Big Brother 25’s Red Utley is explaining why he didn’t trust fellow houseguest America Lopez.
“Honestly, she just — for whatever reason — she set off some alarms for me,” Red, 38, exclusively told Us Weekly after he was evicted during the Thursday, September 7, episode of the CBS reality show. “I just feel like when I did try to have conversations with her, the information that she gave out was very vague. And watching her with other people, she just felt sort of a bit shifty.”
Although the self-proclaimed “chillbilly” admitted that he “maybe should have talked to [America] a little bit more,” he felt that she was “on the other side of the house” and therefore not someone he could work with.
Red raised concerns about America, 27, to several of his fellow houseguests during his time in the game. During a conversation with Cameron Hardin last month that was captured on the live feeds, Red said of America, “You just get feelings about certain people and I’ve never had a good one about her.”
He also claimed that “America is willing to use her womanly wiles to get what she wants.” The comment sparked backlash from Big Brother fans, many of whom called him out for “misogyny” on X (formerly known as Twitter).
In another conversation last month, Cirie Fields claimed to Matt Klotz, Felicia Cannon, Mecole Hayes and her son, Jared Fields, that Red had called America “fast.”
Red told Us that he did have “some concerns” about the dynamic between America and Cameron, 34, who was his No. 1 ally in the game until earlier this week when Jared, 25, told Red that Cameron had turned on him.
“There was definitely a time when I felt like [Cameron] was playing with fire [with America] if you will, is the way that it felt to me,” Red told Us. “Especially with information going to one side of the house, you really want to keep that stuff within your circle. So, when other feelings get involved, like attraction and such like that, it’s real easy to pillow talk, if you will.”
America, who is in a showmance with Cory Wurtenberger, claimed during a conversation with Blue Kim late last month that Cameron had made suggestive comments about there being no cameras or microphones in the jury house.
“He was talking to Cory yesterday, and he told him, ‘Well, you know, if you and America are in the jury house together, there’s no cameras or microphones,’” America said. “Cory was like, ‘What’s his game? Like, what’s he getting at? [Is he talking about] you and him or me and you? … I said, ‘I think he’s talking about both of y’all.’”
Blue, 25, replied, “He is such a creep, dude.”
Cameron was one of only two people, along with Bowie Jane, who voted to keep Red safe during Thursday’s eviction, even though Red had barely spoken to him in days. Now that Red is out of the Big Brother house, he’s learned that Jared wasn’t completely honest with him about Cameron’s alleged betrayal. Cameron didn’t go out of his way to put Red in danger, he just wasn’t willing to throw his own game away to protect him.
Red told Us that he “probably should have” talked to Cameron rather than blindly believing Jared. He’s now rooting for Cameron, who won the live Head of Household competition at the end of Thursday’s episode.
“I hope he continues to win because there’s definitely a big target on his back. And honestly, I really did have a deep and close connection with the guy and I think that’s why it hurt so much [when I thought he betrayed me]. But finding out the new information that I found out, I’m definitely rooting for Cam,” he told Us, adding that he “of course” plans to be friends with Cameron outside of the game.
Big Brother airs on CBS Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.
