The second season of House of Villains has officially come to end, and after all of the innuendo-laden tiny roosters, Joel McHale butter statues, creepy crochet dolls, and piles of French toast cooked up by "Mother Teresa" Giudice (much to Victoria Larson's chagrin), we finally have a new "America's Ultimate Supervillain." After a nail-biting tie-breaker that saw Jessie Godderz exact one last bit of revenge, Love & Hip Hop's Safaree Samuels was victorious over The Challenge's Wes Bergmann and took home the big $200,000.
Safaree's win came as a bit of a surprise given how widespread Wes's influence was among the villains and how Machiavellian his gameplay was throughout. (Remember that fake advantage he ruthlessly used against Kandy Muse?) But Samuels smartly parlayed what Richard Hatch called an "extraordinary" social strategy into victory, securing votes from Teresa, Kandy, Larsa Pippen and Camilla Poindexter and a clutch tiebreaker from Jessie. (Safaree shockingly didn't receive a vote from his longtime ally Tiffany "New York" Pollard, but more on that in a bit.)
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Parade's Christina Izzo—who has been bringing you interviews with the banished villains all season long—sat down with Safaree after his victory to discuss House of Villains Season 2, the implosion of his alliance with Wes and Jessie, and why even he was surprised by his win.
Safaree Samuels on 'House of Villains' Season 2Art Streiber/E! Entertainment
House of Villains Season 2
Christina Izzo: Let's take it back to the beginning. When you walked into this house and saw who you'd be competing against this season, did you think you could take the crown of America's Ultimate Supervillain?
Safaree Samuels: I walked into the house just wanting to be a part of a great experience. I didn't walk in there saying, 'Hey, I'm gonna win' or 'This is what I'm gonna do' or 'This is gonna be my strategy'—I just was like, 'Yo, I'm gonna enjoy this and whatever happens, happens.'
So you didn't have a strategy already percolating when you entered the competition? Richard complimented your social strategy during the final voting ceremony.
No, I didn't have a strategy. [Rich] called it a social strategy and so did Wes, but I really just looked at it as me being myself. I'm just an outgoing ball of energy. I connected with who I connected with. And who I didn't, it was like "Okay, we're not gelling." But I just was being myself, and I feel like there were people who went into the house, and they were so hellbent on game, strategy, alliance. Now, I was in there trying to stir up sh*t, too. When I first got in the house, I purposefully just went around and lied to every single person just to be funny. They didn't show any of it, though.
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Talking about alliances, you had had a long-standing pact with Wes and Jessie through the entire season. How did it feel going into the finals with them just like you guys had planned?
My alliance ended up being Wes and Jess. After the first challenge, we all gelled and were like, "Hey, I feel like if the three of us stay together, we can see this to the end." And that's exactly what happened. I thought I had an alliance with New York, I thought I had an alliance with Camilla, I thought I had one with Kandy. But Kandy was tricky, I never trusted Kandy.
Do you feel it helped your game that your two closest allies were at each other's necks by the end? Wes and Jessie had that huge blowup in last week's episode. What was going through your head seeing that alliance implode?
Oh, it definitely helped things. Watching it, I just was like, "Yo, I can't believe that this is exploding the way it is." I thought we were going to be good and like, "May the best man win," but nope, it was "Go to hell, I want to win." That's what it turned into. It happened because Wes didn't do any challenges and Jessie didn't like that—Jessie felt that everybody else had to fight to be here, and you're going to go to the finals and not have to do any challenges? That's not fair. I saw an earlier clip where Jessie was like, "I knew I liked you, Wes," but then he turned and looked at the camera and mouthed 'I don't.' So there was something brewing.
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Before breaking the tie and choosing you as this season's winner, Jessie had Wes get down on his knees and beg. If you were in Wes's shoes at that moment, would you have done what he did?
Not a chance in hell! I go to my knees and pray to God. But to have a guy stand in front of me and say, "Go on your knees and beg and I'll do it." What?! Hell no! I didn't think he was going to do it. Then when New York and Victoria were like, "Do it, do it," I was like, "Y'all are foul." And then when Wes did it, I thought Jessie was really going to give it to him. Being there in that moment, the way everything felt, I was like, "Okay, I guess this is him making Wes feel like a bitch after Wes called him his bitch." I was very surprised when Jessie reached over to shake my hand.
Wes Bergmann, Jessie Godderz and Safaree Samuels on 'House of Villains' Season 2Trae Patton/E! Entertainment
As you said, you were notably close to New York throughout your time in the lair. What were your feelings when she revealed she was voting for Wes over you? Were there any other votes that surprised you?
The only one that surprised me was New York. I exploded. They didn't show it but at the end, I exploded on her and everyone who didn't vote for me. I went off. The people who didn't vote for me, I expected that, but I was like, "I don't want none of y'all coming to shake my hand and tell me congratulations" or none of that. I was like, "Get the hell out of my face, y'all go to hell, y'all fake." With New York, I was taken aback because New York used to look at me and say, "Safaree, if it's ever me and you, just know I got your back, and you never have to worry about anything." So, I was like, "Damn, you said that to me and you were lying."
Have you talked to her since leaving the lair? What has that relationship been like after the show?
Yeah, we're still cool. With her, I want to see her outside of a TV environment. I've never been with her in real life. I'm like, "Yo, are you being for real or not?" I know how it is with TV—we're characters. So, it's like, are you a character or are you being for real right now?
What about the other villains? Did you get any real friendships out of the house? Do you still talk to Wes and Jessie?
Yeah, I still talk to Wes, still talk to Jessie, still talk to Victoria. Me and Larsa speak a lot. She's always doing house renovations, and I'm like an interior decorator so she's always trying to use my contractors and stuff.
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Overall, do you believe that you were the most villainous person in the house, or were you just the smartest at playing a villainous game? I feel like you were choosy about your ruthlessness, unlike Wes.
Wes wasn't ruthless throughout, though. Wes was very quiet, sneaky and manipulative. He didn't start to show who he was until it got down to it and he had to. That's why he didn't want Supervillain—he didn't want to have a target on his back. That's why when the first challenge happened, I was like, "I want to be Supervillain." I wasn't thinking about the game and strategy. But Wes was, so he was like, "I'll let you take it, and I'll let the house get mad at you when you put people up, I don't want none of that heat."
But clearly your strategy—or lack thereof, as you say—worked. You took out reality TV heavy-hitters.
And you want to know what's so crazy? I didn't know who any of those people were! Okay, I knew New York and I knew Teresa, but I didn't know anybody else. Everybody kept talking about Wes from The Challenge, but I didn't know anything about him. I didn't know how he played or what he did so when I saw the things he was doing, I was shocked. Rich, too—when I saw Rich wanted me out, I was shocked because Rich wasn't even on my radar.
Now that you've been victorious on House of Villains, are there any other reality TV competitions that you'd would like to take a stab at?
Honestly, all of them. I never was that kind of a person to be like, "Hey, I want to do these kinds of shows," but now that I did it, I'm all for taking a stab at anything that anyone sends my way.
Final question: what are you going to do with the $200,000?
Funny enough, you're the first person to ask me that. I thought that would have been the main question.
No more fur coats then? You've got plenty already!
Yeah, nothing material. Whatever I use the money for, it needs to be things that are for good, things that make sense to grow. I'm part of a very small church. I'll definitely do some things to help my church out. I'm just going to take care of things that are important.
That doesn't sound villainous.
Definitely not villainous!
This interview has been condensed and edited for length and clarity.
Past episodes of E!'s House of Villains Season 2 are available to stream on Peacock.
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