Contrary to what she might have said in the house, Haley Thogmartin had a pretty easy early run on Big Brother. Her almost immediate Red Corner and Crossovers alliances kept her completely safe for the first four weeks of the game, and she even won Head of Household, giving her control over who went home. Or so she thought.

Haley’s game began to unravel when Dee Valladares decided to flip the vote from Melody Morris to Lyric Medeiros. The eviction of one-time allies Chuk Anyanwu and Kamu Kirk further eroded Haley’s position in the house, although she did retain a form of protection by acting as a solid vote for the icons who had betrayed her.

But that protection could not save Haley when a new twist came into play that put players through a series of competitions that forced winners to assign safety to some while putting other contestants at risk of going home. Haley asked first contest winner Dee to put her in to play first so she had three chances to save herself. The strategy was sound, but after a hot and sweaty Haley lost all three challenges, she was voted out by final competition winner Yash Patel.

How does Haley feel about her unique exit? Does she regret asking to be put into the first contest? And does she still feel she was bullied by Lala Verrett? We asked the eighth person eliminated all that and more, and you can now watch or read the entire interview below.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: So, you had to do four competitions in a row that led to your exit. And I think the most important question is: Just how sweaty were you during those contests?

HALEY THOGMARTIN: Oh my. I honestly don’t think I sweat that much in the house that entire time, minus that night. Like, out of very workout that I did, that was the sweatiest that I’ve gotten the entire time.

How long were you out there to compete in those four competitions? How long did that whole process take?

I think I was out there for probably, what, seven hours? They did give me water. I was able to sit down and stuff, but I was out there. I didn’t get to go inside or anything. I saw that was a big question, but yeah, super sweaty wearing a long dress. It was a little bit thick, but I somehow mustered through it. It was really hot.

Tough question. I mean, with Devens and Dee already being safe, I know we already planned on saving Angela, and those were the only three I was really truly working with. And so I wanted the most chances to compete because I truly didn’t think somebody would save me out of there. But I gave myself plenty of chances. I wasn’t able to pull it out. But I’m proud of how I competed. I didn’t give up. There was a lot of chances I could have, but I don’t regret asking to go first, no.

How does it feel going out in this way as opposed to a regular Big Brother eviction?

Going out this way, I truly feel like I’m bummed. It was a long fight, but I gave it my entire all. I would rather have had a chance to kind of campaign why it would be good to stay. Obviously, not being able to get the chance to say goodbye was really hard, because I do think I made some incredible relationships in the house. So I would say it bummed me out a little bit just to not go out the traditional way, but again, expect the unexpected, and I did get the twist, so it was what it was.

You were a few days away from making it to the jury. Would you rather have made the jury to have a vote in terms of who wins the money, or are you happy you got to go home rather than spending another month in quarantine?

I obviously wanted the money too, so I wanted to keep playing. The jury house, I won’t lie, kind of scared me a little bit, because you do kind of go into sequester again. But all the people that are still there, I would have loved to be able to put my opinion in on why they deserve to win. So I would rather have stayed just to be able to do that. But I also obviously would rather have stayed to compete too, and obviously be somebody that could have gotten the 750,000.

Usually when I do these exit interviews with the pre-jury, they pretty much know nothing and have seen nothing and I’m the first person outside the bubble of the show they have talked to. But you’ve been out of the house and home for a few days, so have you had a chance to go back and watch the episodes on TV at all or look online? Where are you at right now with all that?

I wanted to see how it played out last night. So last night was the only episode I’ve actually watched. I have seen a couple things online. Obviously, I’m not proud of some of the things I said. I’m really regretful about a couple things and I obviously own all of it, you know? You’re in a high-pressure stakes situation, emotionally, mentally, physically, twenty-four-seven. And so I think it got the best of me for a couple moments and I own all of that.

Talk to me about what you’re referencing specifically in terms of the things that you said that you’re not proud of.

The Taylor [Brown] situation. I would never want anyone to ever feel that way. I’m incredibly apologetic. I would never want anyone to feel that they are less than I am, or saying certain things that made them feel a different way. I was really hurtful with that. And again, I wanna go back and apologize and own everything I did with that.

I also did say I had a hard couple of weeks, and again, none of that had anything to do with the game. I took a lot of things personally. Now that I’m looking back and I’m like, “Okay, fans were upset about that.” I wasn’t looking at it from the game standpoint. You’re right, I wasn’t on the block, but I took a lot of things personally, and I was trying to deal with that mentally.

And again, when you’re in a high-pressure situation, you’re being watched twenty-four-seven, I think that’s just kind of where my head went. But it had nothing to do with the game. It was just a lot personal.

Yeah, I actually more thought it was funny than anything else when you complained about how hard you had it, because you had safety for the first month of the game and you were in power. I think the mental, emotional stress for anyone [in this game] is a lot, even if you’ve got the clearest road. But as far as Big Brother goes game-wise, for the first month, before it went south, you couldn’t have asked for a better setup.

Right, right. [Laughs] And I was in a good position. However, just day one, I just kind of felt like mentally I just wasn’t as prepared as I wish I would’ve been. And I just took a lot of things personally. It had nothing to do with the game.

What about the Lala situation, when you accused her of bullying when she was HOH? Do you still feel that way in terms of your relationship and how she was treating you and others then?

I love Lala. I think she is an incredible person. There was just a couple of situations that I don’t really think were shown. It was just a lot. It is what it is. And if I had played into any of that, I’m apologetic to it. I just would never want anyone to ever feel a certain type of way. But we couldn’t really get on the same page and get along. I was to the point where I just didn’t wanna talk anymore. I was over it.

And, you know, again, I don’t think she is a bully. I don’t. I was just in a really tough spot with a lot of comments that were being thrown out, and I just didn’t wanna talk at 7:45 in the morning, and you just wanna get it over with. But I don’t think she’s a bully now.

It’s interesting, because a lot of times relationships that people have in the house don’t match up out of the house. You can have rivals in the house that end up becoming really good friends, and you have allies in the house that end up not being close once they get out. Is there anyone you’ve closed your doors off to? How do you think that’s gonna shake out once you guys get out of the game setting?

I’m always gonna keep everything very civil. I really, truly think that everyone is so unique in their own way. Everyone was great in their own way. It doesn’t mean that you always have to be best friends with them, but I would like a relationship with everyone,  because I do think that everyone brought something great to the table. And everyone’s so unique and had so much character. And again, you don’t have to be best friends with them, but I would love to always extend the olive branch to be friends. Absolutely.

I’m assuming that by this point, you know that Dee not only voted to keep Melody, but she was really the ringleader to flip the vote from Melody to Lyric on your HOH. How do you feel about that now?

You know what? It went right over my head. I think this is why I don’t feel like I actually played Big Brother the way that I thought I was going to play. I took a lot of things personally. I looked at a lot of things and I’m like, Dang. I would always pivot back to real life. Like, in real life, I would never do this, or somebody would never do that. That’s not the game, apparently.

But looking back about that —I think Dee played an incredible game. She kept a lot of things under wraps, and it went over my head. So, you know, props to her; I think she’s done incredible. But yeah, it does suck to see it now, but I’m like, okay, I see, I see.

From what you saw in the house being in there, and then what you’ve learned since you got out of the house, who is playing the best game?

I would say Dee. I think that she has pivoted in every way possible in the best possible way, under wraps. I think she’s done an incredible job. I also think [Rick] Devens has done an incredible job. His social game is immaculate. He is in with almost everybody. He has a personal connection with everybody. So I think he’s also played an incredible game as well.

Who are you rooting for to win at this point?

I’m rooting for Devens. Just because he is in an environment where you either thrive or you flop. And I think he has absolutely thrived this entire time. His social game has been incredible. Physical, you know, he’s been there. He’s not scared to make big moves. He is on that Icons side where now I see it is getting attacked. But I do think that out of all of them, he has a best chance because he’s still in with Barrett and Drew. I haven’t really watched a whole bunch, but it does look like if he was able to save himself, it’s with him and not with the other two icons. So I think he still has a chance.

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