Matthew Clines, the 33-year-old Renovation Consultant from Arlington, Virginia, was evicted from Thursday’s (August 31) episode of Big Brother when he was up against his showmance partner, Raven. We chat with Matt about if he chose a showmance over his game, if his alliance is handing the game to Paul and more.
You and Raven were the last showmance to make it. Looking back, how do you feel about sacrificing your game for your showmance? At what point did you feel that your relationship with Raven was worth more than the game?
Honestly, I don’t want people to think that I did something what was like super honourable, because as you guys saw, I would have gone home anyway. Even if I hadn’t taken the penalty, it was a unanimous vote. I still would have gone home. The point in which I started to consider that I would give up my game for Raven, who had been through so much and at the end of the day, for me it was like if Raven wins, she would do so much more good and help so many more people than I ever could. That was the deciding factor for me in wanting to go farther in the game than me.
You played it pretty low key all season and only made waves this past week when you confronted Jason. Do you regret not many any moves in the house?
No, I honestly don’t. First of all, it’s a little bit difficult to make very big moves when you just can’t win an HOH. There was never a point in time when I was given an opportunity to make a critical decision to affect the outcome of someone going home. That was my strategy going in, was to stay low key and let other people put themselves in danger. It worked just about every week until I left. So, I think it was a good strategy, and on my personality side, I’m not good with confrontation. That’s the type of game I had to play to stay true to myself.
What has been your and your alliance’s draw to Paul? Do you feel that you have all handed him the game?
At the end of the day, Raven trusted Paul 110% and for that reason, I did as well. I really like Paul as a dude. I didn’t see Paul’s season, I don’t really see what he did or how he played. I made a judgement call on what I saw and Raven’s trust in him. And maybe I was completely wrong, but I truly do feel like the best chance for me and Raven to go far in the game was to align with Paul and to trust him. If I was wrong in that, that’s unfortunate… I really hope that I made the right play.
Would you agree that Josh is someone who can “dish it but can’t take it?” Do you think it could have gone overboard with the banging of the pots and pans? Was it cool for players like Alex and Paul to egg him on?
No, I actually think the complete opposite. I think Josh took it more than anyone else in the house and he took it better than anyone else in the house. At the end of the day, it was other people that couldn’t handle Josh. I’ve never seen anyone get under people’s skin like Josh can. He’s like a weapon you can unleash whenever you press the button. No, I don’t think he went overboard. I would have no issues with Alex and Paul egging him on. Obviously, I never want people to resort to violence in any circumstance, but the pots and pans are within the rules of the game.
Who would Raven need to align herself to make it further now?
Paul.
Big Brother airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET/PT, Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT and Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Global and CBS. Big Brother After Dark airs from 2 a.m. to 5 a.m. on Slice in Canada — check listings for air times on Pop in the U.S.
