‘Big Brother’ 27: Runner-Up Vince Panaro Talks Turning on Lauren & Votes That Shocked Him

Vince Panaro took home $75,000 on the Big Brother 27 finale after Ashley Hollis cut her ally, Morgan Pope, and took him to the final two. He had worked with multiple people in multiple alliances, but somehow made his way to the end.

To secure his safety, Vince won four Head of Household and aligned himself with competition beasts, like Morgan and Keanu Soto. Although he didn’t play an honest game, his housemates kept him around until the end.

Vince talked to TV Insider about forming alliances with everyone, his egg detective punishment, turning on Lauren, and more.

You won second place. That’s nothing to beat yourself up over. How are you feeling about that?

Vince Panaro: Yeah, no, I’m beating myself up over it. It’s not first. I’ll take it. I did what I could.

Were you shocked that Ashley chose you over Morgan to take to the final two?

Ashley played such an incredible game that I think she was a frontrunner against anybody after, like, the final six. So I would say I’m super surprised. I think she made a game move that she thought was best for her game, and it paid off.

Who would you have taken if you had won the final HOH?
There’s two ways I could have thought. I could have thought about it. I was thinking a lot about it in the house, about how I felt like it caught up to me, and it really got to my conscience about how much I had lied and burned people in the past. So I wanted to showcase the jury that I have loyalty to at least one person. So I wanted to bring Morgan to the end, and then I could say I had five HOHs on the season, and I took somebody that you know I was loyal to. So I wasn’t just going crazy. Or I could have caught her and said, “Look, my game is separate from hers. I was playing for me all along, and I got five HOHs And I made the move.” I didn’t know if the jury would respect me more for that, so I really didn’t know.

You only got one vote from Morgan. Did any of the votes shock you?

I was hoping for Keanu and Lauren’s votes. But I also understand the Jury management side of things, I didn’t do the best at that, so I don’t blame them. You know, it is what it is.

And you had a final two with Lauren on day two. What made you pick Morgan in the end over Lauren?
Well, when I put Lauren on the block, I was hoping that I would be able to keep, like the Judges respectful from the jury perspective. And I also wanted to guarantee that Lauren had the votes to stay so I could appease both sides. But I really didn’t ever want to cut Lauren, by any means, because she’s a great competitor and a great ally. So I really didn’t want to have to make that decision ever.

You won four HOHs. That puts you in the likes of Rachel, who you played with, Cody Calafiore, Janelle Pierzina, and Nicole Franzel, did you ever think that you would reach a record like that on the show?
No, I did not That’s crazy to be in a list with them.

So you practically had alliance of everybody and a lot of final twos. Do you think that helped or hurt your game since you made it to the final two?
I think it was a great way to get far in the game, and also a great way to lose the game at the end, because you’re going to have to make decisions. And I found myself making decision after decision that was difficult  and showed my cards and then showed my cards again. So yeah, it was a tough game to navigate at that point, but, I played with the best that I could, to go as far as I could, and it turned out to be a second-place game.

I’ve got to ask you about your egg detective punishment. You seem to be a really good sport about that. And I just have to say in the live feeds, we were cracking up every time you would eat and go inside the shell. What was that like for you?
Okay, well, when I knew I got the punishment, I was like, “Okay, this is all part of the Big Brother experience.” I wanted the veto. I gave up five grand. I got second place. I almost won that competition. And so I was like, “All right, you know what an egg punishment. It’s going to be a unitard. It’s going to be silly looking, but I’m going to be mobile and be able to run around in it.” When I saw it was a hard shell, giant egg, I was like, “Oh, I don’t know how I’m going to live a week in this.”

So, the reason I had to eat inside the shell is because I couldn’t reach outside to try to eat a sandwich. I couldn’t reach my mouth, so I would just pop inside and squat down and just go into my little hut and eat my meals that way, because holding a plate and trying to reach the fork to your mouth, it just wasn’t happening. I was getting stains all over my tie. I was not working for me.

You’ve been auditioning for Big Brother for 10 years. You finally got on. Was it everything you thought it would be?
It was everything and more. I just put so much pressure on myself to do well that I made it harder on myself, whereas I should have just leaned into the fun of it, which I did have fun, by the way, like the highs and lows all the way through, but I just put a lot of pressure on myself, because it was something that I wanted for so long. And then you get it, it’s like, don’t screw it up. So then alliances happen, and then all of a sudden you end up in jury management and then it works out that way. But, it was an incredible experience. Yeah, I’m so grateful for it.

Do you have any regrets or anything that you would have done differently?
I would have done a lot differently. I would have not made so many final twos. I would not have lied to people’s faces as often as I did. I would have liked to play —  I wanted to go into the game with honesty and integrity, and people were able to play that way. But I found myself, for some reason, just out of the fear of upsetting people who are going home too soon, that I didn’t.

What do you plan on doing with your winnings?
I want to be smart with it. I have bills to pay still, and I want to just make it last as long as I can and just utilize it wisely. I’m not sure exactly what that looks like yet, but  I’ll be smart with it. For sure. I’m not going to go crazy.
Would you come back and play again if you were ever asked to?

Oh, yeah, for sure, 100 percent. Absolutely, because now I know how I do want to play, and now I can actually play that way, and it would be totally different.

Would you want to play with the same cast or a new cast?

Do they remember what I did this season? Or is it starting fresh, as if they don’t know me? If we’re starting fresh, yes, because that was an awesome cast. But if they remember what I did this season, please just brand new cast of new house guests here.

What’s the first thing that you’re looking forward to doing when you get home?

Seeing my girlfriend, seeing my family, seeing my best friends. I’m very close with all of them, and I can’t wait to just connect with them and talk about everything.

Do you have any last takeaways? 
It was just an awesome experience. I would have liked to have played with a bit more honesty, and I’d like to be less hard on myself, but I learned a lot. I learned a lot about myself. I learned a lot about composure. I learned a lot about just how to go about the game. And maybe if, even if I don’t play again, maybe I can give advice to people after they’re done. I just learned a lot, and I feel good, and I feel like I could grow a lot from this experience. So I’m looking forward to those lessons outside of this.

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