When she signed on for E!’s new reality series House of Villains, Bachelor Nation alum Corinne Olympios was not expecting to get into a fight that soon. So she was in for a rude awakening when she met her fellow cast member, the infamous The Apprentice contestant-turned-Trump White House political figure Omarosa Manigault Newman.
The new competition show features a Who’s Who of reality-TV notoriety from the last two decades, including Survivor’s Jonny Fairplay, Flavor of Love’s Tiffany “New York” Pollard, and Vanderpump Rules’ Jax Taylor—as well as Olympios and Omarosa, who is mononymous at this point. The cast lives together in a lair, scheming while participating in challenges that eventually lead to one of them being crowned the ultimate villain.
Olympios first appeared in Nick Viall’s season of The Bachelor, where she was a chaos agent that wielded kookiness, sexuality, and crankiness in equal measure, causing near-incessant rifts between the other women. She also briefly participated in Season 4 of Bachelor in Paradise, leaving the show after an investigation into an allegedly non-consensual sexual encounter shut down production. (Olympios publicly denied that anything that happened between her and the other party, DeMario Jackson, was non-consensual.)
All of that drama is nothing compared to what was waiting for her when she walked into the House of Villains lair. In the premiere episode, Olympios introduces herself to Omarosa and asks what her name is. Feigning offense that Olympios didn’t know who she was, Omarosa replies, “Google me,” turns her head, and refuses to acknowledge her presence. Olympios storms off screaming, appalled by the rudeness, leading to the most dramatic storyline of the episode.
Ahead of Thursday night’s House of Villains premiere, we chatted with Olympios about her beef with Omarosa and why she never thought of herself as a villain—until now.
When this was first brought up to you, what did you think about being included on this list of villains?
I’ve turned down a bunch of shows leading up to this, because I didn't really want to be that girl jumping from reality show to reality show. When this show came up, I was like, “This could not be more perfect and up my alley.” I was so ready to jump back in, and I was so excited that it was going to be with other people that I’ve watched and admired.
Did you think of yourself as a villain before this show came about?
Not really. At first, I was like, well, I’m not a villain. And my team was kind of like, you’re a perfect villain. You're great and controversial, and you just say what you feel—which is kind of villainy, because not many people are used to that. So it was like, “You know what? I could get in with the villain vibe, I guess.” Now I’m just leaning full-force into the villain thing.
I think that not initially being thought of as a villain could work in your favor, because you can take the others by surprise. Jonny Fairplay had that great line in the premiere about it seeming like a flock of doves entered when you walked in.
I know. I showed up in a nice, flowy outfit, so excited. And then I quickly learned that that’s not the vibe. It took all of five minutes for me to get that point of, oh, this is really a villain show. I see.
And you have the great distinction of being a part of the show's very first fight. When Omarosa refused to tell you who she is, said “Google me,” and then ignored you, what was going through your mind?
I really wasn’t expecting anyone to be so harsh or mean right off the bat. Again, I’m the kind of villain where you won’t see my villainy until you bring it out of me. I learned very quickly that no one’s here to play.
Did you really not know who she was?
I’ve never seen her before. She was the last person to come in. But I wasn’t sure, so I ran up to her. I had a couple drinks. I was so excited. I was like, “Oh my God, what’s your name?” Just because that’s what you say to someone when you first meet them. And then she came over to me later and was like, “Oh, you know, I’m just a villain.” I’m like, “We’re all fucking villains. Shut the fuck up.”
It’s a great TV moment. But it must have been difficult to be at the other end of that fight with her.
That’s the thing. People like her are so involved in putting on a show, and it’s like, this is reality. You don’t need to try that fucking hard. That was my whole thing. I’m like, “You’re just crying for fucking attention. Like, stop being such a bitch.” She’s just such a bitch, and I’m sensitive, so I get that that was me being a poor villain. I think it was hard for me because I just wasn’t expecting that right off the bat on the first day.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, you seemed to really get along with Tiffany “New York” Pollard, which seemed to take you both by surprise.
I absolutely love Tiffany. She is my girl. She is my ride or die. Listen, we definitely have our moments. We get on each other’s nerves, but that’s normal in any friendship. I just was not expecting to bond with someone that intensely. I’m just so happy that I met her. She has the sweetest heart. She definitely has her villainous moments, but it’s all in good fun—nothing that is not forgivable. We fight like sisters, but she’s really just one of my best friends.
Were there people in the house that you knew before the show?
No, I did not know anybody before going to the show. And what’s interesting is, when I first met Jax [Taylor], I was like, “Oh, he’s so cool. Like, he’s gonna be my guy.” I'm friends with Scheana [Shay, from Vanderpump Rules]. He seemed really cool, and then [he] so quickly turned so ugly. I was so shocked. Then he was so fake to me. He was like, “Oh, I followed you on Instagram.” So I followed him, and then I was like, “He’s not following me on Instagram. He’s so full of shit.” So it’s just like things like that. I’m like, What the fuck? Why is everyone so shitty?
Despite that shittiness, how do you feel about your overall experience being on the show?
Oh my God. It kept me on my toes. It was one of the most fun experiences I’ve ever had. I made friends with people I never thought that I would even meet. Listen, you get along with some people in life and you don’t get along with some people in life, and that’s how it was in the house.
It was honestly shocking, because I never thought that a vicious side would come out in me. I’m never vicious unless someone is vicious to me, but there were some points where Shake [Chatterjee, from Love Is Blind] called me a brainless pawn and I lost it. I was like, “Fuck you!” I just lost my shit. But you know what? That’s how it is. People get angry when they’re not winning and take it out on other people. That’s what this show is all about. You gotta stay on top.
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