One day removed from the Big Brother 28 house, Rome Seymour is sleeping in a real bed, eating a good meal, and still riding the high of a game that made three grown adults sweat.
“Not many people can make three celebrity or reality show icons quake in their boots like I can,” he tells Gold Derby, sizing up his short but chaotic run in the house.
That run ended this week after Angela Murray clocked Rome rallying his side of the house and ran straight to Rick Devens, setting his blindside in motion. Along the way, Rome snapped at Haley Thogmartin mid-nomination ceremony, broke down in tears more than once, and got a crash course in his fellow houseguests’ hidden lives — including the fact that Mallory Aurichio, the woman who breezed through the pipe Veto challenge, is an actual rocket scientist. “I knew she was a genius,” he says.
Below, Rome breaks down his blowup at Haley, who he wishes he’d built a stronger bond with, why the house’s tears flowed so freely this week, and who he thinks is playing the best game left in the house.
Gold Derby: You’ve had not even a day yet out of the house to decompress. Where’s your mind at?
Rome Seymour: Honestly, as I’ve relaxed, slept in a bed for the first time in seven days that doesn’t make noise, and eaten good food for the first time in seven days, I feel this sense of accomplishment that I’m very proud of. Not many people can make three celebrity or reality show icons quake in their boots like I can.
Well, you got in a showmance on Day 2, Rome. What is wrong with you? What were you thinking?
I think it’s really funny, because the way I look at it, I was already going to have this humongous target on my back. I was in that house, I was being charismatic, I think people saw that I was kind of a leader — so I was going to have that target on me regardless. It didn’t help to have a pretty little brunette on my side as well. But man, it didn’t hurt my feelings.
Angela clocked you rallying the troops and ran straight to Devens. Were you surprised she started the momentum to get you out?
No. What’s funny is, after taking time to reflect, I wish I would’ve built a better relationship with Angela. I think she knew I was so close with everyone else, and she always kept an arm’s distance from me — like she knew I was going to gun for her at some point. And we all know Angela: she creates a lot of scenarios in her head where it’s immediately, “Rome’s got to go, he’s plotting against me, Devens, get him out now.”
So who do you wish you’d built more of a relationship with, or tried to repair things with? Is Angela the answer, or does someone else come to mind?
What’s funny is I think Haley is one of the smartest players in the entire house. She’s so good at keeping her cards close, but she’s got so many good allies. She and I actually had a plan — if I won the Block Buster and proved I belonged and was safe in the house, she and I were going to work together to start knocking off some of these people. No one was going to see me and Haley coming.
Take me back to Devens’ nomination ceremony — Angela’s in her egg suit going at Jason, and you call Haley unbearable. Why was Haley so unbearable in that moment?
Honestly, it wasn’t really about that moment. The big thing was I was the leader of leaders — really just the face. There were much smarter people helping me out behind the scenes. But people saw me as the leader of the other side, and they’d come to me like, “Oh my gosh, Haley’s so unkind to me sometimes, she’s a one-upper.” She’s playing a smart game, honestly — getting under people’s skin to the point where they’re like, “We need to get her out, but she’s got strong allies.” She’s weaning out who’s with her and who’s not. I think that’s genius. But all these people kept coming to me saying, “Vote her out, she’s the one, get rid of her,” and I’m sitting there like, “You guys understand I don’t even have any power yet — all I’ve got is you guys.” I think she’s an amazing player. It was really just a comment she made that was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I had no sleep, no food from being a have-not, Devens is airing out my game plan to everyone, the girl I’m in love with is on the block, my best friend Jason [De Puy] is on the block, and my house-mom Latrice [Verrett] is bawling her eyes out. There’s only so much one man can handle.
How did the house cool down from that moment? By the live eviction, everyone seemed to be getting along again.
Everyone in there knows game is game. And personally, we were all really close — within a week, a lot of us had built relationships deeper than ones we have with friends we’ve known for five or 10 years. So it was pretty easy to navigate. Everyone said, “Let’s put it behind us, we’re all still friends.” Haley and I — I apologized thoroughly for what I said about her, and after that it was water under the bridge. Nobody took it personally.
It got emotional in there. You cried quite a bit — you were a bit of a hot mess at times. Why is it so hard to keep it together? Is it the pressure cooker, or are you just an emotional person?
What’s funny is I put on this exterior like I’m the calm, cool, collected, strong guy — but I’m actually a really emotional dude sometimes. I don’t cry often, but when I do, it’s because I care about my people so much that when they’re hurt, it hurts me too. Seeing Lyric in this frail state while she’s sitting on the block, seeing Jason getting emotional and going at it with Angela, and then the kicker — seeing Latrice bawling her eyes out. She was like my mom in the house; she’s the reason I wasn’t missing my family as much as I could’ve been. Watching her break down just tore me to pieces. I couldn’t hold it in anymore.
We saw Lyric tell you what her real job is. Other people are hiding things too — Jason’s a RuPaul’s Drag Race All-Star, and Mallory’s a rocket scientist. Did you know that?
I knew she was super smart — she made that pipe veto challenge look like nothing. I knew she was a genius.
Now that the game’s continuing without you — obviously you’re rooting for Lyric — who do you think is playing the best game right now?
What’s funny is I think Kamu is playing the best game in the house. He’s an awesome person, everyone gets along with him — there’s not one person in there who’d say they’d target Kamu if they had the chance. He’s also got a really strong alliance with the “icons” protecting him right now. But what people don’t understand is that guy is going to win competitions eventually. He’s so competitive. He’s bound to win an HOH, a Veto, something. I don’t think everyone’s seeing that piece of him yet.
I knew it was coming.
So who do you think is in trouble now?
It’s a tough spot for Kamu honestly, because he’s been playing so smart — he has zero enemies. I think he’ll go with easy targets that Angela, Devens, or Dee [Valladares] hand him, people they say are “non-factors” who won’t shake things up too much. I don’t think he’s going to be the guy who makes a splash. My guess is the easy targets right now are Jason and Lyric, who were close with me, and they’re kind of free agents now, and maybe Mallory or Melody [Morris].
What are you most and least excited about opening your phone for the first time? Was the full detox actually nice?
It’s actually amazing. When you don’t have your phone in there, your thoughts open up a lot more, your creativity opens up, your conversation skills open up. Everything’s brighter without your phone — I honestly don’t think I’ll use mine nearly as much now. But I’m excited to see reactions to some of the moments that happened, and honestly, the thing I’m most excited about is calling my family. The thing I’m least excited about is probably seeing people’s reactions to my explosion.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
‘Big Brother 28’ cast: Meet the 17 houseguests including a ‘BB’ icon, 2 ‘Survivor’ legends, and a ‘Drag Race’ All Star
