Having been awarded the immunity eye by his fellow housemates, Big Brother Australia contestant Marley Biyendolo is now one step closer to winning the $250,000 prize money and now has a significant advantage as the final days of the competition approach.
Perhaps it was his time in lockdown in Melbourne (which was currently in once more at the time of our chat) that prepared him to go so far in the Big Brother house — and he knows exactly which one he would choose to do again if given the opportunity.
“There was no better preparation for us in Victoria than to go through two weeks of quarantine before being locked down in a bloody madhouse,’ he laughed during an interview with POPSUGAR Australia.
“I would definitely take the Big Brother house over quarantine though because at least we get a little bit of excitement — especially with Danny Hayes in the house kind of roaring things up. I’d definitely take that over quarantine.”
On the topic of Hayes, who worked tirelessly to earn Biyendolo’s trust only to pull the rug out from under him twice, the semi-professional basketballer remains characteristically pragmatic.
“Danny played it in a certain way — deceiving and manipulating, being kind of aggressive and making deals and from a gamesmanship point of view I can appreciate and respect that.”
“I was obviously very disappointed at the fact that Danny didn’t stick to his word he likes to preach, but at the end of the day, there’s no perfect way to play this game — you can play the game however you want.
Danny played it in a certain way — deceiving and manipulating, being kind of aggressive and making deals and from a gamesmanship point of view, I can appreciate and respect that. It just wasn’t the game I was playing.”
As most viewers would surely think that winning the immunity eye would be a dream come true, they may have been surprised to see SJ adamantly refusing to have it bestowed upon her. Biyendolo shed some light on this explaining, “For SJ, at this point in the game, she’s had a lot of luck come her way and I think that she feels this is bringing a target onto her back.
‘”She got evicted where she got placed in the attic, she got head of the house so I think she felt she had created a target on her back from her housemates. So, getting the eye was something she was afraid of because she wanted to get to the end of this thing independently and without having any handouts.”
For Biyendolo, however, the eye represents the farthest thing from a handout and is actually the result of playing the game with the utmost integrity and something he appreciates “with all my heart”.
“I’ve been an honest guy through and through this whole time, and I think that gained a lot of respect within this house and in this game, and I think people just kind of wanted to show and share that respect with me,” he said.
“From my heart, I appreciate the fact that they kind showed that because it means that the person I’m being within this game is being noticed, and it is being appreciated.”
