‘Big Brother’: Tucker Des Lauriers on Angela Murray’s Betrayal

The odds were in his favor. He was a key member of just about every houseguest alliance (the ones he hadn’t decimated already, that is). America chose him to be the AI instigator. He won comp after comp after comp. So before this week, it looked like Tucker des Lauriers was going to use his “risk it for the biscuit” mantra to get to the very end of Big Brother Season 26 without much of a fight.

And then T’kor Clottey used her Head of Household privileges to put a target on his back under the guise of him being a pawn. Tucker hadn’t been shy about going on the block in the past — he even used his Power of Veto to save someone else from elimination for how sure he was about triumphing in the arena, and he was right. This time was different, though.

When T’kor put him up, Tucker seemed particularly anxious, even though he was up against two non-allies in Cam Sullivan-Brown and Makensy Manbeck. Perhaps he knew that if he didn’t win Power of Veto, one of his opponents might be replaced by someone his alliances were more likely to vote for, and, alas, when Cam got POV, it was Angela Murray who joined the chopping block. Then, when Makensy saved herself in the AI Arena, it was down to two, and Tucker lost out on the vote, thanks to Angela rallying the house against him.

TV Insider caught up with Tucker des Lauriers to talk about the unexpected series of events that led to his ouster, how he really feels about T’kor and Angela, and more.

(Also, be sure to check out our previous exit interviews with Matt Hardeman, Lisa Weintraub, Kenney Kelley, Cedric Hodges, and Brooklyn Rivera.)

How have you processed everything?

Tucker des Lauriers: It’s flying. My mind is racing. I’m an incredible competitor and hate to lose but losing is where you can learn the most. And it’s as bittersweet as bittersweet can possibly be. I am excited to get back to my life outside of the Big Brother house and see my friends and family and, of course, my very handsome dog, but I feel like I just left my friends and family. So it’s tough. I had a lot more to do in there. But everything happens for a reason and at the right times, it’s just whether you’re able to open your eyes enough to receive it and learn from it or not. 

Where do you get that “risk it for the biscuit” mantra? 

I mean, I’m the youngest of two older brothers from a wild competitive family. And I think that’s more so the younger brother in me. That’s not just me playing games. That’s just me. It’s hardwired into me to take life head-on and to take the path less traveled. There’s no part of me that enjoys going with the flow. I’m an artist at heart. And my mind is organized chaos. My artwork is; my apartment is; and, I guess my Big Brother gameplay is as well.

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Speaking of organized chaos, what made you want to work with Angela? And do you regret kind of taking the heat off her back because she was the lightning rod before?

No, I can’t really regret anything in there cause again, I’m someone that does truly believe that everything happens for a reason. I can only sort of regret not listening to the directions clearly enough for that puzzle, but I was doing it backward. But no, I still can’t be upset about that as much as I wanna kick myself in the butt. Well, I just hope I get another opportunity to go in there and crush it even more. I think that Angela will still be a target in people’s minds. And she will not be trusted by anybody after what she did to me, unfortunately.

What about T’kor? What did you think about her nominating Angela?

It is what it is. I was very upset about it, and then I gathered my emotions and put myself in T’kor’s shoes and I was like, “Okay, you know what? You’re just doing what I’d do. If you felt that was you being true to yourself, I would be a fool not to respect it. And I would be someone who’s just saying the saying and doesn’t really live it and know how hard it can be to be true to yourself when we live in a world where it’s hard for a lot of people to do that.” And I think that her being able to stick through it and do it was great. I think that she is playing more timidly than I was. Maybe that’s a better strategy, but there was also lots of good reasons to put Leah up there: Kimo didn’t trust her. I didn’t trust her. She was a bearer of a lot of information. She had every guy in her back pocket, and, I don’t know, she was never on the block!

For the HOH competition this week, would you have won that?

Yeah, I was gonna go for it, and I was very confident in my abilities. We all thought it was gonna be a physical thing. I don’t know what the game was. 

What do you think is going to happen to the last members of the Pentagon now that you’ve basically decimated them?

And now there’s the ballers, I believe is what it’s called, with Quinn, Cam, Chelsie. I was gonna expose that. They’re probably gonna bring Makensy in because she also played volleyball in college — how convenient — and so they’re gonna have four people. I think, as annoying as it is, they are the dangerous mix in there, and I am praying and hoping that Joseph can outwit them with Kimo and that Rubina can convince Makensy to work with them so that then they have their two athletic abilities. 

I think Rubina is incredibly strong and underestimated in there and to have Makensy on their side would help protect her and Makensy. I mean, apparently in their AI arena, it was, it was just because Makensy had longer, longer limbs that she was able to hit that buzzer, it sounded like it was very, very close. So Rubina was beating herself up for that, and I was telling her, “You gotta use that as fire underneath you and be more confident in yourself. You were the last girl on the wall for a long time. It was me, Cam, and Quinn, and then you. That’s insanely impressive, and you got burnt on your leg and you stayed up there.”

I’m incredibly proud of her, and I hope that she hopes that she wins this thing and takes revenge on Quinn for me. 

Did you make contingency plans with her to meet up outside of the show when she’s done?

I’m flying out here the second the show is over to see her. If I could send her flowers in the house, I would send her flowers in the house. I can’t wait to see her and I’ll be cuddling with Ziggy [my dog] and now thinking of her. It’s gonna be the opposite of what was going on in there: I was cuddling with her and thinking of Ziggy. So I can’t wait for her to meet him. I can’t wait to meet her Butters and her family and vice versa. Lots to look forward to.

Besides Rubina, obviously, who else are you rooting for now that you’re on the outside looking in?

Kimo and Joseph and T’kor, come on, guys! This was a huge week that could have really boosted our game and now very much is a detriment to our game. But you guys stay close, stay tight. You can do this. I know you guys can — just, I guess, be prepared to lie and deceive a lot more than we thought and trust nobody but yourself. 

Speaking of deception, I wonder, do you find that Angela’s emotional outbursts are real, or is she just playing the game?

Your guess is as good as mine at this point. I am not sure. Based on other stories that I’ve heard, I think she is a very emotional person that does kind of do that in only ways that are good. I’m an emotional person that has outbursts as well. So I think it’s all good. That’s not a bad knock on her character or anything. But I think if she could tone that down a little, she’ll go a lot further in there because she doesn’t have the competitiveness to back it up, and she is trusted by nobody in that house and should never be after what she did to me.

Big Brother 26, Sundays, Wednesdays & Thursdays, CBS