Matt entered the house drawing a lot of eyes, as not only the most physical presence but the first Deaf contestant in the show’s history. Despite his difficulty hearing conversations making him feel on the outside, he made a close connection early on with Reilly Smedley. As the game went on, Matt began to gain steam, building social capital with his friendliness and easygoing nature, eventually translating into strategic power.
In Week 4, Matt won his first competition and a game-changing advantage to save an evicted player. And with Jag set to go out the door unanimously, he used it immediately, locking in his official number one ally. Of course that didn’t mean Matt wasn’t entertaining other relationships, becoming quite close with Survivor legend Cirie Fields.
When the jury hit, it was time for the Minutemen to clock in. They scooped up Bowie Jane at a crucial moment and, together, the three ran the table in competitions until the end. Though Matt never cooked or cleaned, his game was cooking as he was cleaning up the competition, as he and Jag worked to take out the physical threats.
Matt hit his first stumbling block of the season when Jag and Bowie got rid of Cirie on his HoH. But it only locked him in more with Jag, and it was reciprocated when Jag kept him safe in both the Final Four and Final Three. Sitting in the finale, many fans thought Matt had this in the bag, as he had more relationships with the jury and had not been evicted. But Matt struggled to own up to his game in his answers, failing to dispute the notion that he did anything separate from Jag. As a result, he left the house empty-handed, though was happy to get a hopeful consolation prize on a date with Reilly.
Hours after the Big Brother 25 finale, Matt speaks with Parade.com about how much the final results surprised him, how he looks back on his choice to save Jag, his comments in the house about Cory and America, and his impact as the first Deaf houseguest.
“That’s like worst case scenario to happen. I always had that in my head. Like, “What if it’s me and Jag, and Jag wins in the end?” That’s almost the perfect storyline where someone uses power to save someone and they win in the end. Ultimately, I think I’m still glad I used it. I needed it to show good things, People thought it was a scary thing. But for me, it showed that I was a loyal person. I was willing to protect the people I was working with. And that’s how I tried to turn myself in this game; I was a loyal hard worker and a team player. And that power showed that, because I didn’t use it selfishly”. He said.
“So using that power, I could take it back. But it was also in my strategic gameplay. I was trying to show everyone I was a team player, a loyal player. And, because people started finding out that I did this, it was kind of good, because people are like, “Oh, I want to work with him. He’s loyal. And he’s a team player.” So that helped my game. Ultimately, had I not done that, Jag is gone. I don’t know who I would have worked closely with and trusted 100%. And no one would have known. Everyone would just keep thinking of me as a physical threat and the only physical threat in the house because Jag would have been gone. So I kind of needed Jag up in this game. I kind of knew he was my shield. I knew if there was ever me and Jag up the block, Jag would be the one going home. So as long as Jag was in the house, I’m in this house. And that was my biggest strategy there” he added.
Do you think Matt made the right decision at the end of the day? Share your thoughts in the comment section.