by Gina Scarpa

 

Early on in the game of Big Brother, Spencer Clawson was in a bad position. The members of his alliance, The Moving Company, were being picked off and his closest ally Howard was eliminated before making it to jury. Spencer was on the block for eviction nine times, a Big Brother record, and escaped elimination eight of those times. Unfortunately, ultimate winner Andy Herren made a promise to runner-up Gina Marie Zimmerman that he'd take her to the final two and he was cut loose at the very end. We chatted with Spencer about everything from the controversy this season to Amanda's reign for much of the summer in an exclusive interview.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What was your main motivation for trying out for Big Brother?
A. Spencer: I watch Big Brother with my neighbor, Melinda, every year. Survivor also! I'd always run my mouth about how if I was on there, I'd win. She told me to quit talking and audition and I did! I went to Maine and auditioned. The rest is kind of history. I knew in my heart I was going to get on the show. I started getting into it around Season 6 and got hooked. I just fell in love with it.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Do you have any regrets about joining The Moving Company? It seemed like Nick was the mastermind and played too hard, too fast.
A. Spencer: Yeah, Nick certainly was. As far as regrets, right now looking at it, it all kind of worked out for me. The Moving Company wanted to divide the house, which it successfully did, and make the clear targets. I know I was a target several times but I was able to skate by. I don't know, to be honest with you. It's one of those things where I feel like it all worked out but around Day 24 or 25, it felt like a pretty boneheaded decision.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: You found yourself at the center of some controversy this season, yet Howard was your closest ally in the house. Do you feel like viewers or even the houseguests misunderstood you?
A. Spencer: I think maybe I was misunderstood. As far as I'm aware, I wasn't accused of a lot of racist stuff. I maybe made some misogynistic comments. There were some that appeared to be anti-Semitic and even homophobic. Andy was my closest ally in the house. That's not my heart. I maybe said some stupid things and sometimes, you run your month. I'm not trying to make any excuses and I hope I didn't hurt anybody's feelings. Howard was a great ally and source of strength in the house, and so was Andy. I know my comments may have been hurtful to some but I apologize for that.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: You broke the record for being on the block the most amount of times in a single season. How did you manage to get out of being evicted every time?
A. Spencer: I don't wanna spill all my secrets but as far as my success on coming off the block, there's three main rules. Don't talk any game, stay calm, and you've got to be likeable. If you're likable, people want to keep you around. If you don't talk game, nobody has a reason to vote you out. If I say I'm going to vote Amanda out, she's going to get all her cronies and vote me out. I learned quickly you don't talk any game when you're on the block. I was on the block 9 times, and I came off 8. I learned quickly how to behave on the block.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Speaking of Amanda, she really ran the house for much of the season and nobody had the guts to really make a move on her until Gina Marie's HOH came along. Why was everyone so afraid of her?
A. Spencer: Well, in this game, influence is more important than power. Amanda never had any power but she had a lot of influence. She was loud, she could be abrasive, and she was a terrifying person to have in the house. As far as gameplayers, she was one of the best we had. You did not want to get on her bad side. I don't know, I can't say enough about the way I think she played the game. Some people call it a bully technique but as far as some of that stuff goes, I believe it's just gameplay. It worked until The Exterminators got the courage and the opportunity to get her out.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: When you lost that final HOH competition, were you holding out hope that Andy was going to take you to the end or did you sense how things were going to play out?
A. Spencer: I played alongside Andy long enough that I knew when he was lying to me. I knew for a few days that I didn't have a snowball's chance of going with him. I plead my case but I knew he would take Gina Marie. I don't know if you read my HOH blog but I said the one thing I didn't know was the depth of Andy and Gina Marie's relationship. I know now!

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Well to be fair though, when I talked to Andy, I said that I thought he took Gina Marie to the end because he would hands down win that debate. I assume if he took you to the end, you'd give him a run for his money.
A. Spencer: Oh, 100%. I think I would've done better than he did. He teaches speech and oral communication but I can hold my own. I had a good argument. I broke the idea that the pawn goes on. I had plenty to hang my hat on.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Now that you're out the house, what are your plans going forward?

A. Spencer: Going forward, it seems like some of my comments may have ruffled feathers back home with my employer. I'm hoping to get that taken care of by any means necessary. I want to go back to Arkansas and move forward. I don't have any desire to be an actor. A lot of people in the cast did have that goal and ambition. I wanna get back to the railroad and do what I love doing. Hopefully, the good in my game will far outshine and outlast any of the stuff I said. When people look back, hopefully, they won't see the guy who made the ugly comments. They'll remember a good game player who made it to final three.

 

 

(Image courtesy of CBS)

 

 

Follow Gina @ginascarpa