It’s been over a month since we witnessed the brutish bartender, Dick Donato, take home half a million dollars as the winner of the eighth installment of CBS’ Big Brother. And now it can be told perhaps, one of the factors that aided Dick’s victory is CBS’ refusal to let America’s Player, Eric Stein, use the Power of Veto (PoV).
Towards the homestretch of the recently concluded Big Brother competition, Stein and his showmance partner, Jessica Hughbanks, had formed an uneasy alliance with Dick and his daughter Daniele. During that partnership, Eric had won the PoV contest and had been in a position to use it on either of Hughbanks’ nominees at the time, Amber Siyavus and Zach Swerdzewski. Why he elected not to employ the veto on either one is a complicated story that has had to unfold a little at a time.
As the latest Big Brother season’s secret America’s Player, Eric Stein was forced to lead somewhat of a double existence alongside his fellow houseguests. He was bound by the commands of the country to do as the nation bid him, with tasks that included pranks, ploys and choices for nominees and evictees. As such, when cry-baby Amber Siyavus went on the block, his hands were tied since America had decided they wanted Amber to be the next one booted out of the house. In one of his diary room (DR) sessions aired during the August 28 broadcast, Eric was at least able to explain why he didn’t use the PoV on her.
But that left Zach Swerdzewski as a likely beneficiary of the veto. However, in a surprising non-move that left many, including Stein’s Big Brother sweetheart and ally, Hughbanks, wondering, America’s Player still kept the nominations intact and refused to employ his veto option. That infamous non-move on his part helped pave the way for the Donato tandem to stay strong in the game and go on to finish one and two. Even Jessica considered it at the time as possibly the “biggest mistake” yet in the game.
Eric has since had the chance to explain himself to her, after Big Brother concluded. And now, CBS has also finally admitted its part in his unexpected decision.
“Eric explained he wasn’t allowed to use the veto that week,” Hughbanks said in a recent podcast interview. “The producers said that America wasn’t given enough time to decide who he should use it on if he was going to, so they just flat out told him he is not allowed to use the veto at all — nominations had to stay the same.
Meanwhile, producers have confirmed Jessica’s account of Eric’s admission: “The rule was that Eric had to make every effort to do what America wanted. [Viewers] asked for someone to be nominated and that person [Amber] was on the chopping block. Since there was no time to vote on whether or not [Stein] should use the veto, he needed to make sure that the person America wanted gone stayed on the chopping block and then make every effort to make sure that person was evicted. Keeping the nominations the same was the best way to accomplish America’s wishes.”
-Rosario Santiago, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: Reality TV World
(Image Courtesy of Viewimages)
Staff Columnist, BuddyTV
