“UCF was an opportunity that popped up, that I jumped at the chance to do. I love speaking to college students, and visiting UCF was very impressive,” said Dan Gheesling.
On Monday September 23rd, the University of Central Florida got the chance to meet, ask questions and learn from Big Brother season 10 winner, Dan Gheesling. Not only did Dan talk about the steps to getting onto Big Brother and answering questions about the two times he’s been on Big Brother, but he also gave some advice and tips for all the UCF students who came out to the event.
Many people wonder how the show Big Brother has lasted so long due to some bad reviews the show has received. However, Dan Gheesling clears that up by saying, “The show has lasted long because it has a very unique connection to the fan base. It’s the only show I’m aware of that is live 24/7.”
Students asked many questions and in addition, Dan shared that his first attempt of getting on reality TV was actually Survivor, not Big Brother. His role model on Survivor, Richard Hatch, who won Survivor back in 2000 caught Dan’s interest at 16 years old.
“To me, Richard Hatch was always a symbol (in Reality TV) of how a sharp mind can pretty much beat anything,” Gheesling said.
Although Dan never played the game of Survivor, he did get the opportunity to play the game of Big Brother. Some people may not know that Dan actually has had more than one or two opportunities to be on Big Brother that he had to decline due to other commitments or the fact that his girlfriend at the time, who hated reality TV, didn’t want to go on as the couple twist in season 9.
Although Dan says it killed him to do that, he still persevered and did everything he could to make it onto the show. — finally making it on Season 10 in 2008.
“My strategy was to completely remove any emotion from any game decision/reactions I made,” Gheesling said. “You can think most clearly when not emotional and I knew it had served other players in the past.”
If you know the game of Big Brother, then you know the amount of lying and strategy that goes into it. When speaking in front of the many UCF Big Brother fans, he gave a tip of the game: you have to look at lying as bluffing, but only in the game.
When asked how it felt when Julie Chen announced his name as the Big Brother Season 10 winner, Gheesling said was something he’d been looking forward to for a long time.
“It really didn’t hit me until the next day. To see something come to fruition from age 16 all the way to age 25 was pretty special,” Gheesling said.
Usually when people see someone win a reality TV show they automatically expect that the money won was blown on expensive material things, but in this case Dan didn’t buy a new car, but instead he invested in real-estate and bought himself a house.
If you follow Big Brother than you know that Big Brother 10 was not the only time Dan Gheesling showed himself inside the Big Brother house. Season 14, on the first night, twelve new House guests entered the Big Brother House to two new twists of the season. The first twist was that four successful ex-house guests would re-enter the House not to compete against one another, but to coach the new Houseguests. A part of the coaches was none other than Dan Gheesling.
“The Big Brother house was everything I expected and more. It was a once in a lifetime experience, that I was able to experience twice,” said Gheesling.
For all those future Big Brother house guests, Dan has left you with a letter of advice and his five best tips on how to be successful at the game of Big Brother at: http://www.dangheesling.com/my-letter-to-the-new-houseguests/.
Also, if you missed the event, you too can learn each duty by purchasing his book, Clean Your Own Mirror: 6 Necessary Duties to Lead and Influence Others, coming out in December.
