One day after leaving the Big Brother 28 house, Ashley Trail still doesn’t have her phone back. But she is gradually learning all of her fellow houseguests’ secrets, one by one.
“You’re lying!” she tells Gold Derby exclusively when we reveal that Mallory Aurichio is actually a rocket scientist. “Oh, wait, really? ‘Rocket scientist’ is literally the thing you say whenever somebody is the smartest they could possibly be. That’s crazy!”
The Chicago bartender also reacts to Jason De Puy being a RuPaul’s Drag Race All Star, and Lyric Medeiros having appeared on American Idol. And she tells us why Angela Murray is her official pick to win Season 28.
Ashley was evicted on Thursday night by a 14-to-0 vote over Taylor Brown. “Hate the unanimous vote,” she grumbles. However, she’s trying not to take things personally, explaining, “Game-wise, it was so close to having this fan base in the house for me to stay, and we couldn’t quite get there.”
Read our exit interview with Ashley below.
Gold Derby: How are you feeling? It’s just been a few hours since your eviction.
Ashley Trail: I am feeling oh so very sad, of course, that I’m no longer in the Big Brother house. I’m feeling well-rested. I’m missing my roomies snoring and I wish I was all up in there competing in my actual first HOH comp and playing the game. I miss it already!
If you had survived and won HOH, who would’ve been your three targets?
I don’t know necessarily who I’d be targeting exactly. But on my radar would be people that I just didn’t really speak game to. I didn’t talk once to Lala about anything, besides fun and joy and laughter. And Taylor along with that, not really so much. And then Jason. And then Lyric I didn’t really ever talk game with, but she was in the group that I was trying so hard to get into, so I probably wouldn’t target her.
Speaking of Lyric, she’s in the showmance with Rome. How obvious is the showmance to everyone in the house? Are they trying to hide it?
To my eyesight, they’re out in the open. But maybe that’s just because I’m in the pod rooms, she’s my bunk mate, and I’m hearing every little inch that they make. To the rest of the house, I don’t know that it is so obvious, but even if it is, it sounds like nobody really cares. Nobody’s threatened by the showmance, which is so shocking to me. Isn’t Big Brother culture being like, “They’re flirting. Get them out!”
That’s hurt a lot of people in the past, so we’ll see what happens going forward.
Yeah!
What is your reaction to the fact that Jason is a RuPaul’s Drag Race All Star? He’s been on two seasons as a drag queen named Salina EsTitties.
Oh my gosh, he is a humble queen because we would’ve never known. And I think everybody’s jaw is going to drop whenever they find out. I mean, the splits make sense, the sass makes sense. The energy is there, and how did we not guess it all along?
Were you hiding anything about yourself that you didn’t want the houseguests to learn?
It’s funny, I was such an open book, but the rest of the house was like, “Ashley, girl, we know you’re playing it safe. Like, you’re an astrophysicist, meteorologist, you’re a brain surgeon.” And I was like, “Guys, I wish so badly I had that up my sleeve, but sadly, no.”
Did you know Mallory is actually a rocket scientist?
You’re lying!
She is.
Oh, wait, really? “Rocket scientist” is literally the thing you say whenever somebody is the smartest they could possibly be. That’s crazy!
A lot of secrets this year. Lyric was on American Idol.
OK, yes, I did know that. We couldn’t quite get her to belt anything out just yet.
Julie Chen Moonves told us earlier this week that she was initially hesitant about the idea that Survivors would come onto Big Brother. What was your reaction to Dee [Valladares] and [Rick] Devens joining this game?
It was kind of shocking. I didn’t know that a lot of the BB lovers and fans would know them, but I guess Survivor and Big Brother are cousins at this point, and they kind of just unite together. It makes for good TV and it makes for the BB player newbies to be kind of intimidated and scared and give us a little fire boost in our butt to impress them if we want to work with them, or band together if we decide to be like, “They’re our targets and get them out.”
The vote was actually unanimous, 14 to 0. How does it feel knowing you didn’t get a single vote?
Oh my gosh, hate the unanimous vote. I don’t want to take it personally. I would hope possibly so. Game-wise, it was so close to having this fan base in the house for me to stay, and we couldn’t quite get there. I kind of thought at first, whenever I was confiding in Dee and Angela and Barrett and Drew, they were like, “Man, Ashley, we feel for you, girl. You’re right, you will go home, so let’s change this. We want you as a number.” That felt so good and it really boosted my confidence. I went wrong with talking to Melody and having her spread the goss. It got everybody nervous that they were in the spotlight. I never, ever would want anybody to be in the spotlight. If anybody did that to me, I’d be upset, but it wasn’t meant to feel namey.
What did you think of Dee’s strategy as HOH to just pick one person from each of the teams that had competed?
With Dee’s HOH strategy, I got to hand it to her. I wish I could hate her, but it was so respectable and girl has got zero blood on her hands. They are so clean. If I would’ve thought to be that wise, I would’ve done the same thing.
Have you learned about her huge two alliances that are in the house, the Red Corner and the Crossovers?
Absolutely didn’t fully know the nicknames. Honestly, somebody mentioned it before and I was like, “Whatever could they be saying to me right now?” But I believe that she’s with Angela, Devens, Drew [Campbell], and Barrett [Pfeiffer]. And I don’t know about the other one.
The other one is Dee, Devens, Haley [Thogmartin], Chuk [Anyanwu], and Kamu [Kirk].
That’s a shocker! I just feel like Haley and Dee specifically were kind of all over the place, but I didn’t know if Dee would really trust Haley. And so, I just didn’t know that they would be in so tight together.
When will you actually sit down and watch the episodes?
Whenever I can find a little bit of joy and light again. I am going to have so much FOMO watching, but obviously, hello with curiosity to strike for me to be like, who was working together, and the grand reveals of all of that, and how people are playing the game. I’d be crazy not to watch. I know those people.
Who would you say is the closest friendship that you made in this house that you want to remain friends with for the rest of your life?
You know what? Everybody, truly. Sorry, boring answer, but I love all of those people and I cannot wait to hang with them. And, finale night, they might be like, whoever could this girl be? But you know what? Maybe that’s a perk for me because they would’ve had the least amount of drama with me in the game. So we’ll be BFFs amongst all of them maybe.
So there aren’t any players that you never want to see again as long as you live?
No, never! They’re all perfect. At the end of the day, they’re all perfect.
What is the first thing you did when you got your phone back?
I haven’t gotten my phone back yet. If you would’ve asked me that a few weeks ago, I’d have been like, “For sure, I feel like I’m missing a kidney. This is insane. I’m trembling. I’m going through withdrawals.” But I kicked the phone addiction single-handedly. I’m going to take this into my real world. I’m going to be like, “OK, wait, don’t scroll so much.” But I’m excited whenever I get my phone back to see a little bit of what people thought, or just even see what happened. So scary.
Who are you personally rooting for to win Big Brother 28?
I want Angela to win Big Brother 28. She is so sweet and kind and just deserves it. Think about how iconic that would be, her comeback story. She’s in her villain era — subtly.
Give me your final thoughts, Ashley. What did you make of this whole experience?
I peaked in life. I was in the Big Brother house for even just a week. I loved it so very much. I’m literally so grateful and I can’t wait to brag. But obviously, then end with the humble statement of, “Don’t worry, I was the first one evicted.” I’m going to miss it so much.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
