'Big Brother 24's' Terrance Higgins Reveals He Wanted to Keep Kyle as a "Teachable Moment"
The 47-year-old from Chicago also addresses his threat of "poisoning the jury" and his final comment towards Taylor.
Big Brother's house is open once more! Every week, Parade.com's Mike Bloom will be bringing you interviews with this season's houseguests as they get evicted from the game.
Terrance Higgins' game on Big Brother 24 shifted as much as tracks during one of his sets as "DJ Showtime." Though his personal relationships tended to stay the same, his allegiances seemed to change with the wind (something that helped him win a particularly important competition). That adaptability did get him through some chaotic moments in the house. But like a simmering crockpot, it all came to a boil against him, leading to his elimination in last night's double eviction.
Terrance walked in as the oldest houseguest this season, and his lack of early strategy talks made him one of the first nominees at the hand of Daniel Durston. Despite this, Terrance became close with the man who put him on the block and his tightest ally Nicole Layog. Simultaneously, he disliked his blockmate Taylor Hale, a relationship that will fail to improve through nine weeks in the house together. After escaping the first eviction, Terrance became part of the "Old Skool" alliance to form a new majority. Little did they know, though, that the "Leftovers" were about to take over. Terrance and his group were blindsided in Week 3 with the backdooring of him and Ameerah Jones. And though Terrance survived elimination once more, he lost his two friends in the house back-to-back.
In the first week of the jury phase, the Leftovers decided to keep Terrance over Indy Santos, feeling she was a bigger competition threat. But their logic was immediately proven wrong when he went on to win Head of Household during the brand-new split house twist. Sequestered to the backyard, he split up the "bromance" of Monte Taylor and Joseph Abdin, while receiving some key intel from Kyle Capener about the Leftovers. Unfortunately, that would not be the last information about Kyle to change Terrance's thinking. The next week, he found out about Kyle's suspicions of a "Cookout 2.0" alliance between the BIPOC houseguests. Despite feeling betrayed by race-based thinking, Terrance also expressed his disapproval of Michael Bruner and Brittany Hoopes for sitting on the information until it was convenient. When Michael won HoH the next week, Terrance made one last pitch, threatening to turn the jury against Michael if he was nominated. But ultimately, the DJ fell on deaf ears. The bus operator was bussed out on his fifth nomination of the season, which he took by simply walking out of the house without any extended goodbyes.
On his way to the jury house, Terrance talks with Parade.com about his jury comment to Michael,
Related: Everything to Know About Big Brother 24 (Including Who's Been Evicted)
You told Michael this week that you would try to turn the jury against him if he nominated you, and you've expressed that you felt a certain way about how he and Brittany chose to reveal the information they had on Kyle. What are your thoughts about him and the choice he made?
I just felt, honestly, it was pure gameplay. There's no other way to equate that with the timing. So it was just gameplay.
In the week you were HoH, you had an alliance revealed to you, a new alliance formed, then used the veto to put Kyle up next to Joseph. And at one point last week, you told Kyle he should have gone instead of Joseph. How do you look back on your time in Dyre Fest, especially after what ended up happening in the weeks after?
I think I had a great HoH at Dyre Fest. I got a lot of information revealed to me, a lot of information that I didn't know. So it was a great experience. The only thing that I would do differently is put up different nominations.
Last week, it was revealed that Kyle had suspicions about you and the other minority houseguests forming another Cookout alliance. What was your reaction to that, and how did that lead to you eventually wanting to keep Kyle over Taylor?
It made me slightly upset. But I wanted to make it a teachable moment to change the narrative that happens when this absolutely happens. So that was the only reason that my thoughts were to keep him.
You made several negative and oftentimes derogatory comments about Taylor in the house. This past week, you came to her with a pitch for you, her, and Monte to move forward together. But after getting evicted, you said you wanted to see her leave after you. Talk to me about your relationship.
I felt all season, Taylor and I have been poking at each other and wanting each other out. So that was just my last way to take a shot. That was it. It wasn't malicious in any way.
To finish, let's get your rapid-fire thoughts on the remaining houseguest. Starting with Alyssa.
Great with emotions.
Brittany.
Very attached.
Michael.
Very smart.
Monte.
Playing a clean, quiet game.
Taylor.
Once she feels a way, she feels a way.
Finally, Turner.
Turner! He's very stealthy and can fit in any room he's in. He's very flexible. I love it.
Next, check out our interview with Kyle Capener, who was evicted in Big Brother 24 Week 8.