Cody Calafiore survived the season of Big Brother 16 to make it to the Final Two along with his Hitmen cohort Derrick. The Jury awarded the crown to Derrick, but Cody didn’t walk away empty-handed either. He’ll be taking home a giant check for $50,000 and according to our interview, he wouldn’t reverse that decision to go with Derrick to the F2. Read what all Cody had to say about his Big Brother experience.
Matthew Boyer – Big Brother Network (BBN): Congratulations! You won your way to the end and are taking home $50,000. That’s a big achievement.
Cody Calafiore: Thank you so much.
BBN: Going through the 7-2 votes, which ones surprised you the most whether they were for or against you?
Cody: Christine. Christine was definitely a big surprise. Victoria, another big surprise.
I really want to say Caleb because the entire time leading up to it all Caleb talked about was how he felt Derrick wasn’t doing anything in the game. Then I was the one who won the comps to send Caleb out the door and Frankie out the door. Then I won the Final HoH comp to go in to it. I thought Caleb would be a slam dunk just based on what I know Caleb based a lot of his decisions on. So that was a huge surprise to me.
I knew Zach. I knew Frankie wasn’t going to throw a vote my way. Those other ones were ones that were very surprising. Those were the ones I felt I needed in order to get me to those five votes. I knew I was going to have Donny and Jocasta.
Those other ones were the ones I needed to swing the game my way and those were the ones I was shocked that I didn’t get. What are you going to do?
BBN: You stayed loyal with Derrick until the end, but did you ever have the thought that maybe you needed to go to F2 with Victoria?
Cody: Not even for a second. It never even crossed my mind. I felt like it was such a huge win to get the Hitmen to the F2 and honestly being the person who did it for the past three weeks to make sure that we were there. That was such a huge win for me.
Having Derrick and I sitting in the chairs together felt like a win in itself. Unfortunately the votes didn’t go my way, but I really wouldn’t change it.
BBN: Tell me about your relationship with Donny. There were those times when you two came together and would have real heartfelt conversations, but then you backed off. What was going on?
Cody: I knew early on that Donny was on the outs. I thought it was great that he wanted to work with me because I thought he was a super schemer. I thought he was a genius in the game.
Honestly in Week 4 I was livid that I had to put him up when I had someone like Caleb who said we were in an alliance but then took the money. After Caleb took the money I was extremely mad and Donny kept scratching at it. He really got me, but then I had my right hand man Derrick talk me down from it.
After that I really liked Donny in the game, but then in Week 9 when I was on the block we had a conversation. He was telling me who he thought the hidden hand of the House was. He was telling me he wanted to work with me and Caleb. That was a conversation I didn’t tell anyone, not even Derrick. Then a day later Christine came to me that Donny was saying a bunch of stuff and that’s when I thought he was just trying to play now.
It made me feel a lot less confident that I was the one he wanted to work with. He was going after Derrick. He obviously didn’t feel confident enough to work with me, so when I had HoH he was the person I went after.
BBN: Say Derrick hadn’t made it to the end, who would you have picked to press on to the F2 with?
Cody: Caleb. Once Amber left the house him and I got extremely close, as close as we could get. He’s a good kid. He competed with everything he had and he stayed crazy loyal to the people he set out with in the beginning. So for me, if Derrick went that was the guy I would have absolutely tried to be close with.
Would it have been extremely tough to beat him if he was in the end? Absolutely. It goes back to “if you want to be the best, you’ve got to beat the best.”
BBN: Your relationship with Christine obviously generated a lot of discussion out here. Have you had a chance to talk with her husband?
Cody: I gave her husband a big hug. For me I really didn’t feel the need to bring it up to Christine. We had conversations after the Zingbot thing where I said I really don’t want this to be uncomfortable. She was really, behind Derrick, one of the closest people I was to in the house. She told me so many stories about Tim, about her family, and I told her so many stories about my family. I felt like we were very close.
Obviously all the hair playing played in to that, but I felt like that was happening with everybody. She really was one of my best friends and I didn’t view it at all, but I guess some people did. I feel like that put a huge wedge in our relationship and probably a huge wedge outside of the house which is very unfortunate.
BBN: What’s your biggest surprise coming away from the game?
Cody: Team America. I’m obsessed with it. The fact that Derrick was in it and won so much money from it. Oh my God, why couldn’t I be part of it? That would have been awesome, but I don’t know if I would have done it as good.
BBN: If you could go back and have a do-over besides the F2, what would it be?
Cody: Not a single thing. The week we had the Rewind was the exact week I would have wanted it since we got Frankie out. Other than that, there’s not a thing I would go back and change about the way I played the game or the way things unfolded.
BBN: What’s going to be your favorite memory of the whole season?
Cody: It’s tough to say one thing, but if you caught the things Zach would say, he literally had me crying so many times. Definitely those little comments that Zach would throw on people he didn’t like was the most epic part of the season.
BBN: What’s next for Cody?
Cody: I have no idea to be honest. I’m hearing a lot of different things. I’m just excited to see what the next chapter brings. Who knows, I’m just really excited to find out.
BBN: Thanks, Cody. Congratulations to making it to the Final Two and your $50,000 win.
Watch Cody Calafiore’s preseason interview with us and compare his initial expectations with the final outcome of his game this season.
I’m almost positive had it not been for the rewind week that neither Derrick nor Cody would have made it to the Final2. Am I right? That’s when I saw Derrick the most worried, seeing his buddy, Cody on the block. Then seeing it was Cody who won the rewind when he believed it was Frankie came as such a huge relief for both Derrick and Cody and the end of Frankie once and for all! I’m happy it did go that way for them both than seeing Frankie as the winner for sure!
I don’t think Cody would have. But I think Derrick would. The houseguests mistakenly viewed him on the same level as Victoria at the time, thinking any of them could beat him in the end.
Hmmm…Frankie was gunning after both of them, so who knows! His mistake was putting up Cody first instead of Derrick. Losing the rewind was his next biggest mistake!
I think had the rewind never happened, Frankie would have been F3 at least with a huge shot at winning his spot in the F2. That being said, it sounds like Frankie would have wanted to take Derrick, so the outcome would’ve been no different.
I think you are wrong. That week cody was on the block with victoria. Therefore, caleb and derrick had the votes. derrick did a great job of manipulating caleb and that was proven the nxt week when caleb voted out frankie and the following wk when caleb volunteered to go on the block. vicky would have gone home if the button had not been pushed.
But Frankie would have been safe had the following week not been rewound and Cody would have been sent home. Caleb may not have won HoH with Frankie still in the house and Frankie may have put up Derrick if he had won HoH, leaving Caleb, Frankie and Victoria as Final3, followed by Caleb and Frankie in Final2. It’s just my theory!
Cody could have only gone home if caleb flipped – right?
I think Frankie would have convinced him to vote Cody out!
I’m not so certain joni – especially at that point in the game. caleb knew in his gut that frankie could not be trusted.
Moreover, caleb wanted a final two with derrick not frankie. Flipping and voting out cody would have been a detriment to his final two dream.
He’d have had to beat Frankie out first, then, which he didn’t in order to save Cody and backdoor Frankie. That’s really the only way Caleb could have been assured to go to Final2 with Derrick. But hey, it’s neither here nor there now…it worked out as such because Cody won the Veto in the rewound and not Frankie! It worked out in the end for all BB fans! :-)
Everyone thinks Cody was easily influenced in the house, but Caleb was just as easily influenced
There are clear differences between cody and caleb.
Cody had a clearly defined, functioning alliance – the hitmen.
Alternatively, caleb left the BB House still thinking that he was working in and indeed – leading – the bombsquad. He was the only person in the house who believed that the bombsquad remained a functioning alliance. That says a lot about caleb’s mental state and his grasp on reality.
That’s a lot of “what ifs” there’s no way to be right or wrong in those theories
If it wasn’t for the rewind my thoughts…
5th: Victoria
4th: Cody
3rd: Frankie
2nd: Caleb
1st: Derrick
Derrick would have still won because everyone would have took him to the final 2 thinking they could beat him.
If he really wouldn’t change a thing, then he must not care about the money that much. I guess it’s good for him not to be devastated about having thrown away $450,000. Good luck to him.
The whole ‘To be the best, you have to beat the best’ thing is sooooo dumb. To be the best, you have to beat whoever is sitting next to you, nothing more. First Woo, now Cody…
Kangaroo Ethan
You hit the nail 100%. I guess Cody didnot watch survivor. Cody is Woo twin.
I don’t think he hit anything on the head. In fact I find it kind of sad he got 7 up-votes. “The best” doesn’t just imply of this season; some people want to be considered among the best to ever play the game. Cody isn’t the first player in the Big Brother’s history alone (let alone other reality shows) to not take the widely-considered easier path. Some find greater reward and satisfaction in beating somebody who also deserved to win. Not Victoria who didn’t even deserve 5 dollars let alone $50,000. Cody stated in this interview he would’ve ridden with Caleb if Derrick was evicted earlier, even knowing Caleb is another player who’s tough to beat at the end and win jury votes over. Cody doesn’t need to watch Survivor or watch anything else to decide for himself which path to take.
Ian on Big Brother 14 chose to sit beside legendary Dan instead of easy-win Danielle. You can see it how you see fit, but I respected Ian for that as he echoed the same sentiment, “gotta beat the best to be the best”. I respect Cody for the same reason. Not everybody wants the easy win, the hand-out, and the less-earned path. I’m one of those people. If you think I’m dumb as well, then that’s fine.
I think Ian taking Danielle over Dan would have cost him a significant amount of votes. Danielle would have probably have locked votes from Shane, Dan, Frank and Jenn. Ian would have had his from Ashley, Joe, and Britney.
That may be, but I do believe Ian wanted to beat Dan, specifically over beating Danielle, as Dan was established as a great player, had won the game before, etc. He (Ian) was walking around the house repeating the phrase “Gotta beat the best to be the best”. Maybe concern over people voting for Danielle was a factor, but I still firmly believe he felt that Dan sitting beside him was a tougher road than Danielle. I think Ian felt he could win against either one though and of course, he did (even if people like me think Dan deserved it more). The only real solace I could see Ian taking in his mind, taking Dan to the final, was thinking jurors wouldn’t give Dan a second prize of $500,000, since sadly some players did have that in mind about Season 14’s coaches, that two of them, Dan and Mike, had already won before.
Derrick whispered into Cody’s ear at the finale that he was going to take care of him as a thank you to helping him win the whole shebang!
Did he really? Are you sure? I’d really like it as a fan of both players if this were true.
Listen to what he tells Jeff in the final live chat!!!
But, they cannot do that, if CBS finds that out, they can demand to get the $$ back, they have to sign contracts that say “you cannot share or spilt money with other hg”
He’s not sharing or splitting money…but it doesn’t say you can’t give gifts that are not in the form of cash!
I can believe it because I believe their friendship was beyond just an alliance, and with the ‘extra money’ Derrick was able to add via competitions (the one HoH where he went for the money), his Team America earnings and his bonus $50,000 for winning as a Team America member, I’m sure he feels comfortable ‘helping Cody out’. That’s great to hear and I hope the two remain friends outside of the game, as I think they will.
He says in the interview that he told Cody “I got you” “he knows what that means” and that Cody’s gonna have a good Christmas.
I feel like Derrick may have said something similar to Victoria too. I can see Derrick sharing/helping both of them since they both had a lot to do with his winning.
I wonder how Cody’s family felt about him having given away $450,000 to a virtual stranger?
How did cody give $450K away if the jury vote regarding a final two – cody vs victorica – is an unknown?
I respect that you are clearly a big Cody fan, but if you actually believe Victoria could have beaten him in the final 2, you are as delusional as she is.
I’m not delusional at all. It’s an unknown because it did not take place.
How can can you argue against something that never occured?
It was rude of me to say “delusional,” I meant the comment more playfully than that so I’m sorry. But there are some things that you can know without them occurring. For example, I can say that if I polled 9 people in my office about having 3-day weekends, the vote would be 9-0 in favor. I don’t need to do it to know the outcome with certainty. In the same sense, I feel certain that Victoria would not have gotten 5 votes over Cody.
You offer a false analogy. Polling your office mates about a three day weekend or whether they’d like to make more money has nothing to do with BB.
In your analogy – your office mates receive a benifit – – the three day weekend.
Alternatively, the BB jury receives no tangible benifit from voting for either of the final two (aside for an emotional or perceived gain).
We’re not going to agree on this, I just think that you’re obfuscating the issue deliberately to make it seem as if Cody didn’t throw away $450,000 when the fact is that he did. I really don’t care what you think about this, nor should you care about me. Good bye.
An interview was actually done with the jury if the F2 came down to Vic V Cody. It was a 7 to 2 vote in favor of Cody. The 2 that wouldn’t vote for Cody was Frankie and Derrick..both not appreciating Cody’s lack of loyalty.
Hadn’t seen that, thanks! I’m surprised about Derrick but not Frankie.
I think this is only one perspective on it.
If you look at the backyard interviews the jury was torn. Had cody taken victoria there was no certainty that he would have gotten the five votes needed to win.
Moreover, cody’s social game was much more subtle than derrick’s in your face hand wringing. Therefore, the jury members were overall more “impressed” with derrick’s game and he won.
Additionally, cody felt victoria did not deserve second place with derrick going home in third. He based that decision on the work they both put in as the hitmen.
Finally, you really can’t “throw something away” that you never had in the first instance.
Isn’t that what every runner-up person always say? But you know, as the weeks go by, he’ll start thinking “wtf was I thinking, I really screwed up”
I hope things work out for Cody. He is adorable..great body..nice guy..maybe Calvin Klein will come calling..he was wearing their underwear while in the house!!
You noticed that too eh?
didn’t we all? whoop- whoop, lol
Agreed. Cody is a good kid and his family should be proud of him. Based on Jeff’s thoughts in the backyard interviews – I suspect good things are in store for cody.
Cody Calafiore: No guts, no balls, no glory.
Hmmm…who took out both donny and frankie? Oh yeah…Cody! He played a better game than the majority of the house and I suspect derrick would not have been able to win without a partner with a strong social game.
Cody took out Donny and Frankie because Derrick let him off his leash to do so. Cody had multiple chances to get Frankie out sooner but he couldn’t because Derrick won’t let him.
Had he done that, he would have done us a favor and get even an ounce of respect as an individual player instead of doing the dirty work for someone who’s working behind the scenes and avoided nominations all-season.
I guess it depends on how you look at it. An alliance is a grouping in which you “work with” at least one other person.
Cody knew that donny wanted derrick out and derrick knew that frankie wanted cody out. The hitmen achieved the goal of removing both threats. How is that collaborative effort a negative for either?
The problem I see here is that while the Hitmen did right with doing what they think is best for them to reach the end, Cody gained a disadvantage of letting Derrick run his game essentially to the point that the jury pretty much could no longer be swayed because they were that impressed with Der’s game over his own merits.
Cody couldn’t counter allegations that he was a puppet because I think I saw it with the way he made his final plea on the live finale that at the back of his mind, he knew they were right.
Cody was criticized with the “no guts” thing for not going after Caleb and then not taking a shot at Frankie. Both of those potential moves, at the time of their ability to take place, would have actually been bad moves for Cody. Taking out Caleb that early, when you think about how close Caleb and Cody became all the way to final four, not smart to lose Caleb that early. Taking out Frankie instead of Donny would’ve put Donny with Nicole and a 4-2 numbers game in favour of Cody’s side as opposed to a 5-1 advantage by keeping Frankie at that point. Let’s face it, Cody was criticized for these ‘non moves’ in great part by fans of Donny who didn’t want to see him go, and at the time they criticized him for not going after Caleb, Caleb wasn’t very popular as he was still seen as a weirdo with his Amber fixation. It was definitely fueled by fan emotion and opinion more than actually what was good for Cody’s game. And look at that, Cody ended up being the biggest hand in both Caleb and Frankie’s evictions anyway. He just didn’t do it at the time people wanted him to do it, but he’s going to be faulted for that? When he made it to the final two? I don’t think so, personally.
I think Cody, with the help of Derrick, would adjust to any uncontrolled situation presented to them because any move a player makes will always have a corresponding positive and negative consequence. Derrick manage to do that when he was confronted with situations where his opinion could spell doom to his game. He turned things around in a way that any word that comes out from his mouth won’t bite in the arse.
It would have been nice to see Cody actually making his own decisions just to see how he would fare without having the need to get an ally’s approval. Getting Frankie, Donny and Caleb out by his own hand would have been sweeter if it was without anyone else’s machinations.
Doing so without someone’s approving thumb would have probably helped this season be less stagnant than it already has in terms getting players not letting others dictate their gameplay.
You make good points, and I respect your opinion. I don’t deny for a second that Derrick helped Cody out along the way. Absolutely he did. But I do think it’s a misconception that some believe it wasn’t at all a two-way street. I think Cody helped Derrick too, most notably with his clutch, high-pressure, well-timed wins with the final two vetos and the final HoH to ensure the two of them sat in those final two seats. These two were my favourites, the entire season, so I was in a fortunate position watching the finale where I would have been equally happy with either one of them winning. I do give the edge to Derrick on overall gameplay, so I do think he deserved to win, but it’s not a big edge, and I think Cody deserved it for his own reasons. Derrick was as good as they come at talking somebody down from a decision that wasn’t good for the long run, and one that may have been fueled on emotion, like when Cody was upset with Caleb for taking $5,000 in a veto competition and thus thought about back-dooring him. Turns out Caleb was a valuable ally to both of them until very late in the game. So while Derrick did help stop Cody from doing it, for one I don’t think we can definitely say, 100%, Cody does it if Derrick doesn’t help stop him from it, and for two, Cody can’t really be faulted for listening to advice that actually proved beneficial in the long run for both of their games.
I agree with your post and would add that the hitmen worked so well because both cody and derrick brought different skills to the game. derrick is trained in interrogation and fooling people into trusting him. cody used his looks and charisma to influence. the combination the the two got them to the end of the game.
Yep, and while Derrick wasn’t a slouch in competitions, Cody was still more effective in them. So in that regard, it can be seen that Derrick was the brains and Cody was the braun, or that Cody did the heavy lifting, especially when it counted the most, towards the end. Cody’s going to look back on all of this and be proud, I’m sure of it. And he should be. I would be of him if I were his friend or family member.
great points about the comps! cody smoking that veto comp after the rewind was vital and it facilitated frakie’s exit and then caleb.
AMEN.
cody was in a two person alliance from week two moving forward. how would making unilateral moves been in furtherance of that alliance.
Moreove, that 8(9) person bombsquade at the beginnig of the game made the first 3 or 4 weeks very slow. I’m not certain cody or the hitmen had any power to change what was.
I agree with your post. I think one of the most difficult aspects for the jury is that none of them understood what the hitmen were doing behind the scenes. Therefore, its very difficult to “judge” something that you don’t understand.
The hitmen needed, frankie, caleb and victoria. Caleb flipping on frankie at the end was the best move of the game and it ensured them a final two.
Exactly, and Cody and Derrick got Caleb to get the Frankie blood on their hands. Cody shared some by winning Veto and not using it, but Frankie had to know he wasn’t going to as the only possible replacement would’ve been Derrick, so they effectively got Frankie mostly blaming Caleb for his demise when really, Cody and Derrick together (emphasis on ‘together’, not just Derrick) planned Frankie’s demise behind the scenes. Same way they did it to Caleb the following week, and again, Cody’s timely competition wins is what ensured success in both weeks. Not to mention a third clutch, timely win of that final HoH. Derrick and Cody were my favourites, but I wanted Cody to win that final HoH to give him more of a fighting chance with the jury. It of course didn’t work out that way, but it didn’t hurt.
This is absolutely incorrect based on the live feeds from season 16. cody’s game was much more subtle than derrick’s. cody blindsided, amber, hayden, nicole (1st eviction) and christine. None of them saw it coming thanks to cody’s subtle game play. derrick does not have those skills.
Moreover, cody’s reaction to the – fairly bitter – jury was a summation of my paragraph above.
Finally, neither of the final two had time to explain their entire game to the jury. I suspect cody is proud of his game play to the extent nothing is promised from week to week in the BB house.
Agreed, Thopper. Well said. Cody’s gameplay was subtle and thus some think it wasn’t even there. Derrick was skilled, but so was Cody. He wasn’t a puppet, and his decisions weren’t solely based on Derrick’s approval.
agree, with Cody for his front man collecting all the info, Derrick could just tread water in the background, add up all the facts and then pounce
I feel like people blew the Christine/Cody friendship out of proportion. Only because they didn’t like Christine…
Christine thought she was playing cody but she got played. People boooed her at her eviction because on the live feeds she appeared to be an awful – mean-spirited person.
And sore loser let’s not forget! :-)
yeah..well I’m not one to throw oil on the fire but you are correct.
She certainly didn’t come off as a sore loser at the finale. Or maybe you think that not voting for Cody was sore-loserish. I do think Derrick was the best player and she acknowledged that. NOT a Christine fan, BTW.
No, that she did not. I’m glad for that much too!
.
I like Cody, and I really enjoyed his alliance with Derrick. When Hitmen formed, I wanted them Final 2 (even though I know Der would cut Cody at any time if he needed too, lol). The right person won, and I think Cody was a very deserving runner-up. He won the important comps when he needed to. Congrats. I enjoyed this season of BB.
I agree with the majority of your post, and it’s nice to not only see another Hitmen fan but somebody saying they enjoyed the season when I saw a lot to the contrary this season, on these boards. However, I do actually believe that Derrick wanted to take Cody to the end. I know that his main priority was his own game, as it should be, but I do believe him not only all season long but during his exit interview, that he was always going to take Cody to the end, even over an ‘easier win’ over Victoria. I think Derrick knew he could beat both of them with jury votes, it was just a matter of 9-0 over Victoria vs 7-2 or 6-3 over Cody. Derrick might even have been nervous about those comments (though I felt they were more joking) from fellow houseguests that if Victoria “actually made it to the end, I’d vote for her” because nobody thought she could possibly get there. Then add in Derrick’s potential fear of losing Cody’s vote for the worst burn/blindside imaginable. I do think they were joking though and ultimately they’d see Victoria didn’t do anything other than play the easy choice for pawn, let alone do enough to deserve to win the game and deserve the big prize money.
did anyone watch the interview of Cody’s first interview to be on big brother? When he was asking Cody about his career, he said he worked for an entertainment company on the weekends. I never heard him mention that on the 3 months of the show. Did any of you know about that? I wondered about all the card tricks, the dancing, and saw a picture of him on a site wearing only a jock. Hmmmm, wonder what kind of entertainment???
Yeah he mentioned it to Derrick, that he was a dancer for an entertainment company. Also he talked about him having a job with a magazine, I think, where he was featured and about being a writer once a month for a year. Frankie got very serious and demanded to know more and how Cody got this gig, but Cody didn’t give him the details. Google him to see all the modeling this guy has done. He has been around.
Wow this guy could not sit still through this interview. I finally heard the sinus issue that everyone complained about with Cody in the comments this season. Interesting to go back and see this after the game.
Don’t get me wrong because I LOVE CALEB,once Amber left , but yes, for a guy like Derrick, being able to use your weaknesses against u , Caleb was easy to manipulate, which Derrick Did. I would ILMAO, every time Derrick would talk CALEB into doing exactly what he wanted CALEB to do. The easiest way was to fluff his feathers while he was almost hypothesized him. It was EPIC!!!!!!!!!!!!