By: Taylor Gray

It’s every Big Brother fan’s dream: live in the house, even for a day, and see what it’s like to be a contestant. That is exactly what RealityWanted.com Co Founder Mark Yawitz got to do along with a few other very lucky members of the press. The guests spent one day playing Big Brother in fast forward: competing in a Head of Household competition, nominations, a Power of Veto competition, and an eviction ceremony. Joining Yawitz in the Big Brother house was: Mark Long of Fox Reality, Cheryl Woodcock of The Insider, Kimberly Caldwell of American Idol and the TV Guide Channel and Amber Valdez of CBS Mobile among others.

RealityWanted was inundated with emails for the last two weeks, all asking the same question: What did the new Big Brother house look like? “It really didn’t look that much different than any other Big Brother house,” Mark Yawitz of RealityWanted said. “Producers decided to go with a winter theme and much of the house looks like a log cabin.” There were fish and deer heads hanging on the wall, giving the feeling that this was the home of a hunter. The show stayed pretty true to their backyard layout but this season, included a workout area complete with an elliptical machine, a heated pool, and a fire pit.

Yet, being in the house wasn’t all it’s cracked up to be. “A lot of people think it would be fun to be in the Big Brother house, and maybe it is if you win a half million dollars, but there is nothing to do there. I told Evel Dick, ‘I don’t know how you did it’. It was just monotonous,” Yawitz admitted. Valdez had a slightly different experience, finding herself annoyed at the people around her after a very short amount of time. “We all wanted to strangle a certain person after 12 hours,” she said. “I think I would have evicted myself if I had to live with that person for a whole season.” Long loved every minute of being there, saying, “I would do it for a full year. I feel very comfortable in that environment.” Of course the former reality star feels comfortable!

The minute the reporters stepped into the house, an alliance was formed. One thing was clear: nobody wanted to be the only cast member of Big Brother 8.5 to be evicted.
The Peanut Butter Alliance came together quickly, comprised of Yawitz, Long, Woodcock, and Erik Oginski, of KCBS in Los Angeles. “We just kept looking at each other and saying peanut butter,” laughed Yawitz. “We knew that it meant it was time to talk strategy but everybody else was like, ‘What the hell are you talking about?’” Unfortunately for The Peanut Butter Alliance, only two of the four members came out unscathed.

Things got started with the Head of Household competition. Contestants played a game called “Majority Rules” where they answered a series of questions. Their answers had to be based on what they thought the majority of the house would say, not their personal opinion. Mark Long won with ease and dominating the competition was all part of his plan. “I’m a competitive guy,” said Long. “I came to win.” He had a tough task ahead of him: nominate two players for eviction. He decided on Erik and Cheryl Woodcock, who found her name being called out anything but amusing. “She actually took offense and seemed upset,” said Yawitz.

Each houseguest was called to the Diary Room for interviews, just like a regular contestant would be. When Mark Long emerged after one session, he delivered the bad news that he had to hand out slop passes to three of them. Curious about the infamous Big Brother slop, Reality Wanted’s Mark Yawitz actually volunteered for it! However, only minutes after receiving his pass, Yawitz went all Jen Johnson on everyone and just started eating whatever he felt like! Big Brother wasn’t happy and handed down a punishment: he would be placed on the block with the other two nominees whether he liked it or not.

To kill some time during the day, CBS Mobile’s Amber Valdez decided she’d try to get in as much trouble as possible. According to her fellow houseguests, she spent the day climbing the walls and tables – literally! “Every time I would get in trouble I would say, ‘Yes, God,’” laughed Valdez. In Big Brother 9, contestants are paired with their soul mates, prompting Valdez to entertain the idea of starting up a showmance of her own. She was tight-lipped about who caught her eye with but revealed, “Mark Long is a babe!” Amber’s revelation certainly didn’t have Long complaining. “I am flattered,” he admitted. “If we did a real Big Brother, she would be high on my showmance list.”

For the Power of Veto competition, houseguests were paired up and had to find pieces of an egg made out of styrofoam hidden amongst bales of hay. Mark Long, once again, and his partner Kimberly Caldwell won the competition. Kimberly, feeling sorry for Cheryl, took her off the block and replaced her with Amber. Erik, Amber, and Mark were all up for eviction but it was Erik who the houseguests decided would be their one and only evictee!

Watch a clip from Theinsideronline.com

Find additional Big Brother 9 links on sirlinksalot.net