One of Big Brother Australia’s best game players to date, Daniel Hayes, has been booted from the competition in what has been dramatically deemed a “blindside”.
After Ari placed the real estate agent up for eviction alongside Sarah Jane, the master manipulator rallied Christina to send one of the biggest threats packing from the house.
And “the rat”, as Big Brother calls him, succeeded.
WATCH: Big Brother’s Ari reveals he’s been lying to housemates
Daniel’s reality experience may be over, but it sure has left an impact on the 48-year-old.
“It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done emotionally, physically, socially, mentally,” Danny tells New Idea. “But it was the most incredible thing I’ve ever done in my life. I mean, I’m the guy who’s tried to ride a motorbike to Everest and nearly died, this was harder.”
Despite making it to the final five, the real estate agent confesses there was a time he almost packed his bags earlier after trying to save Tilly’s spot in the competition by sacrificing himself.
“When Tilly got evicted I tried to do a deal with Big Brother where I tried to meet Tilly underground in the cave. I asked Big Brother to give me a brief case with $10,000 in it and I’d take that and then Tilly could go back into the house at midnight and I would disappear forever from the show. And Big Brother said to me, ‘Danny, you’re not running this show’.”
The 48-year-old explains it was all about leaving the show “as the hero”.
“For me, it was all about how I left,” he tells us. “I said, ‘Listen, it’s going to make a great story and I get to leave with honour. Tilly hands you a briefcase with $10,000 cash, I take the briefcase, you just see me run down the tunnel and that’s the end of Danny from the show’.”
But, like Danny said, he doesn’t make the rules, Big Brother does. And the real estate agent was more than willing to follow the game master’s playbook, even if the same might not be true for the other housemates.
After Tilly was sent into a mirrored room following her eviction, there was speculation that the game was rigged considering the fan-favourite had been given a second chance. Danny, however, disagrees.
“I don’t think the game was rigged, I think it’s Big Brother’s rules and Big Brother has the right to change things as he wants. I think any housemate that wants to gripe about that, it’s just sour grapes. Maybe their social game wasn’t good enough that they got evicted.”
He continues: “I’ve got nothing to whinge about, you’ll never hear me say the game was rigged. It was Big Brother’s rules and, for me, any advantage I got, I fully exploited that. You could say that a number of people were saved, but that’s just how the game was.”
While Danny’s initial plan to run down the tunnel with a briefcase of $10,000 didn’t work out, he’s certainly achieved his goal of becoming a “hero” when it comes to his children.
WATCH: Big Brother’s Marley reveals his motivation behind being on the show (Story continues after video)
“They were incredibly proud of me,” Danny says of his kids. “They saw their dad at work, really. They saw that I’m not just this smart-arse businessman, I care about people. I cared about Tilly. I genuinely wanted to take a bullet for Tilly.”
When asked who the real estate agent wants to take out the competition, he quipped, “I thought you were going to say, ‘how’s my love life going?’ because I’m miserably single,” before providing his earnest answer.
“I think Marley will win the public’s vote and win the entire show but, in saying that, I think all three of them are worthy of winning.”
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