Interview with "Big Brother"'s Kevin Campbell

On Tuesday night, CBS's Big Brother almost anointed its first gay winner after airing for eleven seasons. But a last minute tiebreaker question meant out contestant Kevin Campbell had to settle for third place.

Still, Kevin did an admirable job and managed to break the record for the longest a gay man has managed to stay in the Big Brother house, beating out former record holder Marcellas Reynolds. AfterElton.com had the chance to talk to Kevin the day after the big finale before he'd even had a chance to see any of the show.

AfterElton.com: Congratulations on making it so far!
Kevin: Congratulations on losing! Oh my God!

AE: Come on! You broke Marcellas' record for the longest time a gay man stayed in the Big Brother
Kevin house. : I know, but I was trying to win, to be the first gay person to win Big Brother, but oh well.

AE: So you're being called the Richard Hatch of Big Brother, I guess without the naked part. How do you feel about that? Do you think it's a fair comparison?
KC: Ew! Am I like a fat, hairy, old guy? What does that mean?

AE: I think they mean more in the sense that you were conniving and manipulated people well.
KC: Oh my God. I didn't think I was super manipulative. I just used my gay skill set to the best of my ability, get on everybody's good side, and make them think I'm not a threat. It got me all the way to the end, so...

AE: Earlier in the season, there was quite a bit of controversy on our site and across the web when Jeff repeatedly used homophobic language against Russell and Jesse. A lot of viewers were especially upset by CBS's handling, or lack thereof, of the situation. Were you aware that he was throwing around the F-word to demean other players? If so, how did you feel about that?
KC: Yeah. I heard about it, and that's when I was not on Team Jeff. For a while, he didn't even know my name. He referred to me as "the gay guy," and I felt that was very disrespectful because I got to know everyone's name day one, day two. This was like day 15, and he's still calling me "the gay guy." I know everybody has a good side and everybody has a bad side.

Obviously, everybody in America got to see Jeff's good side, but I wasn't 100% on Team Jeff because I suspected that sort of thing was under the charming surface. I suspected that he was just using Jordan. I'd ask him questions like, "Dude, do you really like Jordan?" and "What's your type of girl?" It would not be Jordan's type. I didn't understand it.

Russell was the one who told me about Jeff's F-bombs that he was dropping. Of all people, I thought Russell was going to be the most homophobic, but actually Russell was very open-minded and very accepting. It was the complete opposite of what I thought.