Tyler Crispen lost Big Brother to winner Kaycee Clark by one measly jury vote, and now, the South Carolina lifeguard is opening up about the dramatic ending of Season 20 and whether he's devastated.
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Before Kaycee was crowned champion, Big Brother host Julie Chen led viewers to think Tyler may have had the $500,000 in the bag when she read four jury votes for Tyler aloud compared to only one vote for Kaycee during Wednesday night's finale broadcast.
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"I was like, 'One more.' I really thought [Faysal Shafaat] was going to vote for me and that was going to be it, but once Fessy did not vote for me, and he voted for Kaycee, I was like, 'Aw, congrats, Kaycee. You got this,'" Tyler told Entertainment Weekly.
"I'm not bitter, not mad at all, but once I saw Fess vote the other way, I knew that was it. But, man, 4 to 1? You've got to be joking! You've got to be joking, man! 4 to 1?"
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But the vote quickly turned against Tyler, resulting in a 5-4 jury vote in Kaycee's favor.
Tyler received votes to win from Angela Rummans, Haleigh Broucher, Brett Robinson, and JC Mounduix. Kaycee, on the other hand, earned support from Faysal, Sam Bledsoe, Scottie Salton, Angie "Rockstar" Lantry, and Bayleigh Dayton.
"I'm so proud of Kaycee. Kaycee is one of the best people I've ever met in my entire life, and she deserves it 100 percent... I cannot be happier for Kaycee. I cannot be happier," Tyler gushed.
In terms of how Tyler expected the jury vote to unfold, he said he was shocked by Haleigh, Scottie and Faysal's votes.
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"The votes that shocked me the most -- I was unsure about Haleigh. I knew she was a Super Fan, and I knew if I was able to explain my gameplay well enough, she would respect that," Tyler explained to EW.
"I was a little bit shocked that Scottie did not vote for me, and I was a little bit shocked that Fessy didn't vote for me. I thought I had those two. But other than that, I was sure Rockstar and Bayleigh were going to vote for Kaycee, so that's why, when it came down to it, I was like, 'Kaycee, you got this. Without a doubt.' [And] I was worried about JC feeling a little bit bitter."
So what about Sam, who had a Final 2 deal with Tyler for most of the game and believed they were the closest of friends?
"Sam had told me early in this game that she would be okay with losing to Kaycee, and she was telling me how much she loved Kaycee, so never in my mind did I calculate Sam voting for me," Tyler revealed.
"So, I was not shocked with that one. Even though I was super close with Sam. I knew she played a very personal game. As much as I love Sam, I voted her out. She felt betrayed by me, and I knew she was going to take that personally, and I totally get that. I had always calculated Sam voting for Kaycee over me in my head."
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Tyler said Kaycee had the edge because she managed to develop deeper personal relationships with members of the house who were not in their "Level 6" alliance, especially Bayleigh.
"I kind of had to make some enemies because I felt like I had nothing but friends in the house. It is what it is. I'm so happy for Kaycee. I'm not bitter whatsoever that I lost. I totally get it. This is how the game works. I felt like I did everything I set out to do. I cannot be happier with myself or happier with the result, honestly," Tyler insisted.
One regret Tyler does seem to have, however, is the fact he had made Final 2 deals with multiple players, which resulted in promises he could not keep and spurned jurors.
"That was the biggest thing I was worried about, honestly. That's why I'm not in too much of a shock right now, because honestly I knew I was going to be a big target. I knew I had to have people to follow me. I knew I had to have multiple people that wanted to bring me to the end of the game, because I was so good at competitions early on," Tyler said.
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"I kind of set up those relationships so I could have a lot of different paths to the Final 2. But then, the hard part was getting the jury to understand that that's what I needed to do to get there. And Kaycee's route was a little bit more direct and less bloody, and that's why she took home the win. I totally get that. I totally get that."
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Although Tyler didn't win the grand prize, he received $50,000 for finishing as Big Brother's runner-up, and he also won the title of "America's Favorite Houseguest," which added $25,000 onto his winnings.
"That was the biggest shock for me, and that honestly feels like a win," Tyler gushed, adding that it was "insane" and "surreal" to find out America loves him.
"Honestly. I really was so worried this whole season that America hated me. I thought I was going to be the most disliked house guest in there... There was always just something in my head that was just like, 'These people don't like you, man... You're playing too sketchy. But I felt like I just stayed true to myself."
Tyler reiterated how he played the best game he could and simply went "balls to the wall," which is something he can be proud of.
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