Cirie Fields Calls Jag "Genius, But a Snake" on 'Big Brother 25'
Cirie Fields
Big Brother’s house is open once more! Every week, Parade.com’s Mike Bloom will be bringing you interviews with this season's houseguests as they get evicted from the game.
Cirie Fields played two seasons of Big Brother. I'm not necessarily referring to the days, though she certainly felt every minute of the 93 days she spent inside those walls. But the reality TV legend was the hub of everything in the first 44 days of the game, in an alliance with everyone in the house. But her position soon went careening down like a wayward kayak down a waterfall. Her last 49 days were spent in a position she hasn't experienced since her early days on Survivor: An underdog. And despite putting up an admirable fight, her lack of competition prowess did her in, as she wasn't able to secure her safety to make it to the final week in the game.
Cirie was beaming at the other 16 houseguests of Big Brother 25 when she greeted them with champagne at the end of the season premiere. And her bubbliness extended past the liquid variety, as she quickly got to work doing what she's been doing for 18 years on reality TV: Socializing and strategizing. She was surrounded by close confidantes in her son Jared Fields, as well as Izzy Gleicher, the only person to realize the in-house family secret. Through five weeks, every houseguest seemed to feel good about Cirie, and it felt like she was on her way to getting her second reality TV win in 2023. But all that momentum came to a halt in Week 6. Cameron Hardin went after "President" Cirie's cabinet in Izzy and Felicia Cannon. Though Cirie was primed to get rid of Felicia, America Lopez and Cory Wurtenberger led a major house flip. Izzy was evicted, the structure of the house decentralized, and on top of that, Jared and Cory got into a major war of words. Cirie could only watch in stark silence as her son's game--and her game by proxy--tanked in front of her very eyes.
But 18 years of reality television has taught us that, though Cirie can be down, she's never out. After losing Izzy and Jared, she found a new ally in Matt Klotz, and was able to endear herself to him and Jag Bains as the "Minutemen" spent weeks in power throughout the jury phase. After Cirie got her "revenge" on Cory, she was lying in wait for the opportunity to strike at Jag as the next biggest player. Unfortunately, that opportunity never came. When Matt won his first Head of Household, he promised Cirie she would not be nominated and wasn't the target. But neither one of those thing were true. Matt showed his favor for Jag and Bowie Jane, going back on his word and nominating Cirie next to her fellow "mama" Felicia Cannon. And though the newly-named "Mafia" planned their hit on Cirie to be a blindside, she saw the writing on the wall. Despite their close relationship, Matt was fine to let Cirie go as the bigger threat. And so, Cirie walked out of the house with the exact same outfit and smile that poured the champagne three months ago.
Now on her way to the jury house, Cirie talks with Parade.com about playing with her family, how her game changed once she got "behind enemy lines," and her view on each of the Final Four.
Related: Everything to Know About Big Brother 25
Back in Week 4, you helped talk Matt into saving Jag from eviction. Nine weeks later, they won the HoH and veto that led to your eviction. How do you look back on that decision, and how their journey has been in the season so far?
I just wish I would have used more force with Matt and not to use his power to save Jag. I kind of soft shooed around that issue because I felt like, no matter what I said, Matt was going to use his power to save Jag. And I did not want to have to deal with that on the back end when Matt shared with Jag that I did not want him to save him. Maybe because Matt is a little more fragile. If I pushed a little harder, if I came up with reasons why he shouldn't save Jag, or even implied that other people were going to be taking a shot at him, that might have made things different. So I wish I would have tried a little harder to stop that from occurring.
You and Felicia connected from the very first night. Though you were tight personally, you had your occasional lows, like when she found out you attempted to get her evicted, and when you were told she had spilled information you told her to Matt and Jag. Talk to me about your relationship, and how you view your dynamic over the season.
Felicia and I were like The Odd Couple. The old school Odd Couple Felix and Oscar, because Felicia knew everything. And regardless of what experience I had, or what what information I had from those experiences actually living them, Felicia still knew more about it than I did. So it was kind of like pick your poison. Do I want to fight this fight with Felicia over how I make my bacon that I've been making for 30 years? Or do I just want to let it go? Also, I felt like Felicia was constantly undermining me, constantly stabbing me in the back. And even with all of that, I still was a good friend to Felicia. And that's kind of my downfall. Once we connect, I try to maintain that relationship, even sometimes to my detriment. And that's what happened with Felicia and I.
You played alongside your son Jared. And, through 58 days, you watched him get in a showmance, get in fights, and get evicted. Talk about the pros and cons of playing the game with family, and how much that changed the way you approached the house.
The pros of playing with family is that comfort from home. There's a level of realness that cannot be bought in these games with strangers. No matter how you connect with them, there's no comparison to actually having that real trust and real love from home. That's the pro. The con is having to work around that and having to work around their game and how it being a family member and seeing other contestants maybe speak badly about that person. It affects you and it affects your game. Their game affects your game. When you play by yourself, it's all about you, what's best for you. You don't really have to consider what's best for another person in the game unless it's your ally. And even with that, it's only if it benefits you. When it's your family member, whether it benefits you or not, you try to do what's best for their game, which could be harmful to your game.
You were in control for the first half of this season, in the hub at the center of the house and many alliances. Then it all gets suddenly turned when you lost Izzy and Jared right after another. Talk about dealing with going from the top of the house to the bottom, and how you dealt with that strategically and emotionally.
Oh, Lord! Losing Izzy and Jared back to back was really hard for me. And I just had to go into stealth mode. It's like being a four-star general corporate behind enemy lines. Do you come out blazing at all enemies knowing that you're gonna lose? Or do you blend in and become a local and have those enemies now become friends, while all the while, you're easing your way to the border, to friendly territory? And that's kind of what I had to do. Once Izzy and Jared left, I had to disappear into the background and become one of the locals, so that the locals could then help me inch my way to the border, which is the end of this game.
Let's finish with some rapid-fire thoughts on each of the houseguests. Starting with Bowie Jane.
A breeze in the wind. Because Bowie Jane is going to go wherever the power goes, and she's going to fly wherever the wind takes her. Bowie Jane has really made no real decisions of her own. Like she says, in her own way, whatever the house wants. I would just confer with the house before I even spoke to Bowie Jane to know what she was gonna do.
Felicia.
Hygenically challenged. Felicia don't even know that she's hygienically challenged. I will never eat another thing that Felicia prepares, because I see how she prepares it right in front of my eyes. So I could just imagine when I'm not there.
Jag.
Snake, slithering, slimy. Genius, but a snake.
Matt.
Strong and soft at the same time. Matt is an Olympian. But Matt crumbles under pressure. And I know that, and knew that. But I still love Matt.
