‘Big Brother’: Adrian Rocha Was ‘Devastated’ to Lose Against ‘Comp Beast’ Kaycee Clark

Adrian Rocha sat on the block for two weeks straight on Big Brother while bigger targets stayed safe. The 23-year-old carpenter left in an eight to four vote against Clifton “Will” Williams on Thursday, July 31.

He was sitting pretty for the first half of the week. Lauren Domingue won Head Of Household and put Kelley Jorgensen, Keanu Soto, and Williams on the block. Soto won the Power of Veto and removed himself from the block, despite being the house’s biggest target.

Domingue nominated Rocha in his place after debating between him and Ashley Hollis. Jorgensen won the BB Blockbuster on Eviction Night, leaving Rocha and Williams on the block. Rocha pleaded to stay after he said he was playing this game for his family, but in the end went home with eight votes against him. The entire house was emotional with Williams and Ava Pearl in tears.

The week before, Rocha found himself on the block again against Jorgensen and Soto. Season 20 winner and comp beast Kaycee Clark won the veto for Soto after he won a mystery power. Soto was taken down, and Amy Bingham was put in his place. Rocha won the Blockbuster, securing his safety for the week and Bingham went home.

Rocha talked to TV Insider about who he would have gone after, why he got so emotional after the BB Blockbuster, and which eviction votes shocked him.

Why do you think you were put up on the block for two weeks when there were much bigger targets in the house?

Just because of my association with Kelly and Keanu, and the fact that I was a huge physical threat. I was kind of perceived as the comp beast that never won, just because I kept getting second place. I was like, ‘Gosh dang it.’ I knew from day one, getting second place is not ideal. You either win it all or you throw the whole thing. You can be in between. You can do third place. Third place isn’t bad, but if you do second place, you become a huge threat. And I knew that, of course, I didn’t plan to get second place the first time. Zach, literally finished the bridge before I checked all the doors, but Zach took the one door that I checked last, and he won. Not that I would have changed the game. And then HoH wise,
I didn’t want to actually win the first Hoh. I changed my mind. But I should have, if I had to critique one thing, I’d probably win that first HoH to set the tone that I’m a player to be worked with, not put up.

Speaking of coming second, in week two veto comp, you came in second to the legend Kaycee Clark. What did that feel like?

It felt devastating. I was right there. I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I know my running start is not the best.’ And then when I was against Kaycee, I knew I was going lose to Keanu if he didn’t fall start. I was like, ‘Mother flipper, that guy got it.’ He had bigger legs in my head. So I was like, I knew that if Keanu stayed in the game, I was gonna lose. But when he false-started, I knew I had a chance. I knew I had it, but I just had to take off before she [Kaycee] did. But I felt like I wanted to make sure that she [Felicia] said ‘creeper’ for sure, because I didn’t want a false start. And if I had just taken off a little bit earlier, I believe I would have won. But it was kind of devastating at the end, when I looked towards the TV and they said ‘Adrian eliminated.’ So I was like, ‘Dang.’ It wasn’t the end of my game, though. I kind of knew that if I didn’t win, I was going home, and I mean, that was the same this week. But it was fun. Kaycee was nice, but I wish I had beaten her. But, I mean, if it was going to be someone to take me out, it would have been a former champion.

After Keanu won the veto this week, you had a feeling you were going up and you were going to start a war. Who were you going to start a war with? 

Oh, that’s a fantastic question. I would have done Jimmy [Heagerty] and Ashley. I was still debating if I want to do Keanu, because I didn’t want to put him up, but I would have just honestly had to put him up just so he could take himself down. One to do kind of what the House wants, but to also ensure that my targets stay on the block. What better competitor than Keanu? If not, there probably would have been Morgan [Pope], maybe Rachel [Reilly], if I was ready to take that shot, but my target shifted literally, day by day, hour by hour. I was thinking long game, I was thinking short game. And it just depends, because information comes in every single hour, you don’t know, and then you’re like, ‘wait a minute.’ Things are trying to click here, and I would have gone to war with, I guess Mickey [Lee] was supposedly with, but not Mickey, because I truly believe Mickey would have kept me safe if she had won HOH. But yeah, it probably would have been Jimmy. I would have loved to go after Jimmy. Probably, I knew Morgan was scared of me, and then Ashley, I was debatable, but Keanu would have probably gone up. And then if I had to do it, it’d probably be like I said, Morgan or Rachel. There’s a lot of targets I wanted out and I didn’t have a chance to win to take that shot.

You were very emotional after the blockbuster. Did you know you were leaving in that moment? 

Yeah, Will is the perfect pawn. Everyone loves him. No one was threatened by him, and he had votes rallied with them from the start. So it was difficult to know that if I were to win, it would be a tie, and Lauren would have to break it. And when you watch the week, Lauren didn’t really have my back the whole week, so it was a long shot, and I knew that if I didn’t win it, I was going home, and that’s exactly what
happened.

Are you surprised Lauren picked you to put up instead of Ashley?

A little bit. Yeah, I was. The night before, I felt a little better that she was going to put Ashley up instead of me. But that morning of the veto ceremony, Ashley was calm. She was smiling. She was getting dressed in the bathroom. She was putting on makeup. She was ready. I’m like, ‘Why aren’t you nervous?’ The other day you seem a little worried. Now you’re completely fine.’ I was like, I don’t know, but I feel a little cooked here. And I tried to talk to Lauren earlier that morning, but she never gave me that answer. I’m like, I’ve seen the show enough times when the HOH says ‘I don’t know, I can’t say for sure.’ I was like, ‘Oh my gosh. She’s giving me the run-around. She’s giving me the run-around. I’m that guy now she she’s not telling me the truth.’ You can’t guarantee my safety. I was like, ‘Gosh dang it.’ And then when she said my name, I was like, ‘Gosh dang it, you chicken.’ So, how I felt that morning.

Will got really emotional being up against you. Why do you think he was so affected? 

Because I think me and Will got close, and he knew why I was there and how much I wanted to be there. He knew about my family. He knew that I did everything in their name, that I wanted to win this game so bad, and he knew that, I guess he knew that the votes weren’t going to be with me. And it was just that he knew he didn’t have to campaign, and I didn’t think he would want to either. And I couldn’t, I can’t say anything bad about Will either. And that was hard, because I love Will very much. And we just sat on the block together. And it’s unfortunate, because I really would have loved to work with Will moving forward too, but we were just put on the block by Lauren. So thanks, Lauren.

Keanu, Katherine, Kelley, and Reilly voted to keep you. Do any of those shock you? 

A little bit. Keanu, I was surprised because I never trusted his vote ever, mostly because I think that’s because, one, he lied to me, and second, I felt that I had to be against him in order to have a chance for the House to want to keep me, especially week two, when Keanu took himself down and everyone wanted him out. I said that I had to make up a pitch. Why people should keep me over Amy or Will. And simply put, I knew the hard part was to win the vote against Will, not Amy. And my pitch was that I was going to go after Keanu because everyone feared him, and I knew he lied to me. So everyone knew I had a reason, a good reason to put him up, and plus, he was a big physical threat.

But Keanu, honestly, I love the guy, the fact that he could do what he did to take himself off every single time. I wish I had two chances. I was hoping I kind of knew, but I was really hoping that I wasn’t going to be put on the block as an alternative. If I knew that she was gonna put me up on the block anyway, I would have loved to have been up there instead of Kelley, just so I could have won that veto. And then Katherine and Riley, I guess I was a little surprised at. I thought the votes would have come from Zach [Cornell] or Vince [Panaro], but it wasn’t. And like I said, I told Katherine and Riley that I would have had their back, they’re becoming the showmance, a little bit of a flirtmance, and I told them that people are coming for them, and I would not put you up. I would protect you, and I would fight for you if you vote with me. And I’m glad that Katherine wasn’t bullied into voting with the house, and I’m rooting for both of them, honestly,

What did it mean to you that Keanu kept his word when you asked him to keep you? 

It meant a lot. It meant a lot. And this is the reason why, I guess I wish the house hadn’t pulled us apart so much, because I told Keanu in the gym that I really respect his game. My rule number three is ‘winners win when they need to.’ I didn’t win when I needed to, but the fact that he could pull himself off every single time is something that I strive to be. I didn’t want to be on the chopping block. I didn’t expect to be against the house so much or be one of the biggest targets in there, or at least get put up with the pawn. But that is what you needed to have in order to survive in this game. When you do become the target, you win when you need to because I felt that if I had won over Kelley, I still would have been good in the house. Would I have been put up as a pawn? It depends on who wins. But I felt that a lot of people were still willing to work with me because I played an honest game, and they knew that I wouldn’t come after them if if I told them that. But, of course, I didn’t win.