategy was epically failing the first 15 or so challenges so badly, to the point where I don’t come across as a physical threat, and then start winning them toward the end,” she revealed.
“People were thinking, ‘well, what’s the point of evicting her, she’s useless anyway!’, and that was brilliant,” she said. “They underestimated me, they didn’t think much of me, and that was perfect for my strategy.”
The strategic move she’s most proud of, however, was pulling out all the stops in the gruelling, five-and-a-half-hour endurance challenge in order to nominate Jess Trend, one of the biggest players in the house.
“If I hadn’t [nominated her], I truly don’t think anyone else would’ve, because everybody was scared of her,” she explained. “She had so much power in the game, and I think they were really scared that the target would be on them.”
Of course, in the Big Brother house, you can never relax, and Christina spent the next week “sleeping with one eye open”.
“I couldn’t sleep for probably a week, because I thought she was in a bunker above me!” she recalled. “I was just waiting for her to get back in and assassinate me again!”
In fact, there was a point in the game where Christina wondered if she was “the jinx”.
“Twice, when there were challenges I won, the people either became Head of House, or they got back into the game,” she laughed. “So I was thinking ‘maybe I am the jinx in this game’, you know? Maybe every time I win a challenge, the twist is that that person doesn’t go home!”
“I haven’t played this game by being too rewarded,” she said. “I just did the best I could with it, and winged it.”
The Big Brother Australia live finale airs tonight at 7.30pm on Channel 7 and 7 Mate.
