In 2015, Steve Moses, a then-22-year-old college student from Gouverneur, New York, won Big Brother 17, and he now reveals how he felt about having what he called an "invisible edit" on the show. Steve took home the $500,000 grand prize after 98 days in the Big Brother house, winning with a 6-3 vote versus runner-up Liz Nolan. During the game, Steve built an impressive resume, winning four Head of Household (HOH) competitions, two veto competitions, and one Battle of the Block competition.
Steve's strategy in the Big Brother game was to play under-the-radar at the beginning, and then play more aggressively at the end. He did this by impressively winning three out of the last four HOH competitions. This allowed him to eliminate his biggest threat in the house, Vanessa Rousso. While in the house, Steve was a member of the Scamper Squad, Students of Sound, and Rockstars alliances.
In an interview with EW, Steve admitted that, after he left the Big Brother house he was "really disappointed to discover my invisible edit" on the episodes of the show. He explained, "My primary alliance didn't make the show until the second or third week of jury, and my game's primary thesis never made the show at all." At first, he was upset when he discovered that his strategy of purposely staying the background in the beginning of the game was never shown on the show. Steve shared that he is proud of the fact that "I played the exact game I said I was going to play. I was going to lay low, stay out of the way, not be taken seriously, throw everything, be a complete waste of an HOH, and pump it out in the end game." Steve said that it is "amusing" to him that his "game's overriding thesis never made the episodes — only the feeds and my pre-season interviews. However, I stuck to it and implemented it exactly."
However, in hindsight, Steve said that he was "so glad" that he got the invisible edit. He revealed that he "got sick of the attention real quick after coming out of the house, and my edit helped me disappear into society more quickly." He shared that even people with whom he has been friends for years have called him to tell him that they heard that he was on Big Brother and they had no idea. Steve said that his edit "helped me avoid falling into the trap of wrapping your self-identity into being a former Houseguest. I wouldn't change a thing about my edit today." After Big Brother, Steve founded the South Orlando territory of senior care consulting franchise, and about a year ago, he added the North Orlando territory. The franchise represents seniors and families transitioning into independent living, assisted living, and memory care communities. Steve said it is "really rewarding" to help families to develop solutions that are great for both the seniors and their families.
Although Steve's strategy might not have been shown on the Big Brother episodes, fans who watched the live feeds or listened to his interviews knew the truth about what his game plan was. It obviously was a strong plan since he achieved his goal of winning the game. Steve may feel as if he has disappeared into society, but his Big Brother legacy lives on in the memories of fans who remember his much-deserved win.
Big Brother 24 premieres July 6 at 8 p.m. EST on CBS.
Source: EW