Is there such a thing as spilling too much tea? At Reality Tea, we don’t think so. If you’re playing The Anonymous, then perhaps. Unfortunately for Tyrenna Tolbert, she learned that lesson the hard way, and she became the third contestant eliminated from USA Network’s addictive new competition reality show.
Amid her exit from the game, we spoke to Tyrenna about her gameplay and how it felt watching Big Brother winner Xavier Prather doublecross her. It turns out, Tyrenna might have just been a little too real for this game of deception.
Tyrenna’s journey started with a little bit of wine
An avid fan of competition reality shows like The Circle and Big Brother, Tyrenna told us about her casting journey for The Anonymous. She said it all started one night when she was at home, drinking a glass of wine. On a whim, she decided to apply for The Circle.
“So here I am, I’m drinking wine, and I’m like, ‘I can do that, I’m going to apply,’ Tyrenna recalled.
Tyrenna said she made it pretty far through the casting process for the Netflix show, but it ultimately didn’t work out. A few weeks later, however, she received a call about a different show produced by the same team. Thus, this soldier’s reality TV journey began.
It took a small army to take out Tyrenna
Ironically for this Big Brother fan, her journey on The Anonymous wound up getting cut short by a Big Brother winner. During Episode 3, we watched Xavier create an alliance and target Tyrenna. Watching it back, Tyrenna said she felt mixed emotions. Part of her felt flattered that it took a room full of people to force her out of the competition.
“I was flattered because if you have to do all of that to get rid of little old me,” Tyrenna said with a laugh. “You need five of ya’ll to get rid of little old me?”
On the other hand, Tyrenna said that she possibly could have done better with her approach to the game. She didn’t realize how quickly some of the other players were forming alliances and strategizing. In that respect, she felt a little late to the party.
“I didn’t realize all of these alliances were already set up,” she explained.
Did being a ‘Chatty Cathy’ put a target on her back?
As a viewer, it seemed a little random how Xavier and his alliance chose to go after Tyrenna. In real life, Tyrenna said she had some ideas about what made her a threat. Of course, hindsight is 20/20, but Tyrenna might have just been spilling too much tea.
“I was a Chatty Cathy, and I was giving too much tea at the wrong time,” Tyrenna joked. “I was giving out tea, coffee, orange tea, chai tea—any kind of tea except for me to keep my mouth closed.”
Another thing that she thinks could have put a target on her back was her independence in the house. While most players flocked to Xavier as a leader in the house thanks to his Big Brother background, Tyrenna said she felt “unbothered” by who he was. Naturally, she gravitated toward the quieter underdogs. She thinks Xavier might have peeped that as a threat.
“People who aren’t necessarily popular out of the gate are people that I’m interested in,” Tyrenna explained. “I went with the people who were a little more quiet or the people who needed a little more help.”
Throughout the four episodes, Lilly struggled with constantly facing elimination. In Episode 4, she had a full-on emotional breakdown from the pressure and lack of safety. Before that, Tyrenna said she tried to help her.
“They knew I was helping Lilly. I was helping her build her confidence, and I was making sure they weren’t getting to her” Tyrenna explained.
The lingering question about Tyrenna’s elimination
Thanks to a whole bunch of groupthink, a majority of the players felt convinced that Tyrenna was hiding behind the Dice avatar. Obviously, that wasn’t the case.
“They thought I was The Anonymous,” Tyrenna recalled. “I don’t know how it went from the day before they were like, ‘Robbie is Dice,’ and now, they’re like ‘Tyrenna is Dice.'”
She continued, “All I could do was chuckle and hope that I became The Anonymous.”
At the end of Episode 3, it seemed like she had a clear path for that to happen. That power wound up going to Xavier. So, who was it that correctly guessed Tyrenna’s identity as the Truck?
“I’ve been thinking about it. I don’t know. I really am curious to find out who knew that I was the Truck,” Tyrenna said. “The only person that might have known, maybe Nina [Twine] might have picked it up. She’s the only person who possibly might have recognized that I was the Truck but that’s still a solid unknown for me.”
Either way, Tyrenna has a message for whoever guessed her avatar: “Damn them for it!”
That particular mystery might go unsolved, but either way, Tyrenna said she’s going to be tuned in for the rest of the season. Even though she’s no longer a part of the show, she’s just like the rest of us. She needs to see how this all shakes out.
‘I’m intrigued. I’m invested.” Tyrenna said. “Everybody should be invested!”
The Anonymous continues on USA Network on Monday nights at 11/10c. It’s also streaming on Peacock.
TELL US – WERE YOU SURPRISED TO SEE TYRENNA GET ELIMINATED FROM THE ANONYMOUS? DO YOU THINK XAVIER SAW HER AS A THREAT?
