While Jason De Puy never got the chance to dress in drag in the Big Brother house, he could tell the concept of it was uncomfortable for Kamu Kirk.
“For me personally, I could tell that the drag really made him uncomfortable,” Jason, 35, exclusively told Us of Kamu, 32, following the drag queen’s eviction on Thursday, July 30. “And a lot of the times, it wasn’t even because of me. It was Drew [Campbell] parading around the house, holding a pillow, being naked and, like, messing with him.”
Unbeknownst to Jason, Kamu did express his disinterest in participating in dressing up in drag. During a conversation with Rick Devens earlier this month, Kamu declared he would not participate after seeing Drew, 22, wearing a set of unicorn-themed pajamas.
“I said, ‘Bro, miss me with the drag stuff.’ Miss me. I’m still an MMA guy, and I have an image to uphold,” Kamu said. (The MMA fighter did not direct the remarks at Jason.)
Jason, who is also known as the fabulous Salina EsTitties from RuPaul’s Drag Race, added that Kamu’s apparent discomfort with his profession might have put a target on him.
“So I think just the mere idea of a drag queen made him so uncomfortable and it put a target on my back in his eyes,” he explained. “Like, I think it was threatening, even though I myself never put a tinge of makeup on or a wig. Just the idea of me being authentically myself and being this drag queen, I think, was so threatening to him.”
In addition to having a difference in opinions on drag, Jason and Kamu found themselves at odds during the athlete’s Head of Household reign. Kamu planned to backdoor Jason to maximize his chances of not earning safety. Jason was picked to play in the veto competition but ultimately lost to nominee Mallory Aurichio.
Ahead of the veto ceremony, the houseguests held a tea party. The get-together turned dramatic as Kamu took the opportunity to call out Jason for playing a messy game. The pair went back and forth during a heated argument.
“It was a big moment for me to stand up for myself, which I never do in my real life. So there was a sense of pride that I had being alone out there,” Jason told Us about the tea party incident. “The entire cast was sitting in a circle, all with their heads down, and none of them had anything to say. None of them jump to my defense, which, understandably for their game, I get that. But it was very clear I was out here, you know, rocking by myself.”
Jason knew he was in danger as he ended up becoming the replacement nominee. With nothing left to lose, Jason decided to take it a step further by banging a tea pot whenever he had gossip to relay to Kamu.
“I truly had nobody ultimately; that’s why I was willing to go crazy with the tea pot. That’s why I was throwing it balls to the wall,” he reflected. “It kind of sucked, but I don’t know. I wasn’t gonna go down without swinging.”
Jason was ultimately evicted on Thursday in a unanimous vote. While fans were disappointed that Salina never got to make an appearance on Big Brother, there could have been one instance where Jason would have done “full drag” for his housemates.
“I had a whole suitcase. If I won HOH, I got my suitcase. That was the deal we made,” he teased. “And the thing was, I would have been in full drag for the nomination ceremony.”
In the hypothetical situation, Jason shared he would have put up Kamu alongside his allies Chuk Anyanwu and Haley Thogmartin.
“So I would have come down the stairs with the key box,” he told Us. “I would have turned each key, and just like RuPaul’s Drag Race, I would have been just like RuPaul and been like, ‘Kamu, this week you were so threatened by the drag queen, and now look who’s on the block. Haley, that hair, that wig needs to go. There’s only room for one big bob in this house.’ And then Chuk, oh my. I would have read them down in full drag queen fashion, and it would have been so iconic to have a drag queen turn those keys at the nomination ceremony.”
Big Brother airs on CBS and Paramount+ Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays at 8 p.m. ET.
