Despite putting up quite the fight, Head of Household Derek X sent Christian Birkenberger home in a seven to two vote on Big Brother Thursday night. The 23-year-old Connecticut native was backdoored by Derek after Britini won the “Power of Veto” and took herself off the block for eviction, making four-time competition winner Christian the house target.
Christian shares which competition he should have thrown, how Frenchie lead to his eviction and more in his exclusive interview with AfterBuzz TV below:
AFTERBUZZ: I really thought you had Tiffany convinced to turn the vote and that you had the votes to stay after tonight’s episode. What happened?
CHRISTIAN: I could not tell you what happened. I pitched every single argument I think even imaginable, and I tried my hardest for three days straight. I really didn’t take a day off to plead my case, and I thought at one point that I was good too. But nothing was more convincing than people seeing that I was there; really no argument I think would have saved me.
AFTERBUZZ: You did float around the idea of taking Derek X out. What was the biggest reason why you didn’t take a shot at him when you had the chance?
CHRISTIAN: That is such a regret I have, and the reason I didn’t is because we are, or we were at that time part of The Royal Flush alliance. And so I wouldn’t want to weaken myself and turn the alliance against me by taking out someone that I didn’t trust. But in hindsight I should have, because he got the first chance to do it and he did it to me
AFTERBUZZ: Now that you’re not trying to convince him to keep you, do you really think it was in his best interest for you to stay in the house?
CHRISTIAN: I really think it was. Eventually we would have to come after each other. That’s the game. Everyone has to go except for two people. So eventually yes, one of us would have had to take the first shot. But he is the biggest threat in the house now. Not only is he a competition threat, but he also was extremely close in the memory comp and I think he’s a lot smarter than me. He’s a competition threat and strategic threat, so if I’m the only one that sees it, he could potentially go pretty far, but I’m not the only one that sees that. So he took out his biggest shield and he’s going to be going home soon.
AFTERBUZZ: Having been the person to evict you, who do you think Derek X should be watching out for this week?
CHRISTIAN: My girl Alyssa said she’s going to take him out, so I hope she does. I really, really want her to get HOH and have some power, because I know she feels that while I was around she was kind of looked at as someone that floated by by attaching herself to me. And little do people know how much of an influence she had on my game, and people don’t know that she was in my ear controlling a lot of the decisions because of the questions I asked her. So I really want her to start showing people that she came to play and she didn’t just latch onto me, because she has a real resume.
AFTERBUZZ: What was the biggest way she influenced your game?
CHRISTIAN: Every single decision I ever had to make, I came to her. She was my final two. We had a conversation last night about how opposites attract, of course talking about our relationship, and I said, ‘What is your biggest downfall?’ She said she’s an over-thinker and I said, ‘Perfect, because I don’t think at all.’ So every single decision that I needed to make, I went to the brain of the alliance and she helped influence every single decision I made.
AFTERBUZZ: Are there any decisions that you made during your HOH that you would have made differently had you not spoken with her?
CHRISTIAN: I still think that at the time it was in my best interest to not take out Derek X, although in hindsight I do wish I took him out. And even at the time he was the person that I trusted the least. But, I think I would have made the same decisions as she wanted me to make, because she’s right. It did benefit my game the most. And I don’t see my HOH reign as a mistake, I see Derek X’s HOH reign as a mistake because he’s going out very, very shortly.
AFTERBUZZ: Xavier voted to keep you. Do you think that will put a target on his back or affect his game at all?
CHRISTIAN: No. Everyone expected a seven-two vote and they knew where the two votes were coming from. No one really wants to go out unanimously, and they knew that as a strong team of Kings, considering we’re the only team that survived the team twist, everyone in the house knew who those two votes would come from. It wasn’t out of a place of not going with the house, it was out of a place of respect for your teammates. So it shouldn’t affect him moving forward.
AFTERBUZZ: Do you think that Sarah Beth is a threat as a game player in the house?
CHRISTIAN: Sarah Beth is a huge threat. She is a massive threat in this game. The fact that she is in the most vulnerable position in the entire house as someone sitting on the block and was able, from what I think, was able to manipulate the HOH to the most powerful position in the house, I think is extremely dangerous. She not only has the memory competition to prove that she can win, which is arguably the most difficult competition I think to win, a memory comp that also included speed that she not only won, but destroyed everyone else at. She is someone that will take control of the game if she’s not taken out shortly.
AFTERBUZZ: At one point, Tiffany said she should be crying, she’s on the block. What did you make of Sarah Beth’s campaign to stay in the house?
CHRISTIAN: I felt at the time–and I was definitely in an angry place–I felt that those tears were not genuine. They were an act to make people feel bad because she is, in my head, America’s sweetheart within this cast. I think every person in America sees her as that. I have no idea, but I think that everyone in the house sees her as someone that would be extremely lovable and so putting on this act definitely benefits her game. And, I think it’s really manipulative at the time, but I don’t think it’s an act anymore. I understand. I got emotional all week, and so I see how it can be an emotional position to be in. I do think it was greedy to take the five grand in that situation, but the fact that she was crying in front of Derek X and somehow the HOH ended up with a punishment instead of the five grand did seem manipulative in my eyes. But I don’t think it was as intentional as I originally thought it was. I think she made good pitches.
AFTERBUZZ: If you were in the jury and the final two were Derek X and Sarah Beth, who would you vote for?
CHRISTIAN: That is such a difficult question. It really would depend on when I went out and how much more knowledge I gained at that time. Really with Derek X, I have nothing but respect. He played a very similar game to mine in winning competitions. He made even better alliances and he took the shot when he should have taken the shot. So honestly, from a competitive standpoint, I probably would vote for Derek X.
AFTERBUZZ: Speaking of competitions, do you think throwing any of the comps would have benefited your game?
CHRISTIAN: I only have four wins. I’m not that big of a threat. I have four wins. I understand it was within a short amount of time, but if I didn’t win week one, I would have gone home. I think everyone was aware of that. So that was a must-win, it would not have changed anything. My second win, the veto comp, I don’t think that changed anything either because I was playing someone that already kept me safe, Xavier, who was on my team. The third win, I could not have let go because Derek X would have won and at that time I was still considering putting him up as a backdoor option. So the only win I think that I could have blown and maybe should have blown or thrown was the HOH comp, Peer Pressure, where I misunderstood the rules. And I really thought that whatever team won got to pick an HOH within their team. I was actually so surprised that because I hit the buzzer that I was the new HOH. If I understood the instructions prior a little better then I would not have put myself in that situation, and it would have benefited me.
AFTERBUZZ: Frenchie was one of the people very early on who put a target on your back. He called you a threat, one of the “meatheads” he wanted to get out. Do you think that that impacted you later on being sent home?
CHRISTIAN: Yeah. He planted a lot of seeds in everyone’s head that sprouted later on and grew into something significantly bigger. He put that little bit of doubt in people’s heads week one, which absolutely remained and potentially was the reason why I went home now.
AFTERBUZZ: And just one last question: Who are you rooting for aside from Alyssa?
CHRISTIAN: Aside from Alyssa? Xavier, of course. My other teammate.
To find out how the remaining Kings stack up in the house, tune in to Big Brother Sundays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on CBS and watch the live feeds on Paramount+.
