Big Brother 19 Winner Josh Martinez Explained Why He Beat Paul In The Finale

This past Wednesday night, September 20,2017, Rob Cesternino from “Rob Has A Podcast” caught up to the winner of Big Brother season 19 Josh Martinez (above) in the backyard. During their interview, Josh revealed why he thought he was bale to beat houseguest and second-time runner up Paul Abrahamian in the final two.

Josh really emphasized the fact that he was very straight forward and honest about his game, and he felt like the jury respected that. Josh knew Paul was playing everyone, but he said he was also playing his own angles and what not.

The interview started off with Rob saying, “We talked about this for pretty much the last month. What was Josh gonna do? Is Josh gonna make a move against Paul at the final six. Is he gonna make a move at the final five? Is he gonna make a move at the final four? Oh, he’s going to vote him out at the final three. Ultimately, we got to the final two and the jury awards you the win. Congratulations to you. How does it feel?”

Josh said, “It feels awesome. Honestly, I can’t even believe it. I can’t process that I won. I was thinking the whole time, he’s playing the best game. I literally compared him to Vanessa Rousso and Derrick Levasseur. I said it the whole time. I think I was one of the few people that was on to his game.

But, in the same sense, I had Christmas that was my ride or die and Paul gave me his loyalty. I know one thing that he wouldn’t go back on was his word and his loyalty. So, I was like ok I know that he played everybody. He was playing the game but for some reason, I trusted him.

I also knew that people were pissed off at both of us. He was playing such a good game, but my game was kind of under the radar and it was very strategic where I said you play your hand. But, I have GBMs (goodbye messages) in my speech, and I’ll probably win them at that. And I did.”

Rob said, “So, in terms of going head to head with Paul, why did you want to go with Paul instead of Christmas? Because I watched this hear at CBS in a room of about 40 people. You said, ‘I have to go to the end with Paul.’ The entire room said, ‘no!'”

Josh said, “I think for two reasons. Christmas literally killed everybody with kindness. When she evicted people, it felt like she was handing them the money because she was so sweet with her approach. I knew that me and Paul had pissed off the same amount of people, but I also know that Paul had played everybody and people were gonna compare notes.

I also had my GBMs. I stuck loyal to them. I was very straight forward the whole game and I wasn’t going to change that. I just had to be smart about how I was going to do it. I could’ve done it straight to their face, or I could’ve said it in a GBM on their way out and it worked out.

On my goodbye messages, I said listen I stuck loyal to them. I gave them my word and I’m going to final three with them because that’s what I said I was gonna do, and I never went back on my word.”

Rob said, “Let’s talk about the goodbye messages because you said you’re a super fan. This is something that you knew. This was in your arsenal. Paul with all due respect had not seen a lot of Big Brother. I’m not even sure if he watched Big Brother 18. So, I’m not sure how much that he knew that was a thing in how the jury processes information. So, what was it that you saw in the past that made you feel like this was an effective tactic?”

Josh said, “I saw Derrick in season 16. The way that he was sending everybody out one by one. His GBMs. The way he was having conversations with them. The way he played the game. He played it so smart. Paul said it was a coward move and all that.

I’m like, ‘Listen I have goodbye messages and I have a speech and that’s part of my game. I’m not gonna stop playing until I walk out of this house.’ So, it was my approach and it was part of my strategy to let people know where I stand. Why I did what I did. I stuck to being loyal and I knew that people would respect that at the end.”

Rob said, “Something that I thought you did very effectively tonight was in those final twos. You were talking directly to people where I felt like Paul had messages to the group. You singled some people out and talked about that. Was that something that was premeditated?”

Josh said, “Yeah , I definitely thought about it and I wanted to make it very clear especially to Alex why I got Alex out. Alex was one of the best competitors. Not only that, she knew the game as much as I did. So, I didn’t know if she was gonna be bitter but I wanted her to know that it was a game move. I went straight forward to everybody and I told everybody how I was going to play my game. I told them the moves that I was gonna make, and people respected it.”

Rob said, “You were able to fight with a lot of people in the house but ultimately you were able to revive some of those relationships. Was that something conscious that you did or was that just your personality?”

Josh said, “No, that’s just who I am. I think that in the moment if I feel something, I say it and if I feel bad about it then I’ll go back and apologize. And if I don’t want to apologize, I stick by what I did. And that’s just who I am.

I don’t hold a grudge and I’m not a bitter person. I’m not mad at the world. But, if I see something that I don’t like, I say it and I speak on it. I knew that was gonna be my strategy because I’m very vocal and opinionated. And when I see something I don’t like, I say it. And I knew that my strategy was to call people out on their game play because I’m going to be true to myself and be loyal. And they’re not going to have anything on me. That’s what I did.”

Rob said, “Do you feel like that you won the game or that Paul lost the game?”

Josh said, “I feel like I won the game. I won the game because I was straight forward. I literally said it how it is. I stayed true to myself. I was honest. Not only that, I played the game all along. I played it from all angles. I played it from GBMs. I played it from speech. I played it where relationships that are formed.

Also, as people were walking out, I was either making up with them because it was real or I was telling them I’m a huge super fan. I thought that people didn’t want to see a vet win. But, I knew that the super fan thing would throw them off.”

Rob said, “In terms of how you imagined that final jury vote would go, were you thinking 5-4? Did you think you would have more votes?”

Josh said, “No, I thought that as soon as I saw Christmas’ vote come in. It shocked me because I was so close to her. She knew my whole game all along. She knew I was a super fan.”

Rob said, “So, you thought you had Christmas?” Josh said, “Yeah, I thought I had Christmas. So, as soon as her vote dropped, I said, ‘Paul, I lost.’ And then boom! Cody surprised me. I was in complete shock. I’m still in shock. So, yeah.”

Rob said, “What was it like sitting there with Paul in the final two? Julie is playing these goodbye messages. Obviously, Paul did not know that happened. He seemed upset. What was that like?”

Josh said, “I mean I was also upset with the whole puppet thing. I was like, ‘I genuinely stuck by you.’ But, he did play everybody. He played a great game so respect to his game. I wasn’t lying in my GBMs. I wasn’t making up a lie. I wasn’t fabricating it. You can say that I was a coward. You can say this and that, but it was all the truth. People didn’t know my piece and my part. I was honest and it worked.”

Rob said, “So, in terms of your Big Brother future, do you wanna play Big Brother again ,or do you feel like you’re done with Big Brother?”

Josh said, “Honestly, I need some time to decompress. This was the hardest thing that I’ve ever done in my life. It was the biggest dream. The biggest blessing but the hardest thing. So, I need some time. I don’t know if I would jump back in like Paul but if you give me a year or two, I would probably do it.”

Rob said, “Have you grown from this experience? You cried so much in this house. Is this now a life changing experience where now you have this harder exterior?”

Josh said, “I’ve grown so much in this house and I’ve matured so much that I take away so much. Not only do I take away that I won and I lived out a dream but the maturity and growth that I gained and the friends. The true friendships that I gained with Paul and Christmas. I take all of that. So, I’m winning from all angles. It’s awesome.”

Rob said, “Do you realize that most of the questions I have for you were, ‘Why you lost to Paul?'”

Josh said, “Yeah, which is crazy. Like, you guys had no faith in me? You guys didn’t see me winning the game the whole time? Ha! Ha!”

Rob said, “In fairness, I did a podcast this morning talking about whether or not Paul was going to win against you in the finals. And I felt like if he did not own his game, this was going to happen.”

Josh said, “Yeah, I owned up to my game. I was honest. I was truthful the whole time. It was strategy for me. My speech. My GBMs. Everything. It’s part of the game, and I played all along. I just played smart.”

Rob said, “Is being called meatball a complement. Do you wanna be a meatball or do you not wanna be a meatball?”

Josh said, “Ok, people don’t understand. I am not the meatball. Mark and Cody were the meatballs. They were called the meatballs all season. Now, people are calling me the meatball, but I mean it’s a complement. So, yeah it’s cool.”

Rob said, “Why were you guys so hard on Kevin?”

Josh said, “I think the hard thing with Kevin was that Kevin was with us. We literally had a final six. We had each other’s backs and Kevin went back on it. Kevin was talking to Cody. Talking to Mark and talking to all these people. He didn’t stick to us.

That’s why I was hard on him. But besides that, I love Kevin. I think Kevin was awesome and one of the coolest people that I’ve ever met. But in the game, he did make some decisions that were a little fishy so I had to step back.”

Rob said, “Would you still fight the giant mosquito and get your a@# beat?”

Josh said, “100 percent. I’m taking down that mosquito. I’m going at it with pots and pans and a bucket of meatballs. Ha! Ha!”

Rob said, “What would watching all this Big Brother never prepare you for?”

Josh said, “Not for how much downtime there is in the house. The connections that you generally form and how hard it really is and how mentally exhausting the game is. 100 percent.”

Rob said, “Do you feel like that you and Paul will continue a relationship outside the game?”

Josh said, “For sure. I think that right now, it’s a little hard because it’s sensitive. But, I love Paul and I love Christmas so much. They had my back and I meant it everytime I said it. I love you two. You guys are family friends. They’re genuinely good people and they have good hearts.

But, we were just playing the game and we were playing for $500,000 dollars. Everybody’s playing their own game. But, at the end of the day, I love those two and they’re friends for life and they’re stuck with me.”

Rob said, “Do you compare how this all went down at all to Ian and Dan five years ago?”

Josh said, “Yes, completely compared to it and that’s what I was thinking the whole time. I was thinking Ian beat Dan, and Dan played the whole house. I think that was that moment where I was like, ‘I was the underdog and I was underestimated and he’s a vet.’ So, that’s what I was thinking the whole time.”

Rob said, “The other name we were talking about was Steve Moses except he cut Vanessa and you kept Paul.”

Josh said, “The funny thing is that my mom saw that season with me and she loved Vanessa but she knew the game that she played. I knew she was thinking, ‘Take a shot at Paul.’ But, I knew that if I stuck to him in jury that I would probably have it and I did. And I won.”

Rob said, “Well, congratulations again Josh. Job well done tonight and all the best to you. I’m sure that the future is going to hold a lot of exciting things for you.” Josh said, “Thank you so much man. I appreciate it.”

Alright guys. That wrapped up Josh’s interview with Rob Cesternino. Josh was very confident about the game he played. He really felt like his honesty and straight forwardness with the jury was respected enough to get him the win over Paul. He also did acknowledged that Paul actually played a better game. So, that was interesting. Stay tuned. Also, be sure to follow us on our Big Brother Facebook page for more Big Brother news by Clicking Here.