Despite just missing his chance to compete in the finale and for the cash prize of $135,000, Conor was all smiles as he was evicted from the house, telling 10 that he expected his time was coming to an end.
“The minute I was nominated up against the titans of Coco and Colin, I knew,” Conor said. “I saw the writing on the wall, so it was a bit of a downer to actually hear my name called, but it was also a lot of relief!”
Throughout his time in the house, Conor spoke about how his ultimate goal was never to win, but to show Australia a realistic look at living life with Tourette’s. “There’s so much of this idea that it’s yelling and swearing 24/7, and I just think that’s not how it is,” he explained.
“Living with it, it comes, and it goes, it exacerbates in certain moments and dies down in others, and I wanted to create a better picture in the minds of Australians of what it means to have Tourette’s.”
Halfway through the season, Conor told the house that they had created a safe environment for him to relax, which meant that his tics were less prevalent.
“I experience a lot of negativity in my day-to-day,” Conor said. “I’ll be in Woollies, and someone will be like, ‘Why are you doing that? Stop that.’ It can get to be a lot sometimes, so I think I’ve grown a bit of a shell, and I’m always expecting the negativity.
“Receiving so much positivity and care from the housemates really did blow my mind,” he continued. “Often it’s those negative comments that can exacerbate the Tourette’s; it’s not helping, it’s hindering in those moments. I really hope that came across to the Australian public.
“Acceptance through understanding is how we really help people with Tourette’s.”
After he was evicted from the house, Conor’s family joined him onstage with host Mel Tracina, where his Mum was able to tell him of just one story where a young person with Tourette’s had opened up about how seeing Conor on the show had helped with bullying.
“It really proved to me that every difficult moment was worth it,” Conor told 10. “As hard as it was, that was exactly why I did it. Getting to read all those stories about how it has helped people or they feel like they’re being represented, heard and understood, that was the entire reason I went in. To me, that’s worth more than $135,000.”
Conor added that while getting so close to the end was the “icing on the cake”, winning was never a huge part of his Big Brother experience.
“I had the complete experience. The highs, the lows, the fights and reconciliations, I got nominated twice and had to eat something really, really gross,” he said.
“I had to wake up in the middle of the night for something horrible, and I feel like that’s all part of the Big Brother experience. I feel like I was in there long enough to get a bit of everything.”
Conor had told housemates that if he did win, he had hoped to use the money to start up a cafe that employed people with disabilities. Despite not winning the cash, Conor said it’s a plan he still hopes to fulfil in the near future.
“It’s something that I personally struggled with, when my Tourette’s got really bad, and my coprolalia was at its peak with swearing, disability job agencies weren’t able to help me find work,” he said.
“It has always been a passion of mine to help that next generation get into the workforce because we know how much it improves people’s outcomes, to have a job and to have a social life through that. It’s definitely something I’m super passionate about putting together.”
As for his advice for any future housemates heading into Big Brother’s domain, Conor said, “Be yourself! I think the people who were the realest were the ones who got through to the other housemates and, I’m assuming, got through to the people at home as well.”
Big Brother Grand Finale, Monday December 8 at 7.30pm.
Watch + Live Stream 24/7 On 10
