Kenney Kelley (‘Big Brother 26’) exit interview: ‘I’m very relieved’ to be evicted
Week 3 in the “Big Brother” house ended Thursday night, with Cedric Hodges‘ “squeaky clean” reign as Head of Household getting dirty real quick. Following Wednesday’s shocking Veto ceremony, America voted for Quinn Martin to join Kenney Kelley and Tucker Des Lauriers on the block. After Tucker saved himself in the AI Arena, Kenney was evicted by a vote of 10-1 over Quinn. The 52-year-old former cop from Boston became the third houseguest sent packing from Season 26.
“I’m very relieved,” he told host Julie Chen Moonves during his exit interview. “I grossly underestimated the emotions of the game. The ages that my kids are at right now (six and eight), I love being involved in every aspect.” Despite auditioning to be in the “Big Brother” house for years, Kenney wanted out almost as soon as he got in. “I love my family to death. My wife is the greatest in the world. My kids are awesome. Five years ago I think I would have been a different person in the game. If it happened five years ago, I think I would have been a different player.”
SEE Lisa Weintraub (‘Big Brother 26’) exit interview: Angela ‘has been bullying me since the beginning’
Kenney revealed that being on the block with Matt Hardeman was a turning point for him. “Being on the block with Matt the first week, I kind of had a bond with him. His father was a police officer. I felt comfortable with him. He was getting me through a lot of the bad days, but once he was gone it was kind of tough.”
The former police officer planned to keep his occupation under wraps, but let it slip when he found out Matt’s father was also a cop, and Cedric was a marine. “I wasn’t comfortable lying about who I was. I’m super proud of being a police officer and the things that I’ve done in my community. I thought I could come out here and manipulate people, but to do that for my own personal gain was difficult. I like to help people do things for others. I found it very difficult to do it for my personal gain. It was unanticipated, but it happened.” For his parting words, Kenney said, “I appreciate this opportunity, it’s been a long time coming. That’s one of the craziest houses I’ve ever been in. But they’re all great people with good intentions and I wish them all the best.”
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