I may have a future in sales selling ice to Eskimos if I can pull this off."
Dan Gheesling
Expect the unexpected.
Dan’s ouster was so assured that he even staged his own funeral.
In a show based on voyeurism, Dan provided the ultimate spectacle.
How did it happen?
What do all the parties involved have to say about it?
We ended up being surprised at what we learned.
And so were the players and producers.
FRANK EUDY:It was a rough night for me when I won HOH.
All my allies were gone.
I had to win every competition, and I knew the odds were not in my favor.
you’re free to only freaking win so many competitions.
We’re up on the block.
DANIELLE MURPHREE:I was devastated.
I know that he’s the target.
I know that I’m better at competitions than him.
I can win Veto."
FRANK EUDY:Dan was kind of a personal nomination for me.
Dan was absolutely the target.
It wouldn’t even matter who the other person was.
But obviously one of us had to win veto.
Frank picked first and selected Shane, and then Danielle picked next and selected…Britney.
SHANE MEANEY:I’m thinking my odds are pretty good.
It’s two out of six people to possibly win the veto.
That’s pretty good odds at this point in the game.
So I’m happy that I was picked.
I’m happy that Britney was picked.
I know moving forward with the Quack Pack we’re good.
BRITNEY HAYNES:This is when we decide we can carry out the plan.
It’ll be perfect.
We’re going to be safe for sureall of us.
DANIELLE MURPHREE:I’m just excited.
I couldn’t have been happier with the player selections to that point.
IAN TERRY:It’s the best chance that getting all five to stay in is going to happen.
Yeah, I was happy to see those two names for sure.
DANIELLE MURPHREE:I was going to throw it.
BRITNEY HAYNES:Dan was supposed to throw the competition.
That was the plan.
Dan was going to throw it so that we could carry out this plan.
IAN TERRY:I remember Dan saying something like, “You have to promise me something.
There’s no chance.
There’s no way I can ever expect him to believe that.
That was one where I thought there was not even a point of telling that one.
So I’m like, “I can’t.
You just have to throw it.
I can’t promise that, I’m sorry.”
I did feel confident that if every piece fell into place that they would take me down.
However, I know if that doesn’t happen, I’ve got to save myself.
If they were correct, they had to do a punishment if they wanted to collect points towards winning.
DANIELLE MURPHREE:That motherer!
That’s exactly what I thought.
Is he serious right now?
But then I was like, “Okay, Danielle, control it.
Maybe he just answered quickly.
Maybe this is Dan’s way of throwing it in some way.”
BRITNEY HAYNES:He’s clearly not throwing it.
I immediately realized he’s not being a team player.
I was highly annoyed.
Why are you trying to win this?”
BRITNEY HAYNES:I was frustrated by it, because we had organized this plan.
It’s too important to him.
That’s putting a ton of faith into people.
SHANE MEANEY:This was probably my worst competition of the season.
I just couldn’t get the shapes and I couldn’t guess.
And it’s not that I didn’t wanted the punishment.
I wouldn’t care.
So it was really frustrating for me.
And I look over and Danwasn’tthrowing it.
He was actually trying to win it, which was kind of discouraging.
A lot of things didn’t line up to what we discussed prior to the Power of Veto competition.
I can’t throw the comp."
We would have understood if he could have just told us that he wasn’t going to do it.
But he made it pretty obvious.
SHANE MEANEY:To put yourself in his shoes, of course you want to win.
So I understood what he was doing.
I wasn’t angry.
IAN TERRY:I was just like, “Hey, what the hell is this, man?”
But I mean, I can’t be surprised by that.
Frustrated is the word I would use.
Britney gave me a clue that she wasn’t happy and this wasn’t the plan.
For me, that’s the worst-case scenario inBig Brother.
I never wanted to be in a position ever where you win or you go home.
At this point, I feel that, and I don’t like that feeling at all.
I didn’t initially realize how ticked off Dan was.
BRITNEY HAYNES:I do remember her being upset about that.
IAN TERRY:Yeah, I noticed that.
I always just thought it’s him being a troublemaker.
He likes those pranks, and he likes to be annoying as a joke sometimes.
I thought it was something like that.
DAN GHEESLING:Yeah, I remember that.
I was trying to send a message.
I don’t show my emotions.
That’s one of the few times when I was just so angry with her.
I wanted to double-check she got every piece of that punishment.
DANIELLE MURPHREE:I had to get on medicine.
They had to bring in a medic, because I got a rash, broken out and stuff.
Dan’s such a dick.
This whole Veto caused problems.
I can remember I was seeing red because it made no sense to me.
I’m like, “You know I need these points, so why are you doing this?”
It’s not like Britney doing that, because I get it: She wants to win.
DAN GHEESLING:I’ve been a huge fan ofBig Brother.
I fear nothing inBig Brotherat all, but that was one thing I truly feared.
I didn’t want to be isolated from the house for 24 hours.
So here we are.
Serendipity lines up to give me the one thing I don’t want at this point.
I’m upset, I’m angry, but I still have a competition to win.
DANIELLE MURPHREE:When I see him buzz in again, I know that he lied.
He is being selfish and doesn’t really give a s about me.
If Shane or Britney had wonno problems.
IAN TERRY:Dan gets it right.
With only one question left, Frank had the lead with 22 points with Dan in second at 13.
If anyone else answered, the win would go to Frank.
And then, the bizarre happened.
As the final Draw Something image came to life, Britney buzzed in to answerand couldn’t.
As she paused to consider the correct response, Frank whispered the word “Summer” to her.
BRITNEY HAYNES:I didn’t just blindly buzz in.
I was like, “Oh, oh, oh,” and it was still coming to me.
I’m coming up with it, in that moment.
I remember staring at the picture and, it was on the tip of my tongue.
Then as soon as he said it to me, it made complete sense.
I’m like, “Yes!
That’s what I was looking for.”
FRANK EUDY:It was desperation.
It’s not like I’m trying to tell her the answer.
It’s just that I want so bad for this to be over and Dan not to get it.
You’re trying to will the win, and it’s a reaction.
It’s not like much thought went into that, because there wasn’t really much time.
I was just like, “Summer!”
BRITNEY HAYNES:I 100 percent think I would have gotten it had Frank not whispered it.
It was on the tip of my tongue.
I didn’t look to him for help.
I wasn’t like, “Help me.”
I was trying to figure it out and he whispered it to me.
To be honest, I don’t know for sure that he was trying to cheat.
I almost think it was that throw in of a situation.
It was just word vomit.
I don’t think he was intentionally trying to cheat.
I really don’t.
I’m like, “Okay, Britney gets this answer from Frank.
Are her and Frank working together?
Holy cow, I’m in a lot more trouble than I think I’m in.”
JENN ARROYO:That was fed up.
Because that was just blatant cheating.
And I will say this.
That wasn’t a first-time occurrence of something along those lines happening.
Some other questionable things happened.
It was like, we can see you!
SHANE MEANEY:I heard Frank say something, but I couldn’t make it out.
DANIELLE MURPHREE:I didn’t hear him say “Summer,” but I heard something.
I look over, and thenshesaid it and then there’s a long pause.
BRITNEY HAYNES:He whispered it, I said it, and then they paused the game.
Stop, do not say anything.
Then it’s like, “We need to review some footage.”
RICH MEEHAN (Executive Producer):I was watching the game go down from our office.
Obviously, we’re watching it in real time as it’s happening.
Frank whispered the answer to Britney.
A clear rule violation."
It didn’t take that much to see it, but it was very clear.
Then I called Allison.
And in this one, there was no doubt about it.
We heard it, we saw it, and we made the ruling.
And then we just make the decision.
So when something like that happens, we probably stop the game for about 15 minutes.
I remember it felt like forever, especially because I knew what was going on.
I remember Joe got upset, and they had to go back and look at some tape.
He complained, but nothing happened with that.
DANIELLE MURPHREE:The producers come through the speakers and they’re pretty upset.
They’re like, “Frank, you’ve been disqualified.”
There’s an argument back and forth, he’s like, “What?”
And they’re like, “You cheated.”
He says, “No, I didn’t.”
They’re like, “Yes, you did.”
DAN GHEESLING:The producers come over the speaker and it’s like an act of God or something.
I’m like, “Oh my gosh, is this really happening?
I get another chance to save myself because Frank essentially acted outside of the rules!”
And they’re like, “Yeah.”
I knew we were getting to the end.
It felt like around three more weeks, but I needed a full answer.
And it was something along the three-week line.
And I stood there, and I thought about that.
I had tried Chef Joe’s slop cookies.
They weren’t the worst things in the world.
And I was thinking, “How could I cook slop?”
So many different things were going through my brain.
And they also allow you to have protein shakes.
I was like, “I can do this.
But I thought long and hard about it.
I wanted that win more than anything.
And I’ve never eaten oatmeal ever again, just FYI.
I see oatmeal, I’m ready to burn it like my clothes.
BRITNEY HAYNES:To be honest, I thought that Jenn winning was not a bad scenario for me.
I didn’t think she would use it.
She had not been a real aggressive gamer or game player.
She wasn’t really tight with Dan or Danielle.
I was like, “Okay, this’ll work out.
This will be fine.”
IAN TERRY:I just saw it as the same as if Frank had won.
It’s not great, but it’s still okay.
It was just us two, and so I wasn’t really worried about it.
She just kind of came out of the blue.
It was the first competition she won.
I was fine with Jenn winning.
I mean, obviously it wasn’t what we wanted.
It didn’t go to Britney or myself.
But at this point, I was actually feeling pretty confident.
I was feeling like Jenn would just not use the Veto.
DANIELLE MURPHREE:I love Jenn, so I was excited.
But then I was also kind of scared.
Should I let her?”
Because I did not want to have to choose between my alliance members.
This is how I go out."
I’m just mad and I feel like I blew an opportunity and I’m going home.
DANIELLE MURPHREE:It was a massive fight.
He was pissed at me and kept asking, “What the hell are you doing?
Why did you guess that?
Why did you guess Spots?”
I was like, “Because you’re not smart enough.
You’re not guessing it fast enough.
And why areyouanswering questions?”
He was blame shifting and he wassoangry at me.
BRITNEY HAYNES:Yeah, he was mad at her.
He was totally mad at her, which makes no sense, becausehewas trying to win.
DANIELLE MURPHREE:He’s pacing in the backyard.
I was like, “You’re not even supposed to be playing!”
Then he kind of blew it off, of course didn’t acknowledge it.
DAN GHEESLING:I’m angry at Danielle for buzzing in.
I’m angry at Britney because I’m questioning her because why is she getting answers from Frank.
I don’t remember how much time elapsed.
DAN GHEESLING:I walk in the house and I’m upset.
I’m borderline tears and so I go right to the Diary Room.
I’m on the verge of tears and there’s a random producer in the DR. Chris was a Diary Room producer from my first season and now he’s one of the executive producers.
I let you guys down, the producers.
And he definitely did not have a plan at that moment.
ALLISON GRODNER: He went into the Diary Room just and he was devastated.
He was like, “My game’s over.
This is it.”
DAN GHEESLING:So I’m sitting in there crying.
Do whatever you’ve got the option to."
Dan was not the only one who assumed his game was finished as he entered the solitary confinement room.
Outside of those techno walls, the other houseguestsand producersconsidered his eviction a fait accompli.
SHANE MEANEY:Frank wants him out.
It was his HOH.
We still got four.
We’re still good to go."
IAN TERRY:I’m like, “It’s done.
He has so much pride in this game and the fact that he came back.
He wouldn’t even have time to have a go at save his ownBig Brotherlife.
I felt really bad for him.
RICH MEEHAN:We knew he was in major, major trouble.
JULIE CHEN (Host):We knew he was done andheknew he was done.
ALLISON GRODNER:Everyone in that house believed that he was on his way out.
There was no question.
JENN ARROYO:We’re all thinking “This is signed, sealed and delivered, baby!”
And does he have one bucket or two?
I don’t know.
So I had that, water, and cake to eat.
I think I might have been on slop too.
I’m just looking around for a hidden Veto, and that’s the first couple of hours.
Then when I realized, “Hey this is it.
What are you going to do?”
It’s the worst-case scenario, but I’m not willing to give up.
At that point, I have no power.
The only thing I can do is make a run at come up with some spectacle.
Dan consideredand discardeda few different tactics before setting on a strategy.
People were going to be expecting that.
So I tried to launch the same playbook I did in my first season.
Let me try and do something like that again.”
I really started with me wanting to take a shot at Danielle because I was angry.
But I can’t just have a house meeting and then denounce Danielle.
Let me gas up everyone else."
Then drop the bomb on Danielle and then see what happens from there.
People would have been concerned.
Dan, what the heck is wrong with you?"
Not, “Dan, what were you doing up there with Frank?”
That’s what I thought.
100 percent honesty, I was like, it’s a hail Mary.
Do I think this is going to work?
I really don’t.
JULIE CHEN:That “punishment” of solitary confinement was a blessing in disguise.
He didn’t have to be a phony and have little conversations with people.
It worked to his favor because he was able to really hammer out by himself every scenario.
What’s my best strategy at this point?
RICH MEEHAN:He went into that solitary room and figured it all out.
Leaving nothing to chanceand with nothing else to doDan then ran through the plan over and over again.
So I really rehearsed everything I was going to say in my head in particular.
I’m just not good at improvising in a situation like that.
They then burst into the room' and were both confused and troubled by what they found.
BRITNEY HAYNES:He was acting so weird.
He was acting like a man who was sick.
He was acting all “I’m not right.
My brain’s not right.
I don’t know what happened to me in there.
I can’t see.”
My initial reaction was I felt bad for him, but it was all part of his plan.
IAN TERRY:He looked pale and he looked sick.
I mean, he was dead.
You would’ve thought he looked like he had been in there a month.
JENN ARROYO:He looked like he had been through it.
He looked paler than usual.
And he storms out of the room, right?
And this is real fing truth here.
I was like, “Oh, man.
This guy’s up to something.”
BRITNEY HAYNES:I began to get very worried about him.
They had strobe lights and disco ball bang out things, and all these dancing lights.
I just remember being like, “Oh, my God, Dan is not well!”
DAN GHEESLING:I didn’t feel well, but Idefinitelyplayed it up.
I’m like, “All right, I’ve got a shot at this thing.”
He’s not okay, and I’m very worried about him."
I literally went to the Diary Room and asked them to check on him!
I’m not kidding.
I was like, “Guys, he’s not okay.
Look what you did to him!”
I just wanted to keep a low profile, try this speech, and then see what happens.
DANIELLE MURPHREE:Now he’s acting like a mute, like he went through something so traumatic.
I remember it was like 10 minutes.
Go to the living room."
So we all go to the living room, and that’s when the funeral happened.
Presented below is Dan’s entire funeral speech on day 51, broken up with explanations and reactions.
So I just want you guys to know I appreciate that.
I’m dressed in all black for a reason.
I want to welcome you all to myBig Brotherfuneral.
Stop crying, Britney."
There wasn’t any part of my being or soul that believed that he was planning some big thing.
I bought it hook, line and sinker.
I’m over there crying on the couch.
I’m like, “Poor Dan, what a guy.
What a fricking guy.
Plus, he’s been poisoned by theBig Brotherroom in solitary confinement!
And now hisBig Brotherlife has just blown up in front of him.”
I bought into it 100 percent.
DANIELLE MURPHREE:I am so naive."
I was like, “Aww, Dan’s saying goodbye to everybody.”
I was originally thinking that he was doing something sweet.
JENN ARROYO:I was like, what?
This is antic city.
Give me a break.
You’re not dying.
This is so ridiculous.
“Here’s my funeral.
I’m dying.”
You’re like, “Get the hell out of here, man.”
FRANK EUDY:I didn’t really want to go sit down in the living room.
I’m like, “Can we get this thing over with?”
IAN TERRY:I’m thinking that here’s some sort of last-ditch attempt to get something going.
“I just want to say a couple of things.
Joe, being around you, you taught me a lot about how to be a good husband.”
DAN GHEESLING:Joe and I talked a lot about being married and things we were as husbands.
It was something that made me relatable to Joe and made Joe feel I was being genuine.
JOE ARVIN:You want to believe him, and I think that’s the biggest thing.
He’s doing something.
“You know, Shane is walking, living proof that there actually is a Captain America.
You’re such a good dude.
I appreciate our friendship, man.”
DAN GHEESLING:Shane fulfilled a certain role in the house.
He was super ripped and I’m just trying to flatter him at this point.
We were friends and we talked a lot in the house.
He was in tears, by the way.
The more tears I see, I’m like, “Oh my gosh, this is working.”
SHANE MEANEY:I started to tear up.
I went into that whole house as real life, and in real life, I’m compassionate.
I really care about other people.
I care about their feelings.
JENN ARROYO:He’s going around, and it seems like he’s being genuine.
I couldn’t take the guy seriously, but I was enjoying it.
He was saying some decent stuff.
I don’t know if any of it was really sincere, but sure.
“The one and only Jenn City.
DAN GHEESLING:Jenn and I got along very well.
That’s what I really wanted to say, but she tried to hide that from people.
In hindsight, I don’t know if it worked.
I think she saw through it.
BRITNEY HAYNES:That better not be true, by the way, but moving on.
IAN TERRY:That didn’t go over great, if I remember right.
“Next up is Britney.
DAN GHEESLING:Britney and I talked a lot about being newlyweds.
I also wanted to hit her emotional button to maybe make her cry more.
BRITNEY HAYNES:He knows me, and he knows how emotional I am.
He knows my buttons.
He knows the buttons to push.
This is what is pure Dan Gheesling brilliant and why nobody else can compare to is his social game.
He was only able to do that because of the time investment that he has put in.
I’ve literally never seen anything like it.
He put in the time.
He worked in that house 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
That was not his strategy.
He would always make the conversation aboutyouand he would always make you feel so important.
He would just make you feel like he cared and that was what was so brilliant about his game.
I looked at Dan as family.
So at this point, I’m getting really upset that he’s that upset.
I’m right in the middle of his little trap at this point.
And I’m just looking at everybody, like, “it’s possible for you to’t be serious.
The guy’s not dying!
He’s going to be alive.
He’s going to be okay.
He’s just possibly going out of the house.”
JOE ARVIN:Everybody’s freakin' crying.
It just made no sense to me.
I couldn’t believe how gullible the house was.
JULIE CHEN:I was like, “These people are in tears.
It’s working!”
It just never felt genuine.
It felt more like, this guy is a politician.
He’s an apple polisher.
Some people fall for it; I never fell for it.
“And the last three are going to be a bit tougher.
And you singlehandedly made this experience for me.”
DAN GHEESLING:I talk about wrapping a lie in truth.
There was a lot of truth to that.
We spent so much time together.
We were kind of the kids in the house and just really enjoyedBig BrotherforBig Brother.
Some of those tears are real at the end welling up.
I really enjoyed being around him and wanted to make him feel like me.
BRITNEY HAYNES:Ian was fan of the game, having seen Dan’s season.
Knowing that Dan’s one of the best of the best, that’s a huge ego boost.
IAN TERRY:I was a big fan of him onBig Brother10.
And now he’s saying something very similar to what Mike Boogie said the round before.
And Dan was very good at using the lore of the show against me to influence my decisions.
FRANK EUDY:I’m like, “Save it.
Have these conversations with these people one-on-one if you want.”
“Alright, the guy in the carrot suit, Frank.
There’s a couple things I’ve said about you I’m not proud of.
We’re going head to head the whole game as competitors.
That was a direct invitation because I know what’s about to happen.
I’m not going to have time to tell him.
It’s not about compliments with Frank.
FRANK EUDY:I knew the whole funeral was BS.
The girls are crying.
S, Shane’s crying!
And I’m just like, “You know that he doesn’t really mean this.”
Dan’s won the game.
The guy, he doesn’t quit, so it always read false to me the whole time.
He’s just doing this because this is his way of trying to stay in the house.
He obviously doesn’t mean this.
He’s trying to get sympathy votes if he can.
JOE ARVIN:I was, “What the hell?
Okay wait, wait, wait.
What just happened?”
Why it went from that, to “Hey, Frank, let’s meet in private.”
I think everybody was stunned by that.
IAN TERRY:I was like, “Oh, this is going to be the last-ditch effort.”
He’s not just up there to read him a Bible passage.
I was just like, “All right, Dan has said some things about Frank.
I think he probably just wants to wipe the air and not go out on a bad note.”
DANIELLE MURPHREE: I’m starting to melt.
I’m like, “Oh my gosh, this is so sweet.
I didn’t know Dan had this in him.”
So I’m kind of anticipating what he’s going to say to me, you know?
Sprinkles, flowers, rainbows, unicorns, you name it.
I think that it’s about to come my way.
“So finally, you know, there’s Danielle.
You know what you did, and in this game, you are dead to me.
So don’t come to me and ask about it because it’s over.
Moving forward, we can be friends outside this.
I’ll be friends with all of you.
But the game talk from me ends now.
So I hope you guys understand that, that this was the death of Dan the player.
I want the rest of the experience to be fun for everyone and not awkward.
I really appreciate it.”
DAN GHEESLING:Well, it’s the crescendo, right?
It’s like everybody turned over their cup.
“Oh, there’s water in the cup, water in the cup, water in the cup.
Oh, Danielle, no water in the cup.”
I could trust you through thick or thin.”
So part of that is trying to devastate her for a couple of reasons.
DANIELLE MURPHREE:Literally, my heart broke in half.
I was like, “Frank, I cannot lie to you.
I will never vote against Dan.
I cannot go against Dan.”
So I was put on the block partially because of that.
Dan was my one person.
My word was my bond.
And then to tell me that I’m worthless, and that I don’t even compare to Memphis?
I felt like I had done so much more than Memphis up until that point.
DAN GHEESLING:I didn’t know what was going to happen.
I knew it was going to cause confusion.
SHANE MEANEY: My mouth dropped.
He was her coach!
And then I started questioning everything: “Okay, that doesn’t make sense.
What did she do?”
Is the Quack Pack safe?”
And it made me question Britney at that point.
And then it’s just like, “Okay, Is Ian still onboard?”
People are playing both sides and it makes your mind go nuts.
JENN ARROYO:Holy s, it was great!
I freakin' loved it.
Especially the “You’re dead to me” part.
That’s a pretty intense thing, joking or not joking, to say to somebody.
I was like, “I don’t know, man.
This has got to be a setup.”
I could not believe the words coming out of his mouth.
This is the best night of my life.
It was so good/bad.
DAN GHEESLING:It was almost like a little payback for her getting those points in the paint situation.
DANIELLE MURPHREE: I was just like, “Are you serious?
I didn’t take it as gameplay, I took it as an attack and kind of bullying.
How could he think that I would ever do that to him?
And I’m so loyal.”
It felt like a character attack, because that is something I would’ve never done to him.
I’m like, “What in the hell did he think that I did?
Because I got Spots?!
This is really all me getting Spots?”
IAN TERRY:I went from feeling bad to feeling disgust.
Not even so much in what he said.
I thought what he said was harsh, but not eventhatharsh.
It’s sort of a mild statement.
But then with her reaction, something struck a nerve, and I just was just disgusted by it.
SHANE MEANEY:Danielle’s mouth was open, and she started crying.
I was just a shoulder to cry on and ear to listen to at this point.
Because at that point I don’t think she did have really anyone to go to.
It was just a nasty side of Dan.
I think in the long run he was just playing off of her emotions to get a reaction.
And he got the reaction that he wanted.
Where are the tears for Frank?”
I didn’t have any sympathy for any of them at that point.
I’m not a jerk.
It was like a double-edged sword.
I never want to make someone cry in the game.
However, I did what I had to do.
“I have no power in this game.
What I do have is information.”
Your only option is to team up with me.
I’m by myself now, too."
And I just stood there and took the heat.
At this point, it’s like, “I took all this heat.
Let me see what he thinks about this.
Did he know?”
This whole thing is a complete hail Mary.
I don’t know what’s going to work and what’s not.
Britney’s a more dangerous player.
She’s covered everywhere.
And now things are starting to make a little bit of sense.
All that started to make sense.
DAN GHEESLING:My reaction is, number one, I can’t believe this is working.
Number two, I can’t believe this is working.
And number three, how is this happening?
It’s like, this indirect shot at Ian actually feels pretty good.
FRANK EUDY:Of the five over there, Ian and Britney were the tightest little duo.
I also knew that at that point, Dan wasn’t actually the favorite to win.
Nobody really wanted to send her home except for Dan.
ALLISON GRODNER:The way he turned Frank like that was unbelievable.
I was skeptical that that would happen.
That was crazy moment.
DAN GHEESLING:When I was swearing on the Bible, everything I was telling him was the truth.
At this point I wasn’t lying to him about any of the information in the past.
However, some other stuff was not subject to that swearing.
FRANK EUDY:That was like an over-sell to me at that point.
If anything, it makes me almost want to second guess him.
If it crosses a line, it’s just because it’s unnecessary.
It kind of makes me feel bad for Dan.
It obviously seemed a little desperate.
DAN GHEESLING: I mean, I’m desperate.
It’s like, you’ve got to drag me out of the house.
To me, I would never go out of that game without swinging for the fences.
That was my way of swinging for the fences.
Jenn using the Veto is not going to come down to anything I say.
It’s going to come down to if Frank can convince her or not.
Number one, I think she’s mad at me.
They also believed it wasas he told Daniellemeant to gain her sympathy with the jury.
Yet now he had to convince Danielle of that at their meeting in the arcade room.
But that’s revisionist history.
It’s like, “Okay here are all these big things that happened.
DANIELLE MURPHREE: Go re-watch the scene where he goes up to talk to Frank.
Dan never once volunteered my name or said, “I want to save me and Danielle.”
It was Frank’s idea.
And then Dan was like, “Oh, okay.
Yeah, then I’ll just tell Danielle that this was fake.”
I don’t know if Dan ever had intentions of working with me again.
His funeral was not fake.
It just worked out in a situation to where he could manipulate it tolooklike it was fake.
ALLISON GRODNER:That’s news to me as well.
The idea that there was truth behind his lashing out at her is not something I remember.
I honestly didn’t know that.
DAN GHEESLING:The whole plan was to cause chaos and to get myself in a position to survive.
Let me try and float this to her and see if she buys it.”
DANIELLE MURPHREE:I was devastated.
So upset and hurt.
And then, “Oh, you want to talk now?”
I was so angry.
I was thinking, “He’s trying to make me look bad, so he stays.”
Because this was actually thesecondtime I had done something like this to her.
I did something early on.
In one of the first weeks, I told her she was on her own.
She got really upset, and then I had to reel her back in.
I didn’t know how she would react, but I started to tell her what happened.
DANIELLE MURPHREE:I’m not believing it.
I think that he’s totally full of s. I really wanted to hit him with a pillow.
I was already to that hysterical point that I didn’t even want to listen to him.
DAN GHEESLING:I was 100 percent worried that she wasn’t going to buy it.
You never know how someone’s going to react.
Danielle was a very smart player.
She understood relationships in the house logically and strategically.
That gave me some confidence that there was a shot, but I didn’t know.
She also could be mad because I embarrassed her in front of the whole house.
Because this is real emotion.
in that moment, it wasn’t gameplay.
You hurt me badly.
And it’s all hysterical to you.
Dan does do cruel things, because he really does have a sick, distorted sense of humor.
When she hits me with a pillow, I’m like, “Okay I’ve got her.
Everything’s going to be fine and she trusts me.”
FRANK EUDY:She was in a little disbelief.
JENN ARROYO:I was like, “What?!”
It was a lot to wrap my head around.
I just saw him as the winner.
Because that’s another dude who could totally win it, and let’s get his ass out.
And that’s someone who’s been in the game before, so why not get his ass out?
But I had a better relationship with Dan than I did with Britney.
FRANK EUDY:In the end, she just trusted my judgment on it.
JENN ARROYO:“Do I make a deal with the devil?
I’m not scared of making a deal with the devil.”
That was my thought process, because I needed another ride along in this.
There was no way I could somehow make it to a final two without someone.
So it was like, ‘Let’s see if this works.
If I’m in a spot of trouble, maybe he’ll save my ass."
That’s absolutely what it was.
She’s been in this game before, she can go out."
And I was all about hurting Ian, because that was the guy who could really win it.
JENN ARROYO:They would wake us up in the morning with music.
And sometimes they would ask, “Hey, what do you want to hear?”
I was already outside, I was ready to go, I was feeling the feeling, baby.
Because I knew people had underestimated me.
And I knew that people just really didn’t see me as any sort of threat.
They saw me as whatever.
They just didn’t know.
BRITNEY HAYNES:I was completely shocked.
I was in shock.
DAN GHEESLING:I see Britney realize what’s going on.
Maybe not realize what’s going on, but she’s shocked.
Then I see Ian start to figure it out.
I knew that Frank wisened up, and he actually was making the right play.
Now Frank’s actually making the correct move, which is frustrating to me.
SHANE MEANEY:At this point, I’m like, “Okay, that’s weird.
Oh, boy, maybe this isn’t good for me.”
JENN ARROYO:No one could believe I did that.
No one even thought that something like that would happen.
And to do a move like that?
Yeah, it felt great to pull that pin and fing drop that bomb.
He sees the puzzle put together before anyone else.
And Frank’s just jabbing him and basically saying, “Hey, it’s payback time.
I can’t get you, so I’m going to get Britney.”
I see Britney’s mouth drop and Ian’s like “No!
SHANE MEANEY:I don’t think Ian saw it.
Ian took it a lot worse than I did.
IAN TERRY:I’m not someone who takes losing kindly.
I’m not a good loser at any game for a lot of reasons.
I remember I came in third place, and I threw this massive tantrum in front of everybody.
I don’t take losing well.
I was just so oblivious to it.
JENN ARROYO:It was almost like the air got sucked out of the room.
There were just tears, and Britney was crying, because she knew what that meant.
I have no regrets about it.
I don’t give a s what people say about it.
DAN GHEESLING:For me, at that moment it’s not time to celebrate.
It’s time to look somber.
When someone’s going down, you don’t rub it in their face.
That was my moment to just internally go nuts, but don’t show a sliver of it externally.
FRANK EUDY:I could see in Britney’s face that she saw the win.
She saw Dan going home and her winning in the end.
She could’ve taken Ian to the end, and she was going to get the votes.
It didn’t matter who she took.
I think she was almost tasting it.
Because that was his closest ally, and he was upset because then he felt exposed.
I didn’t realize that Frank was going to take what happened with Ian out on me.
I didn’t see that as a possibility.
These were things I wasn’t even worried about.
I essentially thought I was safe.
DANIELLE MURPHREE:That was probably my biggest regret was not being able to tell Britney.
It ate me alive, and that moment still breaks my heart.
Oh my God, I’m sick just thinking about it.
I knew that I was going to have to lie to her.
I was like, “like Frank, pick somebody else.”
I was thankful it wasn’t Shane, but I was very, very upset.
BRITNEY HAYNES:I knew that she knew about it, 100 percent.
But I also knew that Dan was driving Danielle’s game.
He was the puppet-master, she was the puppet.
He was driving every single thing that she did.
DANIELLE MURPHREE:I could start crying right now.
It still hurts me.
It was absolutely traumatic.
But I was playing a game too, and I still needed to win that money.
But at the end of the day, I knew that he was just a genius.
Even as mad as I was, I was like, “He’s just that good.
He can get whatever he wants.”
Danielle won HOH and nominated Dan and Ian for eviction.
Dan agreed, yet then voted Shane out anyway.
IAN TERRY:Before the jury voted, I figured I had 90 percent chance of winning.
You’ve got Joe, who says he wouldn’t piss on Dan if he were on fire.
By the way, that was really the selling point for me to bring Dan to the final two.
So Joe’s locked.
Britney is going to probably be voting for me.
That’s two votes.
Shane got burned horribly.
You’re just accepting that that’s a vote Dan never gets now.
DAN GHEESLING:I still felt like I was going to win, to be honest.
And I felt like Dan had had his chance before, and Ian hadn’t had a chance before.
And I respected that.
So I threw the kid my vote.
Ian and Jenn had next to no relationship outside of being on the same team with Boogie.
I put in time with Jenn.
I could tell you so much about Jenn.
I felt like we were friends.
There’s a moment when you’re sitting in that seat and you have votes counted.
No matter who was up there, Dan was not going to win.
Dan was not going to win.
SHANE MEANEY:At that point, I was still very bitter.
All the emotions were still very new.
I was still struggling at that point in time.
But Ian did play a good game.
He had a lot of HOHs, he had some POVs, he played both sides.
He and I didn’t have any arguments during the whole time.
So his game play was spot on.
Dan’s was good, but Ian did it in a better way not a cutthroat way.
I had a huge oversight on the damage that I did in managing the jury.
I had no idea that it would burn that many people.
We talked about it at the roundtable.
He was not going to win.
But also, Dan wasn’t going to win.
He was not going to get those votes, period.
JENN ARROYO:People were mega-pissed at him.
That was a bitter jury.
The biggest mistake Dan made in his game was the jury management portion.
BRITNEY HAYNES:There is not aBig Brotherhandbook that you have to have any sort of moral compass.
I don’t think that there is a fair or right way to playBig Brother.
But that doesn’t do well with me.
Do I agree with everything he did?
I don’t, ethically.
You don’t care what you do, who you hurt.
You give it your all.
And you know what?
I just wish I had that same perspective.
After everything that I’ve ever done, that’s the most backlash I got.
Could I have done it without it?
Did I need that?
Did it hurt me in the end?
In terms of votes, did it give a bad taste to a lot of people?
Would it have mattered?
I don’t know.
JENN ARROYO:When it came to the religious stuff, I didn’t really care.
I’m going to stay true to who I am.
No matter how much I can’t stand it.
I gave you my word.
I’m going to follow it through.”
I didn’t want to vote for him, but I didn’t want to vote for Ian either.
Every time I saw Ian, I saw Shane.
I was so mad at Ian that last week.
I was like, “You’re in Shane’s spot right now.”
I was disgusted that Ian knew Dan was going to do that and didn’t tell me.
They were just hell bent on him not getting it twice.
And Ian being so likable and so cute, and all that.
That’s where they put him in.
That’s the words that were used in that deliberation room.
“We can’t give it to Dan twice, look how cute Ian is.”
IAN TERRY:That’s another reason I wanted to bring Dan to the end.
BRITNEY HAYNES:Frank felt so personally burned by Dan, so bad.
He was able to persuade a lot of people in the jury that Dan had played unfairly.
Frank was able to really sell that argument in the jury house.
Joe was really upset in respect to the religion stuff.
Pretty much the only two people who would be willing to vote for Dan were myself and Jenn City.
But no one else thought that way.
FRANK EUDY:I didn’t ever look at my vote as bitter.
I voted for Ian because he had the biggest impact on my game and me not winning.
He won the competitions when he needed to in the end.
In the end, he’s the main reason that I didn’t win.
ALLISON GRODNER:They were a bitter jury.
And I remember that jury roundtable, and he was not happy.
So there was a bitter jury component.
But I have to say, Ian really had an amazing final speech.
He won it hands down in that finale.
But Ian definitely got the better of Dan in those speeches and that Q&A with the jury.
I remember thinking that at the time, and I thought “Ian, you’re so lucky.”
Re-watch Ian’s speech.
He really did well, and there was something so likable and pure about him.
And in that moment when Dan shook his head, there was something very unlikeable about Dan.
And if I were voting, that would hurt my opinion of you giving you my vote.
Like, let the man speak.
You’re going to get your chance.
The drama and aftershocks for some of Dan’s victims continued well after they left theBig Brotherhouse.
DANIELLE MURPHREE:After the show, I was just done with him.
My family was so upset and my dad didn’t even come to finale night because of Dan.
He would’ve gotten very protective.
I remember Dan saw my brother after and ducked inside a room, the coward.
DAN GHEESLING:I understood.
We were supposed to ride to the end.
I get it because we were close in the house.
We had a really close friendship.
I trusted her implicitly.
SHANE MEANEY:You know what?
I still haven’t watched the season in full, to be honest.
I really struggled with it.
It was how everything happened at the end with me.
It was very hard to deal with.
DANIELLE MURPHREE:I didn’t speak to Dan for a really long time after the show.
I didn’t speak for several reasons, including my respect for Shane.
Shane was going through a lot of trouble at the time.
And obviously she had her trust more so in him than me it seemed.
SHANE MEANEY:She didn’t disclose a lot of stuff to me.
And there was a lot of bitterness built up in my heart.
I just don’t believe that I was told everything that Dan and Danielle had discussed.
So I just felt like I was misled and it really broke my trust a lot.
So that’s what I have struggled with the past seven years.
It’s hard to get that around my brain.
But God had a different plan.
It wasn’t meant to be.
It’s just something I got to live with.
DANIELLE MURPHREE:Shane never understood me voting for Dan over Ian.
He was like, “How could you vote for somebody that did that to me?”
SHANE MEANEY:I really struggle with the fact that Danielle was the only one to vote for him.
That doesn’t make sense.
When you had my best interests at heart, you’re going to vote for him?"
And she was like, “Well, I wanted to be a woman of my word.”
That hurts when you see that happen at the end.
DANIELLE MURPHREE:Do you know how many times Shane wanted to get rid of Dan?
And I didn’t let him.
He didn’t do it because of how much he loved me, right?
It is what it is.
It’s all part of life.
I guess what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.
It’s taken a long time for me to get strong though, to be honest.
DANIELLE MURPHREE:I waited until a few months after Shane and I had broken up.
Dan had reached out to me again and he really wanted to talk to me.
I hated him for a while after the show and I had really been searching my soul on it.
I honestly don’t know what I would do if I saw him.
I don’t know if I’d cry, scream, or yell.
I don’t know.
Seven years laterand after watching the season play backhow do the jury members feel about their votes now?
FRANK EUDY:I’m happy with my vote.
I can’t blame somebody for making a move to get the win.
SHANE MEANEY:I’d stick to Ian, 100 percent.
Dan broke his word with me.
It was just lie after lie.
I did have some bitterness.
It’s gone now.
I’ve forgiven Dan.
And I’ve forgiven Danielle for some of things she didn’t disclose to me.
I did feel and stilldofeel comfortable voting for either of them.
DANIELLE MURPHREE:I still would’ve done the same thing.
I’m that loyal of a person.
I feel like Dan played a way better game than Ian, and that’s never going to change.
No matter if Dan and I never talk again, I’m still going to feel that way.
JENN ARROYO:Seven years later, I sometimes think I should have thrown in my vote to Dan.
And then, in other ways, I’m cool with Ian.
But in most ways, I could really fing care less.
This is definitely top of the list.
DANIELLE MURPHREE:Oh, yeah.
She’s never said an ill word about me, nor would I.
But the fact that we’ve never spoken breaks my heart.
BRITNEY HAYNES:It was amazing.
It was a culmination of all of Dan’s hard work and the power of his mist.
You were under his mist.
The funeral was the mist at the most powerful point.
It’s so sad how dumb I was though.
I’m sadly not any smarter still.
JULIE CHEN:I think it probably is the single greatest moment inBig Brotherhistory.
It’s definitely the top three.
None of that promising on any of that made any difference.
It was just him filling me in on what I didn’t know before.
IAN TERRY:I know Dan likes to make a big spectacle of everything, right?
One of the things he talked about was that he wanted to be considered the best.
Fair enough, that’s an interesting thing to aspire to.
But for him, the silliness and the spectacle sort of adds to that.
JENN ARROYO:It was one of the coolest, awesomest moments inBig Brotherhistory.
That segment should live in theBig BrotherHall of Fame.
The storytelling, the dramatics, the everything, and just the endless spin and aftermath of it all.
JOE ARVIN:When it comes toBig Brotherhistory and iconic moments, nothing else comes close.
It’s the most epic moment in the history ofBig Brother.
The main question I get asked still today is, “What do you think of his funeral?”
I’ll see someone in a grocery store, “How about Dan’s funeral?
How did you feel?”
I’m like, “Dude, ask aboutme, not Dan!”
DAN GHEESLING:Is it the greatestBig Brothermoment ever?
That’s not up for me to say.
I feel like I can walk away fromBig Brotherknowing that I did everything I could.
My thing is I always want to play as hard as I can.
I remember in interviews people would ask me, “Hey what about the Funeral in the house?”
I was like, “Oh, it was just another meeting.”
EPILOGUE: WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
DAN GHEESLINGand his wife Chelsea have two sons Desmond (3) and Miles (1).
SHANE MEANEYis still flipping houses in Bennington, Vermont and developed his own business, Quality Homes Inc. FRANK EUDYis working in Naples, Florida, where he lives with his girlfriend.
JENN CITY ARROYOis still rockin’ like Dokken.
She recently played on the Warped tour and her band Kittie released a live reunion DVD earlier this year.
JOE ARVINlives in Northwest Indiana and is a global corporate executive chef for a company called Antunes.
He develops recipes and does demonstration food cooking across the United States.
If you run into him on the street, ask him about himself, not Dan Gheesling.
TheBig Brother21 finale will air Sept. 25 on CBS.
