We were devastated to see fan favourite Daniel Hayes evicted on Wednesday night’s episode of Big Brother.
The real estate agent-turned-reality star sat down with Elite Agent to speak about his time on show, whether he was given the ‘villain edit’ and how his real estate experience helped shape his Big Brother strategy.
Daniel “100 per cent” believed his experience in real estate assisted him in the Big Brother house.
“I’ve said this in real estate. It’s like a big franchise. It’s not the big that eats the small, it’s the fast that eats the slow,” Daniel explained.
“The quicker you are, you survive. If you don’t like change, you’ll like extinction even less. That’s the way it is.
“That’s how it is in the Big Brother house. Don’t hold grudges, move on quickly. You’ve got to park it, leave it and move on. That’s the secret to the Big Brother house – and in real estate.
“It’s just a transferring of skills. It was the same deal. I’ve built a business from nothing. I’ve had to recruit loyal people and then we had to go to war against other people.
“I’m a leader, I’m not a follower. I was prepared to also be alone. I was alone at times in the house. I think because I took those big shots initially, people learned not to mess with me.
“I played the integrity game. I think you don’t have to BS to be successful in life. I showed the housemates vulnerability, which I think shocked them. What didn’t show on camera is they liked me, the other housemates respected me. I think I was only nominated twice.”
While Daniel admits his real relationships with the housemates weren’t portrayed accurately on-screen, he rejects the idea he was given a ‘villain edit’.
“I probably started off a bit rocky, but I wouldn’t say I had a villain edit. According to polls online, I’m the fan favourite,” Daniel said.
He believes (and we can’t help but agree) that if he had made it to the top three, Australia would vote for him to win.
“When we see authenticity for what it is, it’s imperfect and it’s actually ugly. When you meet someone like me, it’s polarising. It’s confronting,” Daniel said.
“It’s easy to say ‘he’s a villain’, but what I am is just a real human being. I was just myself on a TV show. What Australia tells me is people want to see more people like me.”
The show wrapped filming around six months ago, and Daniel felt it had been “a big adjustment” going back to day-to-day life.
“It has been like I’ve relived it,” he said of Big Brother airing so long after filming.
As the managing director of Hayeswinckle, Daniel wondered whether the show would impact positively or negatively on his business.
Luckily, it appears as though his social media presence and his business has seen a significant boost.
“My staff are proud of me. The commentary on social media has probably been 95 per cent positive. I was concerned, the person I am, I thought, ‘This could go really south for me. It could go really bad’,” Daniel said.
“But I was just myself and ultimately I know I’m a good human being. I don’t judge my business, I don’t judge myself based on what my real estate competitors think of me.
“It would be very foolish to do that. They’re not going to say nice things about you, no matter what you do,” Daniel concluded.
While we sadly won’t see Daniel standing on stage in the top three, the evicted housemates generally make an appearance in the final episode. So if you want some more Danny-action, don’t forgot to tune in on Tuesday 29 June at 7:30PM.
