A 'Big Brother' contestant owns Bridgewater art store. Here's how he plans to win.
BRIDGEWATER — A new 'HouseGuest' on the 24th season of CBS's "Big Brother" has ties to the Whaling City. Matt Turner, 23, moved into the house on Wednesday.
Born in North Attleboro, Turner resides in the New Bedford area with his girlfriend, Megan Belmote. The two own an art store called "The Rug Shack" in Bridgewater.
According to The Cinemaholic, "Big Brother" is a reality TV series that follows a group of contestants living together in a custom-built house, located in Los Angeles, at 4024 Radford Avenue in the Studio City neighborhood.
Locked away without any contact from the outside world, the 16 HouseGuests will be filmed 24/7, with available live feeds to watch on the official CBS app as well as weekly episodes that air twice a week on CBS. The show is hosted by Julie Chen Moonves.
There is a standard voting procedure to eliminate HouseGuests throughout the season, and the one who manages to be the last one remaining, evading all the elimination processes, is declared the winner and gets to take home a grand cash prize of $750,000.
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Turner is an artist who recently traveled around the country converting a tiny van into a home. He recently released a video of his experiences in 2021, recorded on a Super 8.
His TikTok @rugturner, with 26,000 followers, shows videos of him creating his custom artwork for sale at his thrift store.
Matt's plan for winning 'Big Brother'
Turner was not available for comment, as he is currently on the show and no longer available to the public. CBS did not immediately respond to an inquiry to let anyone speak on his behalf.
However, in an interview with Parade.com, Turner said his plan is to go into the house as a competition beast. "I typically get underestimated due to my looks. I think I'm absolutely gonna run this game," he said.
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"But at first, rather than saying I'm a successful business owner, I'm gonna kind of fall into the artist fact, which I think feeds into my look," he said, adding that he hopes it makes people underestimate his game strategies.
He also admitted he can be a handful sometimes. "I think if anything, I'm a little bit worried that people might think, I'm annoying or I'm trying too hard," he said.
"I get pretty excited and worked up. I'm gonna have to try and work on that for sure."
This isn't the first time Turner has been in the public eye. In May 2021, after working with viral YouTube influence MrBeast, Turner alleged in a New York Times article that the YouTuber berated him almost daily and reported that he was not credited for his work.
Nine other employees also came forward backing Turner's claim and stating that although MrBeast was generous, they described difficult work environments and a change in behavior when the cameras weren't rolling.
"One set of advice that I learned long ago was that your network is your net worth," Turner said in an interview for Big Brother. "I think the social aspect of this game is huge. So, I definitely think, going into the game that is going to be the number one piece of advice."
Standard-Times staff writer Seth Chitwood can be reached at schitwood@s-t.com. Follow him on twitter: @ChitwoodReports. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Standard-Times today.
This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: New Bedford resident Matt Turner to compete on Big Brother 24
