Uh Oh, Julie Likes My Girl's Chances

From the Orlando Sentinel:

"Big Brother" host Julie Chen is impressed by player Angie Swindell, a pharmaceutical sales rep from Orlando.

"I think she can go far, based on her intellect," Chen told me at a CBS party Friday night. "What might cut her life short in the Big Brother house is that she comes across as smart, and that is a threat. The other house guests see it and feel it. She's at a point in her life where she's not going to be a phony. She's not going to make side deals with everybody and double-cross them. If you're being true to who you are, and you're brutally honest, people see that as a threat. She's a strong woman, and that might cost her the game."

But Chen noted that it's very early in the game. The next "Big Brother" airs at 8 p.m. Sunday on WKMG-Channel 6.

"They tend to get rid of people for the wrong reasons, based on emotions," Chen said.

But Swindell, who is 30, has touched Chen.

"She feels she's been to hell and back, between getting married, going through a divorce, entering her 30s, figuring out who she is and being proud of who she is," Chen said. "In the Big Brother world, as long as you can be honest and who you are, the fan base will support you."

Swindell attended a casting call in Florida and has said her strategy is to lay low.

She told The Associated Press: "I'm motivated because I'm a big fan of the show, but I'm more motivated that I have a chance to win $500,000. I just have to keep telling myself that if I start feeling all queasy about the 24-7 thing, there's an end to the means."

Chen said she remains committed to "Big Brother."

"I love the show," she said. "It's not work for me. If I didn't do this show, I would watch it and talk about it as passionately as I am now because I would be discussing it with my best friend."