Big Brother's Dustin: My Ego Trip Was My Downfall

Proving yet again that on Big Brother a pawn is never just a pawn, 22-year-old Dustin Erikstrup was evicted last Thursday after volunteering to go on the block opposite Dick. The shoe salesman and recent college grad from Chicago shared with TVGuide.com his thoughts on his "shysty" housemate, becoming the first member of the BB8 jury, and how his overconfidence got the better of him.

TVGuide.com: To what do you attribute your eviction?
Dustin Erikstrup: The fact that I egotistically nominated myself to go on the block this week led to the inevitable demise of Dustin in the Big Brother 8 house. I made bold moves in the house and overconfidence led to my demise.

TVGuide.com: What kind of bold moves?
Dustin: I sent home America's favorite, Nick, during my Head of Household reign, and I did it without batting an eye. He was charismatic, good-looking, nice, out to help everybody.... I didn't buy it, and I sent Nick packing. And last week, when Eric and Kail were on the block, switching the vote at the last minute in order to keep Eric was a bold move.

TVGuide.com: Was it a mistake, taking the trip to Barbados and the $5,000 during the PoV competition when you were HoH?
Dustin: I don't regret it one bit. Entering the house, I thought the chances of me winning were slim to none, so I might as well make the best of it while I'm here, and that's exactly what I did. When that trip came up... I had promised my girlfriend that I was going to take her out when I got out of here, and now I'm going to live up to my word. And being a new college graduate, I have accrued quite a bit of student loans, so the money's a nice push into paying that off. People probably saw a selfish side of me, but this is a selfish game; you're in it to win it for yourself, not for somebody you met a month ago in the house. When people say that they're here to carry people to the end, I think it's a load of crap. You're in the Big Brother house to win 500 grand for yourself, not for the person sitting next to you.

TVGuide.com: So, do Dick and Daniele have an unfair advantage?
Dustin: Yes, as was proved in the Power of Veto this week. If my dad was there to bail me out during hard times, this game would have been a lot different for me as well.

TVGuide.com: When Jessica became HoH, you were thrilled. Could you have imagined the outcome?
Dustin: It's still hard to believe, I'll be honest. I got about 45 minutes of sleep last night thinking about the events of the past week, piecing together conversations that I saw, pairings of people I had witnessed. At this point, I'm still a little frazzled by the events that transpired, but apparently Dick's fear tactics have worked on people.

TVGuide.com: So what happened to tear apart the Late Night Crew?
Dustin: Dick and Daniele took it upon themselves to theorize about Eric conspiring to get Nick out. Nick was Dick and Daniele's for-sure vote till the very end. They tried to point fingers at every single person in the house and they drew straws and came up with Eric, so they decided to split up the LNC.

TVGuide.com: As you were leaving, you told Julie that "Eric was the 'shysty' person he was." What did you mean by that?
Dustin: Eric was a vote against me this week, and that inevitably led to me going home. In doing so, it just proved a point that Eric is the shysty person that Dick and Daniele pointed out to me, and it probably wasn't the best strategic move to keep him last week. Keeping him was strictly for the numbers; Big Brother is a numbers game, so it was a strategic decision, and it also happened to have been a personal one, because I like Eric.

TVGuide.com: Looking back, how was it to spend time with Joe?
Dustin: I walked out on Joe a year ago and I never looked back; I can't stress that enough. The fact that I happened to have spent 13 days with him in the Big Brother house does not change my opinion of him; it only reconfirms it. And that's all I have to say about Joe and me.

TVGuide.com: Are you worried for Amber, now that you're gone?
Dustin: Absolutely — I don't think Amber is a very strong strategic player, and in the alliance between her and me, I did most of the legwork. So now that I'm gone, I'm really hoping that she'll get her head in the game. [On Sunday, this week's HoH, Daniele, nominated Amber and Jameka for eviction.]

TVGuide.com: What did you learn from your time in the house?
Dustin: I walked into the house knowing that overconfidence and arrogance are weaknesses of mine. I got a little carried away, and that inevitably led to my demise. Just because you're on a roll doesn't mean you can't have a downfall.

TVGuide.com: Are you psyched to go into sequester?
Dustin: I'm really looking forward to taking this time to relax, find the nicest bed in the house and get the nicest tan before people come in all flustered from the week that I wasn't there for!

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