Reilly Smedley says there's a lot of fear in the Big Brother house right now

Reilly Smedley started her stay in the Big Brother house like gangbusters. She became the first Head of Household and formed an early alliance called the Handful that she thought would take control of the game. But what she didn't count on was getting into a power struggle with an absolute comp beast.

Once Hisam Goueli found out Reilly had named him as one of her targets — and then proceeded to win every single competition thrown his way — Reilly's days were numbered, and she was unanimously voted out on Thursday's live eviction episode.

Does Reilly regret winning that week one HOH? Does she think Hisam laid it on too thick in his veto ceremony speech? Is she upset she didn't get a single vote to stay? We asked the Nashville bartender all that and more when we caught up with her the morning after her ouster. Watch the interview above or read it below.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Okay, Reilly, why are you here talking to me? What went wrong?

REILLY SMEDLEY: I sadly am houseguest number two to be evicted. I definitely think I played really hard right off the bat and that ended up biting me in the butt. So I am here.

We saw you shed some tears this past week. How much does it sting to go this early?

I am such a competitor. I've been competitive my whole life, especially with myself. So it's definitely a hard pill to swallow not making it as far as I had imagined I would. But I would do it again in a heartbeat. This has changed my life, and I'm so thankful for the experience.

It's always an interesting thing starting off with Big Brother and that first HOH, right? A lot of people say, "I don't want any part of that. Keep that away from me. I don't want to have to draw the lines in the house, and I don't want to have to get blood on my hands early." You went for it. You won it. Do you think that ultimately hurt your game?

I think it had something to do with it. I honestly was one of those people who said, "I don't want it." And then I got there, and me being my competitive self, I totally gunned it and went for it. I'm super proud that I got that position in the house so early. But again, that always puts a target on somebody's back, so ultimately that probably had a lot to do with why I'm sitting here.

So if you could do it again, you would just throw it?

I don't know if I'd throw it. I wouldn't be so determined to win it though. [Laughs] I would know how to handle it better now that I have that experience under my belt, though.

Everyone both inside and outside the house was talking about Hisam's veto ceremony speech telling everyone to vote you out. What did you make of that?

It was definitely a shock. But Hisam is going to play his own game, and I'm going to play mine, and that might not be the same type of game. But he's totally entitled to say and do what he needs to do to get further. So I wish Hisam the best.

Do you think he was he was too vindictive and too bossy in being so focused on getting you out?

I think he's an honest guy and that was, you know, what he felt like he had to do in the moment.

Is that honesty going to get him in trouble?

We'll have to see.

It seems like your entire alliance wanted to keep you over Cameron. So why didn't any of them vote to keep you?

I didn't want them to blow their game up. I knew that if they voted for me, it wouldn't be a majority vote. And I think with how the house is moving right now, I told them not to sacrifice their game for me and to just vote with the house.

But here's the thing I don't get, because we've had a lot of these unanimous votes in the past few years, right? And everyone's like, "I don't want to go against the HOH." But these votes are in secret. Someone could have thrown you a vote or two and actually caused a little chaos in the house. So why not do that, because no one's going to know who it is?

I think at that point now there's a lot of fear in the house, and nobody wanted to be on the wrong side of a vote, regardless if it was anonymous or not. So I just said go play in my honor and just vote with the house.

Who was your ride-or-die in this game?

I had more than one ride-or-die. Jag was immediately my best friend on night one, but I developed a really great bond with Matt as well. And I really love Blue. I think those three were my ride-or-dies.

Obviously a lot can change in this game, but were you thinking whom you might want to sit next to at the end?

I was starting to struggle with the idea of choosing Matt or Jag at the end if I made it there. At first it was Jag, a hundred percent. There are so many twists and turns in the game, but I would be happy sitting next to Matt or Jag at the end.

Matt was saying how much you helped him in the house, especially when other people were whispering and not including him in conversations. Tell me about your connection and friendship with Matt and doing that for him in the house.

I care so much about Matt. He is such an amazing person, and his story is super inspiring. He was really vulnerable with me about how he does feel different in the house, and I wanted to make sure I could do whatever I could to help him play the game to the best of my ability and make him feel included. He's one of my best friends. He's amazing.

Who's been playing the best game in the house so far?

Man, that's a tough one. There's a few, but I think right now, Jared. He is working both sides of the house.

Tell me your reaction when JCM told you out on the stage that Jared and Cirie are son and mother.

That blew my mind and is why I think Jared is playing the best game in the house. He's in two alliances! I mean, I can't even believe. I thought she meant a romantic relationship. I was like, "Wait, who?" [Laughs] That is crazy. I can't wait till the other houseguests find out. They're going to lose it.

What did you like the most and the least about playing this game?

I think what I love the most is just meeting these amazing people from all these different walks of life. It's just the coolest experience. It's just a melting pot of all different types of people. And some of these people I will be friends with forever. And in two short weeks, having that feeling is so amazing.

I don't think I disliked anything about this. I love this game. It's definitely a pressure cooker in there. And as someone who's never been in this type of situation before, like most people, it's definitely difficult to navigate that. But like I said, all love for Big Brother. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

As we're speaking, you've only been out of the house for less than 13 hours and it's like an emotional whiplash. Not only are you dealing with being voted out, but now you're out of the house and adjusting to that as well. What is that all like?

I definitely am going through the stages of grief. At first, I didn't believe it. Now I've had a little bit of time to myself and I'm reflecting a lot. I want to be in there so bad. I feel like I have unfinished business, and I am really proud of everyone who's still in there, and I can't wait to see how the rest of the season goes.

Are you going to go watch all the episodes immediately or give it some time?

It might be heartbreaking, but I'm probably going to watch it. I'm a curious cat.

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