CBS2.com: behind the scenes/after the finale

Sep 16, 2008 10:25 pm US/Pacific

Alan Carter LOS ANGELES (CBS) ―

Call him Dan the Man. Dan Gheesling, the 24-year-old but wise beyond his years Catholic high school teacher, handily won "Big Brother 10" Tuesday night by a score of 7-0.

After 71 days in literal captivity, Dan's cunning and ability to backstab and do it with charm and humor made him not just America's Player, but a favorite with his fellow houseguests as well.

Fans of the show predicted Dan would win, but all the show's observers (this one included) thought the vote would be a more modest 4-3 or 5-2.

The jury (comprised of April, Ollie, Keesha, Michelle, Jerry, Renny and Libras) all said in the final analysis, while Memphis -- the second place finisher with $50,000 -- played a good game, it was clear that Dan, the puppet master, out-played and out-smarted them all.

For his part, minutes after being awarded the grand prize, Dan told us he was in shock. "I didn't know I would win. I didn't think I would win. For sure, I knew I had two votes...Renny and Keesha. To be honest, Memphis and I talked about it the other night. I had no idea how it would go."

We also spoke to all the jury members post finale and they said, to a man and a woman, Dan gave more truthful answers when he was put on the spot and they thought Memphis was saying what, as Libra put it, "what people wanted to hear."

Michelle denied that Dan taking her on the luxury trip swayed her vote. And Jerry -- who said when placing his secret vote "this is for the person who always showed me kindness" -- read to viewers that Jerry was going to cast his vote for Memphis as the two bonded by the end after a few nasty fights.

But Jerry said, "Dan was the guy who said 'Goodnight, Jerry to me every night in the house." April, too, who early on was not a big Dan fan said, "When it came down to it, I never got to know Memphis. And the first few weeks in the house, Dan would ask about my family, and ask about me and my life."

Note to eventual "Big Brother" contestants: you can lie and cheat and backstab people but if you say "good morning" and "good night" to them and ask about the family and pets, it might make them forgive you in the long run.

Dan told us that his strategy going in was to emulate the "lie to your face and be honest about it" play of Dr. Will and Mike "Boogie", but he conceded "those guys made it look a lot easier than it is."

Up next for Dan and Memphis? Dan and Memphis are going on a road trip ("likely to Vegas") in the hot rod Memphis won with the girlfriends in tow.

Laughed Dan, "I hope the Renegade girlfriends get along as well as the Renegade Alliance did!" If not, we can see another show in the works.

Meanwhile, Keesha (who we all thought would make it to the final 2), proved to be an audience favorite. America voted and Keesha edged out Jerry to win $25,000 as Favorite Juror.

We spoke to all 13 houseguests and asked them a variety of questions: would they do it all again? Did Dan really deserve to win? Did they have any regrets? Who would they never talk to again? Did they know Jessie was in the gorilla suit? What would they take back if they could? Were those arguments as vicious as they looked on TV???

More importantly, this being "Big Brother"...Who could they never forgive?...Let's put it this way, April said stuff about Keesha she knows she should someday probably apologize for. And to hear Keesha tell it, "April, you can save that apology!"

For those and other provocative moments, check back for all our interviews posted Tuesday night into Wednesday morning.

"Big Brother Chatter"

We watched the finale in the green room with a bunch of former houseguests (and forgive me if I leave anyone out) including Evel Dick, Joe from season 8 (with lots of facial hair and who, rumor has it, is now straight), Marcellas (who is working for E, Geraldo, Tyra, Style and about 128 other shows at the moment), and most of the Season 9 group including Chelsia (still a crack-up), Joshuah (equally cracked), Sharon, Jen and Parker.

During the show, the green room (filled with friends of the show, the aforementioned former houseguests and friends and family of the current houseguests), cheered loudly when Libra said "it's called 'Big Brother'...not 'Best Friend') in response to the jury complaining that Dan and Memphis lied to them.

When Jerry asked "are we that gullible?" Evel Dick yelled out "Yes!" to thundering applause.

Dick and Chelsia signed autographs and then he had the idea to sign her butt. You had to be there. And he did. He told us what he wrote. We can't repeat it.

Inquiring minds wanna know. And being nosy, I had to ask Chelsia if she and Crazy James were still a couple. "Still best friends. And we will be for life," she says, "and I go out with him and his girlfriend all the time! She is a super girl, and perfect for him." (Sounds like ANOTHER TV show to me!)