An Interview With Jen

The Slug might have to cancel our summer tour because "Big Brother 8" is giving us a case of "severe exhaustion." On last night's episode, Jen Johnson participated in an unruly cigarette tug-of-war with Dick Donato. Then, she completely disregarded her food restriction. Let's see what the evicted houseguest and second jury member has to say about her physical altercation, penalty vote and who she thinks should win the game.


The Slug: You said you weren't on "Big Brother" for the money. What did you want from the experience?

Jen Johnson: I'm really always up for trying new things. I'm very competitive. I thought it'd be a fun learning experience. I like to try out new things.

The Slug: In their parting messages, some of the houseguests said they thought you were self-centered. How did that make you feel?

Jen Johnson: I think that was just Jameka. She just said that was her first impression of me, but when she got to know me, she found out that I was actually a good person. I think that's the first impression that I give off, but once you get to know me, you know who I am and know that I'm not.

The Slug: What was the biggest challenge of living in the house?

Jen Johnson: I guess having absolutely nothing to do would probably be the biggest challenge. No, there's multiple: not having your friends and family that you see on a regular basis, not knowing what's going on with your life.

The Slug: Why do you think Dick targeted you so much?

Jen Johnson: He got to everybody else. When he tried to get to me, it didn't work. So I think he just tried something new and kept on trying. And since nothing would ever crack me, it just made him even more mad and he couldn't handle it.

The Slug: Tell me about your physical altercation with him this week. What happened?

Jen Johnson: What had happened is right before that part that was shown, Dick was blowing smoke rings in my face, and I was like, "Stop blowing smoke in my face!" And he was like, "Well, what are you gonna do?" I was like, "I'll take your cigarette out of your hand." And then I went to grab his cigarette out of his hand. I was just trying to grab his cigarette out of his hand.

The Slug: Did he burn you?

Jen Johnson: It didn't burn me. He definitely tried to poke me with it. Whatever. I don't think it actually burned me.

The Slug: Were you putting on a front in the house or were you always being yourself?

Jen Johnson: I really think I was being myself. Obviously, in my normal life, I don't have people like Dick in it. If that was someone that was ever in my life, I would not be associated with them. So maybe interactions with him were as normal as my outside life is, but other than that, I'm pretty much how I was.

The Slug: Why did you decide to eat when you were supposed to be on slop?

Jen Johnson: What had happened is that before I got on the show, I didn't like smoking. And I [told the producers], "If there's smokers in the house, I'm gonna throw all their cigarettes in the pool." And Big Brother was like, "Yeah, whatever, that's fine." About two weeks ago, I destroyed his cigarettes, but I only destroyed three packets of cigarettes because that's all I could find. He was like, "Ha. Ha. I hid the rest of 'em." Two or three days ago, I found the rest of the cigarettes, so I hid all my stuff. I put them in a trash bin, and then I got yelled at. They were like, "Now we have to replace them." And I was like, "But you said I could do that." And they were like, "But you can't." So I was just really upset that I had wasted all my time and energy to piss Dick off for no reason, so I was really, really upset that I wasn't allowed to destroy his cigarettes when I was told I was going to be able to. I didn't know what to do. I was upset with Big Brother so I just ate to get back at them.

The Slug: How did you feel about Big Brother's penalty vote?

Jen Johnson: I didn't really think much of it. After I ate, the other houseguests were in such shock that it didn't matter if I had a penalty vote or not. So I was like, "OK. I'll have an extra vote. That'll be funny when it's six to zero and I get voted out with more votes than there is people in the house."

The Slug: Are you a member of Chill Town?

Jen Johnson: (Laughs.) That's funny. In that, do you mean I know Mike 'Boogie'? Yeah, I do.

The Slug: Did Chill Town coach you in the game?

Jen Johnson: No, not at all. They didn't even know I was gonna be on the show.

The Slug: So you're not a member of Chill Town?

Jen Johnson: No. I could probably go and apply though.

The Slug: Now that you're on the jury, how do you feel about going to the sequester house?

Jen Johnson: At first, I didn't really wanna go. And I was kinda upset about it. Now, I think it will be fine. It'll be exciting to be able to read and listen to music. I have "Learn Spanish" on my iPod, so I'll probably learn Spanish.

The Slug: What qualities will you look for in judging the winner of "Big Brother 8"?

Jen Johnson: I honestly don't think that anyone left has any qualities that I would vote on, so it's basically gonna be who's left that's not the worst. I obviously know that my vote will not be going to Dick, no matter who's against him, just based on the fact that he should've been kicked off the show for his violent intimidation. Other than that, it's all pretty much fair game.

The Slug: What do you think the perception of you as been outside of the house?

Jen Johnson: I'm not sure how I've been portrayed. Obviously, I was there 24 hours a day for the past 55 days. There's only three one-hour shows a week so I kinda don't know how I look. In general, I'm normally always happy. I'm down to do whatever there is. I'm honest. I'm a good competitor. I hope everyone sees that.

The Slug: Lastly, What was your biggest regret in the game?

Jen Johnson: As far as the game, my biggest regret is not voting Dick out over Dustin