Big Brother 25’s Matt Klotz and Reilly Smedley didn’t get much time together on the show, but their budding romance might have a chance in the real world.
“I’m excited. I’m excited to see her. I already saw her on finale [night], but really quickly, and I’m excited to have talks with her and see where it goes from there,” Matt, 27, exclusively told Us Weekly after the live finale on Thursday, November 9, during which he was crowned the season’s runner-up. (His ally Jag Bains won in a vote of 5-2.)
Matt revealed that Reilly, 24, also whispered something to him when they reunited on finale night.
“She whispered to me, ‘My parents moved to Georgia while I was in the BB house,’ so, she lives three hours from me,” said the Deaflympian, who lives in Louisiana. “We live close now.”
While Matt survived all 100 days in the Big Brother house, Reilly became the second evictee of the season in August. Although she and Matt were only in the house together for a couple of weeks, they formed a tight bond and sparked showmance speculation.
“That was 84 days [of] waiting,” Matt told Us of his time in the game without Reilly.
When Matt won his first Head of Household competition in week 13, his fellow houseguests expected his letter from home to come from one of his parents. However, Reilly penned the note and included a photo of herself with Matt’s mom.
“[I] want you to know how much I miss you and wish I could be telling you all of this in person at 3 a.m. on the hammock,” she wrote, adding that the feelings between them were “mutual.”
After Reilly’s eviction in August, she exclusively told Us: “I think the world of Matt, he is so wonderful. I went into this not wanting any sort of showmance. … But, you know, I didn’t expect to meet someone like Matt.”
In addition to his connection with Reilly, Matt formed a strong bond with Jag, 25, early in the season. During week 4, Matt won the Power of Invincibility and used it to undo Jag’s unanimous eviction. The duo went on to form the Minutemen alliance and made it all the way to the final two chairs.
When Matt faced the jurors, he was surprised by some of their questions that characterized him as a skillful liar and someone who simply followed along with whatever Jag wanted to do.
“They were asking questions that I was never expecting, just about lying and stuff,” Matt told Us of the seven jurors. “I figured the questions would be a little different. I was definitely unprepared. I’m someone that just kind of wings it on the spot. … And then I was like, ‘OK, they’re kind of roasting me.’”
He continued: “I think [Jag] looked more confident up there. I’m not a very big speaker on the spot. … So, it was a little bit hard to do the jury talking. I figured they knew my intentions all along, so I didn’t think the questions would be that intense.”
As for the implication that Matt let Jag make all the decisions, Matt said that was by design, as Jag was an effective shield for him.
“Jag was always the bigger target. I needed Jag to be the bigger target. I needed him to do the talking. I needed him to say these things because he would go out first before me if we both went on the block,” he explained. “I let him be the leader. I had my own opinions, he had his own opinions, but I let him be the big voice and stuff because I had my own plan.”
Matt also addressed the jury’s perception that he was the best liar in the house.
“When I played the game, I realized, ‘Oh, geez, I am a good liar.’ I played oblivious, I played that,” he said. “I didn’t come in here with that goal. … My intention wasn’t to be a liar. There were definitely liars in this house, so I didn’t consider myself a liar. I considered myself more of a loyal person in the game. So, when I got asked questions by the jury about lying, I didn’t really know how to answer that because I’m like, ‘Well, y’all are in the jury house because y’all are liars, not me.’”
Matt is the first deaf person to play Big Brother, and he spoke candidly on the show about his struggle to understand his housemates’ whispers, a core component of the game of secrecy and sabotage.
“I had to be very vulnerable in this show, and I think I did a good job at that. I didn’t want to [hold] back anything. I wanted to fully open up about all my challenges and issues,” he told Us. “And I think I did that. And luckily I got 100 days to do that.”
Matt added that he feels “blessed to have this opportunity” to represent the deaf community. “I think I did a great job representing well but also having fun in the game. I wasn’t too worried about representing because I think just being myself was good enough,” he said.
