Hindsight’s 20/20. Todd Bridges is learning a lot now that he’s outside the Celebrity Big Brother house – and he’s not holding back.
The Diff’rent Strokes star, 56, was voted out by Veto winner Miesha Tate who broke a tie between him and former Real Housewife Cynthia Bailey, but it wasn’t his eviction that shocked him the most. It was all the things he was unaware that Todrick Hall said and did on camera.
“I can’t believe it. I’m shocked,” Todd exclusively tells Us Weekly after watching some footage of the CBS show. “But it wasn’t just about me. It’s about all of us and I’m just upset how I let him convince me. I just think that I’ve learned a lot of things. I knew in my instinct that I couldn’t trust him, but I let my guard down. I guess I let my guard [down] because of Miesha, but now I know both of them, I can’t trust neither one. And when it comes to playing a game, I’m just happy that I played a game that wasn’t evil and mean.”
Still, the child actor admits to falling for their tricks: “Todrick was amazing at convincing us of – excuse my language – bulls–t. He was amazing at that. I never met a better bulls–t artist than him.”
He says Todrick “even tried to tell me about how television works,” which made him laugh. “How you gonna tell a guy who’s been in television for 50 years how it works? Come on, man. Like he knows. He’s only been on reality television like The Masked Singer or whatever.”
Even though Todd told host Julie Chen Moonves after his eviction that Todrick played a great game and had his vote to win, he quickly changed his tune after getting home and back on social media.
“Now that I’ve seen the light, no way would he get my vote. There’s no way,” Todd tells Us. “Like I said, I’m shocked at all the horrible things he was saying. … No one likes the way he played the game. It’s OK to play to win, but not to play evil to win. That’s just not a good way to play.”
What else did Todd have to say about his game? And what about his friendship with Lamar Odom and apology to Shanna Moakler? Watch above or scroll down to read the rest of our interview!
Celebrity Big Brother airs on CBS Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8 p.m. ET and Mondays at 9 p.m. ET.
Us Weekly: Hi Todd. How are you awake right now? Did you sleep?
Todd Bridges: Sleep? Uh, no. And I’m tired, but you know, I know I gotta get this done. It was very difficult to sleep when I got home because I was just so full of energy. It’s easier to sleep in that house because there’s nothing else to do, but when you get home, you got TV, you got cell phones, so it is difficult to get some sleep, but I’ll get some later on.
Us: For sure. What’s been the most surprising thing you’ve learned now that you’re outside the house?
TB: It’s all the things Todrick was saying about me. I can’t believe it. I’m shocked. But it wasn’t just about me. It’s about all of us and I’m just upset how I let him convince me in putting Carson up. He convinced a lot of us. He convinced Carson to get rid of Shanna and that was a dumb move. I just think that I’ve learned a lot of things. I knew in my instinct that I couldn’t trust him, but I let my guard down. I guess I let my guard [down] because of Miesha, but now I know both of them, I can’t trust neither one. And when it comes to playing a game, I’m just happy that I played a game that wasn’t evil and mean. I played a good game. I came on, waited and [then] came on strong and tried to win. I just messed up on those posters. Doggone it! I answered too fast. That was the question I should have waited. But the thing is, if you don’t answer fast enough and someone does before you and they got it right, they’re gonna beat you.
Us: I mean, you won some competitions. That’s pretty good, right?
TB: I sure did. I took away some competitions and that’s what made them very afraid of me. The fact that I could win competitions. That put fear in them, and they knew they had to get rid of me.
Us: You know Todrick was definitely going to vote you out if you didn’t use that Veto on yourself…
TB: Oh yeah. Oh yeah. I knew. He tried to talk me into staying with the Veto. I’m like, “No, I know you’re gonna vote me out.” I was on to them by that point. I was totally onto to them. Like, “Nah, man, I’m getting out of here. I’m not gonna sit there and let you vote me out.” Like, I’m sitting there and all of a sudden I get voted out. Nothing you can do. You’re just gone. So I definitely had won that one. And I just wish I could have won the last HOH that I played because if I would’ve won that, one of them would’ve been going home for sure.
Us: We were rooting for you, Todd!
TB: Appreciate that. Appreciate that.
Us: I know you told Julie you were voting for Todrick to win…
TB: No, no. Now that I’ve seen the light, no way would he get my vote. There’s no way. Like I said, I’m shocked at all the horrible things he was saying. I saw that tonight on the live feeds. I’m shocked. And I think that his fan base saw that. They got to see and I don’t think his fan base [is] gonna like that from what I’m reading on all these sites. No one likes the way he played the game. It’s OK to play to win, but not to play evil to win. That’s just not a good way to play.
Us: I’ve talked to the other houseguests and some told me that he played the victim a lot. Would you agree with that?
TB: Yep. Oh yeah. He definitely played the victim a lot. He got me in a room talking to me, he said, “I feel so weird sometimes when you walk by, your energy…” I’m like, “You can’t feel my energy, man.” Because what it was was I was onto you now, you know? I’m onto you and I’m not gonna let you sit there and fool me. It was so funny. He even tried to tell me about how television works. How you gonna tell a guy who’s been in television for 50 years how it works? Come on, man. Like he knows. He’s only been on reality television like The Masked Singer or whatever. He’s never been on television TV. So of course I know how it works. So I just let him say that. I’m looking, I’m like, “Wow, I cannot believe.” And you see, I just rolled my eyes like, “Wow.” That’s when I was already on to him. And I knew what he was all about.
Us: I know you already reached out to Shanna over Twitter to apologize. You and other houseguests were saying some not-so-nice things about her after she left. Do you regret that? How do you feel looking back?
TB: I reached out to her to tell her I was sorry for saying about what she was wearing. I got caught up in everything like everyone else did, you know?
Us: It’s like a mob mentality in there.
TB: Yeah. It definitely [is] because you have nothing else. That’s all you have is what’s in there, you know? And I definitely apologize to her for that, and I hope that she forgives me and we can talk some day. I guess I’ll see her on Wednesday night and definitely will apologize. I will apologize in person also.
Us: She came out of the house saying she was rooting for you.
TB: I know. And I can’t believe that I got caught up and said that. But you know, that’s what happens there. You get caught up with people like that and you’ll say dumb things, but I’m just glad that was the only dumb thing I really said. You know, thank goodness.
Us: You did have some up and downs with Cynthia, but you seemed to be OK by the end. Are you guys good?
TB: No, we’re good. Everything’s fine. The thing about it was, she was getting on me about not voting for her, but I was voting for her. She was talking about how she kept her word with Teddi [Mellencamp] and all that. But yeah, I was just keeping my word. So I don’t know how could she get mad at me when she did something and then she wants me to change it? You can’t do that. That’s not how it works. But, I was voting for her anyway. That’s what she didn’t know. And when I finally told her, she was really, “Oh, my God, I’m so sorry.” Yeah, because you didn’t know I was voting for [you]. I couldn’t say because other people were in the room that could ruin what we were trying to do.
Us: I know looking back you would’ve done that HOH differently, right?
TB: Are you kidding me? I would’ve done that so much differently. And I wouldn’t be sitting here talking, I’d still be in the house. But for me, God does things for certain reasons. I think I needed to go. I needed to come home because it was … for me, the fact that being there and I’m so close to my family, it was getting tougher and tougher every day, even though it was coming closer. It was still getting tough. For me, my mental health is worth a lot more than any money I can make. It’s just not worth it. Keep my mental health safe.
Us: You built a great friendship with Lamar. He even asked you to be his sober coach. You guys really had a bond there. Who else do you think you’ll be talking to more outside the house?
TB: I think definitely Carson [Kressley]. I’m sure Cynthia. And anyone else who wants to talk to me I definitely will. Chris Kirkpatrick, I had a great thing with him. I don’t have any animosity toward him either. I think I only have animosity toward the two I saw talking bad about me. I think that was terrible what they were saying because instead of just saying, “Hey, Todd’s a threat, glad we got rid of him,” you don’t have to say mean, evil things like that, you know? They’re the ones doing it all, and that’s what I realized. That’s the sad part. But it happens. I understand that. I’m not upset over that. What I’m upset over is that I should have paused on hitting that stupid button. Should have waited! Because I got two, I could have got three, and if I got four, she couldn’t have caught up to me. It would’ve been over.
Us: Yep, we were rooting for you!
TB: Well, thank you. Like I said, God does things for all certain reasons. And what I’m happy about is that he allowed me to see what I saw last night because things could have been different. I could have been [having a] friendship with Todrick and finding out that this guy was saying the nastiest things about me, and that’s not cool.
Us: What factors are you going to think about when you vote in the finale?
TB: Oh, the factors of what was said, and who said it and how they said it. I understand gameplay very well. You know, I’m a gamer myself so I understand that. I think it was very funny how people didn’t think I was athletic. I couldn’t do anything. I just loved playing that role. I’m very athletic. I do a lot of things, you know? So, I think who I’m gonna vote for is gonna be dependent …. I mean, it’s definitely not gonna be Todrick, that’s for sure. I don’t care. I will not vote for him. Miesha, maybe. I’m hoping Cynthia can pull ahead of all them and I’ll vote for Cynthia is what I’m hoping. I hope she wins the last HOH, and I hope that she can put somebody down and pull herself up because I would definitely vote for her. But she has to win. That’s the thing, she has to win.
Us: Yeah, kinda tough. She hasn’t really won anything.
TB: No. ‘Cause they’re gonna cut her throat as soon as they can. She’s gonna be gone, you know? So I’m hoping she wins. Then they’ll do the same thing, they’ll go talking bad about her. That’s just what they do. I mean, they were talking bad about her [from] what I saw in the video. They were saying bad things about her too, which is really crazy.
Us: Why didn’t anyone target them? They were an obvious duo. They were winning competitions…
TB: They convinced us not to target them. Todrick was amazing at convincing us of – excuse my language – bulls—t. He was amazing at that. I never met a better bulls—t artist than him, but by the time I caught on, it was too late. Everybody was already out the house, you know? And I think even Carson may have caught on once he got out the house, but he didn’t catch on when he was in there. I believe a lot of them didn’t, and even Cynthia, I don’t think she seen … I saw some stuff they said about her and I don’t think that she’s seen that yet. When she sees that, she’s gonna be very upset. Definitely.
Us: Did you have any hesitations about doing this show? Are you happy you did it?
TB: I had hesitations at first because giving up my phone, 56 years old. It’s tough to give everything up like that, but once I got in there, I was OK for quite a while. And then once I saw my family, it got a little tougher again. And then the last couple days were like, “Man, I want to win this” but “Man, I do want to go home also.” I just enjoy myself. I enjoyed being around myself and my family, much more than I do winning a game. And also, my mental health is so, so very much important to me. I’m actually happy I’m home now. This is the best that could have happened for me right now. I’m home. I’m enjoying myself. I feel good.
Us: I just spoke to Lamar and he’s pitching me Willis and Lammy. Is it happening?
TB: Yeah. I’m gonna start working on that. I think definitely. I think we need to start out with a podcast first, and then move on to a TV show. I think we can definitely do it. I think it’d be hilarious, the two of us. Definitely The Odd Couple.
