John Powell – GlobalTV.com

College student Cory Wurtenberger is only 21-years-old but you would never know it. Cory played the game and conducted himself in the house with wisdom and character beyond his years. Some would even say better than the houseguests who were twice his age. Not only was he one of the best strategic minds this season but as a super fan he experienced everything the Big Brother house has to offer including being on the block, being HoH and falling into a showmance.

Before Cory was whisked off to the jury house he gave us the low-down.

John Powell: Here’s a little get back for you. Who do you hope follows you to the jury house next and why?

Cory Wurtenberger: Oh, that’s tough because obviously I think anyone who wins an HoH would be foolish to put up anyone other than Matt and Jag, except for maybe Bowie. But, even for her, I think it would like really be a bad move for her to put anyone else up. So, I think Jag should follow me assuming he doesn’t win HoH or veto.

I’d like to see Felicia or Blue too. Felicia, I think kind of screwed up her game a little bit this week. She had, even if it wasn’t to save me, an opportunity to pull Bowie away from Matt and Jag a little bit and instead she just pushed Bowie closer to them. Felicia is kind of a walking corpse in the house right now so get her out, let the other people actually play.

Blue? There is Just a bit of a rivalry there. I don’t respect Blue too much as a player but as a person I think she’s incredible. This week, I think she was saved by the second veto. I don’t see her making a super deep run but maybe as she’s good at competitions. Maybe she has a path forward. I think Felicia and Blue would be the two people who I would hope will arrive. It’s going be a double eviction. There’s going to be two of them so maybe both of them will show up at the door.

John Powell: What was your fatal flaw in your game? And how would you play differently if given another chance?

Cory Wurtenberger: Yeah, I’m just not subtle. I think I thought I’d be better at pulling strings and working behind the scenes. I can’t do that. Everything I do is out in front for everybody to see which is why I got yelled at at a veto meeting and called out during Mecole’s eviction and why the entire season people are talking about Cory “The Schemer”.

Obviously, the showmance is what it is. I’m sure it didn’t exactly help my position in the game but Matt and Jag are super close duo as well and there is Blue and Jared. I guess that didn’t work out for them but that’s kind of my fault.

I don’t really regret that aspect of it. The second that I made that move against Izzy every week has been very tumultuous. I’ve just been trying to figure out how I would survive on a week-to-week basis. The reality is this week that I left on…the America and Blue stuff was not out of my control. I could have been more proactive but I didn’t make a massive blunder. Then we had this ridiculous twist with the invisible HoH and the double veto. I could have navigated that way better but the circumstances for me to leave the house were pretty unique and pretty bizarre.

I don’t think there was one moment where I screwed up a ton. Maybe I could have kept Mecole over Felicia and that might have helped me a little bit because that might have given me another week buffer to get rid of Mecole because they thought they could keep Felicia until the end of the game? Maybe it would have helped? The reality is the way this game played out I think I gave myself a pretty decent shot and if things worked out a different way I think I could have made it deeper.

John Powell: What drew you and America together? And do you see a future with you and her outside the game?

Cory Wurtenberger: Yeah, of course. I don’t know what drew us together. I think we’re both nerds. I present as a nerd. She just is one and maybe hides it a little bit better. The most important thing for me when it comes to anybody is just being fun to talk to and being funny and also thinking I’m funny. Because if you don’t think I’m funny, you generally think I’m unbearable. That would not be an unfair interpretation to me.

She’s hilarious. She’s smart, obviously beautiful. All of that made sense. Also, the way that the Big Brother works it kind of drives people together as well. You spent so much time with these people and you kind of cling on to each other for support. When you’re in a showmance…that level of comfort goes so far beyond anything else you can have in the house. It’s the shared experience. It’s just the personal closeness. We have been talking about dating afterwards and visiting each other. Who knows exactly how it plays out but I’m very optimistic. She’s incredible. I’d love to see whatever happens. I’m very open to it.

John Powell: Much has been made of your age on the show. We even saw Zingbot have some fun with it. How do you feel about so much attention being paid to your age? And how did it affect you and your game?

Cory Wurtenberger: When I came onto the season I didn’t know exactly the role I’m supposed to fill. I thought I was a nerd almost like the nerd, the Ian (Terry) or Steve (Moses) of the season. Then, I realized as the season went on I’m literally just the child, the young person, the 21-year-old, which was a very fun thing.

You lean into it obviously. I actually liked it quite a bit because I think I did not play as if I was 21 or 22. I played very actively. I think I had a lot of urgency in everything I did. I don’t think I was really underestimated. If anything, I was overestimated by the other houseguests.

The one thing that I certainly felt while I was in house is I felt like I was out of my depth. I didn’t know what was going on. I was freaking out every day. Anxiety was killing me. I couldn’t sleep. So, I felt 21 or 22. I don’t know exactly how that showed.

I think the me and America part, they were definitely playing that part up. ‘Oh my God, he’s a college student and she’s an adult.’ That part of it I couldn’t really care less about it. I there was a fun element to it. Usually when you see 21-year-olds on the show they kind of either get dragged along or they flame out. Some of them make a really deep run but even even the Ian Terrys of world they have a weird path towards the end. I think I took a very active route to eighth place and you can say what you will about that but I’m pretty proud of that considering what I thought I was capable of.

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