TORONTO — Big Brother is back for a 15th season with new twists and houseguests like Elissa Slater, the 27-year-old sister of Season 13 winner Rachel Reilly.
In Toronto on Thursday to promote Big Brother 15, Reilly says she gave her sister plenty of advice.
“I told her to be super competitive. I said, ‘You better go in there and bring it because you’re my sister and we have a reputation to live up to. You have to go in there and be competitive. People are going to be expecting that from you,'” she told Globalnews.ca.
“I told her everyday she has to play with her whole heart and she has to play the game and never get comfortable. That’s the best advice I can give her.”
Reilly has not, however, told Slater too much about what to expect after Big Brother.
“It’s so different for every houseguest,” she explains. “I’ve gotten all these amazing opportunities from it but there are other houseguests who go back to their jobs, and their lives are exactly the same.”
It was on Big Brother that Reilly met and fell for Brendon Villegas, who she wed last September. The ceremony was, of course, captured by TV cameras.
Reilly, 28, says it was only natural.
“Our first kiss was on TV, our first ‘I love you’ was on TV,” she says. “Who knows if we’ll have kids on TV?”
When it’s pointed out that Big Brother fans might only be interested in seeing the conception, Reilly bursts out laughing. “I know, right?,” she says. “Not the birth. That would be weird.”
Reilly won Season 13 — and the $500,000 prize — after finishing ninth on the previous season of Big Brother. The experiences were different, she says. “Season 12, I didn’t have fun and that was the really disappointing part.”
Another completely different experience was competing in Season 20 of The Amazing Race, in which she and Villegas, 32, came in third.
“It’s so fun to travel around the world, obviously, but you’re not eating, you’re not sleeping. It’s so physically demanding,” explains Reilly. “Big Brother is so mentally stressful and draining.”
Reilly insists she hasn’t become more manipulative after being a part of Big Brother and The Amazing Race but she admits: “I don’t trust people as much.”
Her advice for anyone considering auditioning for Season 2 of Big Brother Canada? “You need to make the most of every minute,” she says. “Train for the show. You have to make every minute count and never take your mind off the game.”
Reilly says Big Brother has such a devoted fan base because the show — and the people on it — are real and relatable.
“You get so involved. You become part of that cast. You feel like you’re in that house with them,” she says. “You get so involved emotionally with the players.”
On her Twitter page, Reilly describes herself as “retired” from reality competition shows — for now.
“Maybe I should take that off because I think I would want to do another all-star season,” she admits. “I’m kind of ready to go back.”
She’s also taking acting and music classes in hopes of building a career playing someone other than herself.
“I’m trying to be educated so I can be successful,” explains Reilly. “I love it so I want to make sure I’m good at it. It’s definitely something I want to pursue.”
This summer, though, she’ll be busy cheering for her sister.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing her doing an endurance competition because she’s a yoga instructor,” Reilly says. “If she can’t win an endurance competition, something’s wrong.”
Big Brother premieres June 26 on Global.
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