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Big Brother's final three speechless ahead of 'life-changing' finale
Big Brother Royalty vs New Blood has just announced the three finalists: Previous winner Reggie Bird, the show’s ‘villain’ Taras Hrubyj-Piper, and superfan Johnson Ashak.
In an epic final challenge, Taras pipped intruder Brenton Parkes to the post by a second, ending Brenton’s dream of winning Big Brother.
The finalists opened up to Yahoo Lifestyle about what it would mean to win, why all of the finalists have a shot at taking the crown, and what they would spend the $250,000 prize on.
‘Making history’
As the only OG player left in the game, Reggie is determined to take the crown for herself and her two kids.
“To win this again, would be making history, and like ‘Queen Reggie, she’s won it again!’. That would be awesome,” the star tells us. “It’d be an absolute honour.”
Fans have questioned Taras’ decision to take Reggie to the end, wondering why he chose to take the OG with such a large fanbase to the end.
“I brought Reggie to the end because I believe in her [and] her story. That doesn’t mean I don’t want to win. That doesn’t mean I don’t feel I don’t deserve to win,” he reveals.
“It’s bittersweet [being] in the final three. You want to win so bad, but you also don’t want to have your hopes up so high,” Taras admits.
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As a superfan, Johnson is overwhelmed by the fact that he has made it this far in the game.
“I’m actually speechless first of all, I’m so proud of myself. I’m proud and I’m humbled to have got this far,” Johnson tells us.
Who will win?
While the bookies have given Reggie the best odds of taking home the Big Brother crown, there are valid reasons why any of the three finalists could secure the win.
Taras, firstly, has been involved with the Australian indie band Sticky Fingers, who have been pushing people to vote for their friend.
Sticky Fingers has over 400,000 followers on Instagram, and a post promoting Taras on Big Brother has already had over 14,000 likes.
“I think it’ll make a dent, but there’s multiple 100s of 1000s of votes. I’m so grateful for the Sticky Fingers band for helping me out…they are just so giving and so lovely,” he explains.
“I know that not all the Stickies (fans) will vote for me, might get a few from there, but they all count.”
In comparison, Reggie has just over 30,000 followers on Instagram, and she admits her most significant hurdle to winning will be the fans assuming she’s going to win.
“I guess I am nervous at the moment because people need to vote,” she tells us.
“I don’t want [fans] to become complacent and sit there and think, ‘Oh, Reggie’s got it in the bag’, or, ‘She’s won it before, she doesn’t deserve it’.
“I want all my fans to vote for me because if they don’t, I’m not gonna take this out,” Reggie pleads.
The final person in the running is Johnson, and he says while he doesn’t have ‘relationships or connections’ with the Australian public, he can still walk away with the crown.
“I do think I am an underdog, and the reason is obviously Reggie has the love and support of [the] show before the show, and Taras is an incredible musician [with] the support of his band.
“But I think Aussies resonate and draw similarities with the underdog…just being themselves.
“I’d be lying if I didn’t think I’ve got a chance to win. We all have a chance, and that’s why we’re there,” he tells us, convincingly.
‘Life-changing’
The one thing all the housemates agree on is that the $250,000 prize money is ‘life-changing’. When asked how they would spend their prize, every single housemate has a selfless answer involving their family.
For Reggie, she’s said it many times, but she wants to provide a home for herself and her children, Mia and Lucas.
Australians have been amazed at watching Reggie battle each week in the challenges, even though she has a disability in the form of degenerative eye condition retinitis pigmentosa, meaning she is legally blind.
If that wasn’t enough, her son Lucas was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at just four weeks old. The star came back to Big Brother to win for her kids, and she’s desperate to make it happen.
Taras says that he would love to look after his mum and also give back to some of the housemates.
“I don’t come from a wealthy family, my mum has nothing and it would be so useful to [her]. She’s 70, and she’s still working, I just want to be able to look after her,” he tells us.
“I would take a few of the housemates to Bali on an all-expenses-paid trip, because they’re the reason that I’m here. And I also owe Trevor’s kids $1000…Trevor was so important to me in that house,” he reveals.
Johnson doesn’t hesitate to say he’s going to give half of the prize money to his brother if he’s lucky enough to win.
“A constant phrase that we use as a family is that ‘you lose as a family, but you also win as a family.’
“I want to say thank you [to my brother] by giving him half the prize money. The other half, I want to send my parents away on a holiday,” Johnson says.
“For myself…I’ll grab myself a beer and I just want to relax.”
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