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	Channeling his inner goddess. Image: Couch Potatoes
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	Chatting to Big Brother. Image: Big Brother
	It's time to go...Michael. Image: Your TV
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The "Big Brother genius" with the unique tattoos took some time out of his bromance with Josh to tell e-Travel Blackboard whether he thought his relationship with Estelle hampered his chance of winning and why he'd love to return to the USA.

e-Travel Blackboard: The tasks and challenges this year seemed a lot more creative than years gone by, but there would still be so much down time. What did you do apart from just lying around?

Michael: I became the first red head man to get a tan!

I basically just lay in the sun all day - very proud of myself.

We made up songs and we played cricket. You guys didn’t see how much we played cricket - about four hours every single day. We broke the pizza paddles, we made balls out of aluminum foil and gaffa tape and avocado seeds and we just got hectic!

e-Travel Blackboard: What was it like to be back in the house with people other than your house mates today since Dreamworld has opened the house to tours?

Michael: It’s very odd, I’ve got a very poor memory at the best of times so I forget when things have happened, I know that it was once a place I was living in with other people but now I’m sitting here and it feels normal.

It was only two weeks ago! It was funny because we were sitting having dinner with the housemates and they said how long do you think it will take before we are back on our phones and it’s all normal, I said I reckon about three hours.

The first night I got back to my bed in Brisbane I lay down and thought, wow it feels like I only went on a quick holiday. It’s something that you don’t experience often, being on a reality TV show.

e-Travel Blackboard: I spoke to Layla and Ben on the weekend and they seemed really attached to the house.

Layla got really teary and didn’t want to leave and Ben felt like people were going through his stuff.

Michael: I think for Layla the whole thing’s been sort of cathartic for her. It’s helped her become a part of Australia because she was only here for six months beforehand and she’s come here now and formed a really tight group of friends.

She’s sort of grown up and found her feet, so it probably means a lot to her.

I think the same with Ben, he was probably struggling to get his point out there and let people know what he’s been through.

Obviously they came first and second so it really gelled for them.

For me, I’m just the idiot, so it’s cool I paid no rent and got free food! It was basically just another share house!

e-Travel Blackboard: How have you found the reception since being out of the house? Has it been positive?

Michael: Nothing negative has come out of it at all, it’s been so positive from every single person.

It’s insane, I don’t even know what the other guys are going through, but for me it’s just been amazing.

The only thing people have said is that I should have won and I say, “Well I didn’t, so I don’t need to hear that anymore!”

Heaps of people say I shouldn’t have hooked up with Estelle but hey, I shouldn’t have hooked up with a lot of people in my life but I did!

e-Travel Blackboard: Do you think the Estelle “relationship” gave you a disadvantage at that stage of the competition?

Michael: I never really expected to win ever. I always thought that Layla would win it since she always got saved. So when I got fourth I thought wow, fourth is excellent!

Estelle and I are really close now and I don’t have an issue with her, I think she’s a lovely girl and a total babe.

People were telling me that it really divided what my fan base was. My fans hated Estelle, Estelle fans hated me.

People were saying I was a genius, I obviously did it as a strategy. I can honestly say I’ve never done anything strategic with women in my entire life and doubt I ever will.

I was just in the house for 85 days. If Josh hadn’t gone, things might have been different. You can’t dwell on what happened. It worked out really well and now we’re friends.

Twitter people are the only people who gave me trouble.

e-Travel Blackboard: Which was your favourite task in the house?

Michael: The unwanted guests task was an amazing week!

The emotions that I went through were just so insane. The nomination night when friends and family came out, you couldn’t wipe the smile off my face - I was just so happy to see faces to the names that I’d heard about.

Every single person that walked in, I knew who they were and what they were like and what they would say.

Then when Fryzy came in and mucked around with us and told me that Johnny Thurston was going to the Broncos I died! It was really fun!

Then the ex-house mates, seeing them come in and be happy and chirpy was good. We were all in a kind of purgatory thinking what are we going to do when we get out of here, do we have a life?

Seeing them was good, seeing that their normal people that get around.

We knew we failed that one. We knew which tasks we would pass or fail, anything that was really subjective we’d fail because there was no real way to prove that we failed.

e-Travel Blackboard: What’s next for you? You took to the radio challenge really well, is that where you see yourself?

Michael: Well it was never really the plan because I love being a copywriter but you don’t really get that opportunity coming at you ever, so if it presented itself than that would be really cool.

I think some things are happening at the moment and I just have to go along for the ride and see what happens. If it’s behind a mic on a comfy chair… that could be cool!

e-Travel Blackboard: What’s your favourite destination to visit?

Michael: The USA. I went on a college exchange over there and did six months in Northern California and I’ve done about three trips through Mexico and the USA - I love it so much there.

Everything about it, I’ve done the barbecue belt through Memphis, Tennessee.

When I went on exchange there I met a lot of people and they came from all over the country so I don’t have to do the tourist thing, I can stay with them! You get to see the little bits that you’d miss as a tourist.

I love San Francisco and New York more than anything and Boston is the most beautiful city in the world.

Everything which is good in my life, food, music, skate boarding, it all came from America.

I graduated two weeks before "Big Brother" started and back then my plan was to move to Boston for a while then live in New York for ten years, then move to London for six years, then retire in a bed of money and women!

e-Travel Blackboard: What three things must you travel with?

Michael: A competent person, then minimal planning - that’s why I need a competent person, because I like minimal planning.

The third one would be, unfortunately, no travel insurance.

I popped my shoulder when I was in Whistler with no travel insurance and it sucked so badly that it was character building.

No I’ll have to change that to a duffle bag - that’s all I take where ever I go. I don’t take luggage it just means you can get out of the airport quicker and start your holiday earlier.

The Big Brother house is now open for tours. Log onto www.dreamworld.com.au for more information.

To keep up to date with what Michael is up to outside of the house, follow him on twitter: @mickyb273