Dr Will on life after Big Brother

Will Kirby on life after Big Brother


By John Powell - GlobalTV.com

Survivor has Richard Hatch. The Amazing Race has Dustin and Kandice. The Celebrity Apprentice has John Rich. For Big Brother, there is one name that’s synonymous with dominance and brilliance: “Doctor Evil” Will Kirby.

Kirby was the winner of Big Brother 2, the very first season in which the rules of the U.S. game were altered taking power to evict out of the hands of the public and putting it into the hands of the players. Kirby’s uncanny ability to manipulate others with his charm and intelligence, and his mischievous nature made him so popular that he was brought back for the All-Star edition in 2006. During that season, he helped best friend and ‘Chilltown’ alliance mate Mike ‘Boogie’ Malin win it all.

Since that time, Kirby has shied away from the Big Brother spotlight preferring to make guest appearances on L.A. Ink, Dr. 90210 and The Real Housewives of Orange County and devoting his energies to expanding his business and spending time with his family. In fact, when rumours about his possible participation in Big Brother 13 surfaced, Kirby released a statement announcing that he was "officially retired from competition based shows".


Today, his stance hasn’t changed. He has moved on to bigger and better things. Since Big Brother, life has been good to Kirby. He founded Dr. Tattoff, a company specializing in tattoo removal. He has four clinics in Southern California, a clinic in Dallas and this month opened a new location in Houston. Kirby is also an associate clinical professor of dermatology and spends a great deal of time working on academic publications, research studies and teaching medical students, interns and residents. He is also the national spokesmen for Neutrogena Dermatologics.

“I feel that by participating in a show like Big Brother you are obligated to give 100 per cent of yourself and that becomes much more challenging when you have a family, a business and a career,” Kirby said reflecting on his time on Big Brother. “I'm approached a few times a year with offers to appear on competition shows and while I'm the most youthful 39-year-old I know, I think that I'm past my prime for these opportunities. Much like an aging athlete who doesn't know when to hang up his cleats, a reality show contestant who is playing for the wrong reasons is a sad sight.”

Although he will always be remembered by fans for countless classic moments such as his hilarious Veto speech in which he dared everyone to vote him out, his Chilltown phone calls in the Diary Room, his impromptu chats with the live feed viewers and being a thorn in the side of the producers by “accidentally” breaking objects in the house and daring them to take it out of his stipend, Kirby doesn’t revisit many of those memories often.

“I really don't think about it much to be candid. If you pinned me down for an answer I'd say that the anticipation, the rev-up if you will, of the actual contests was exhilarating in some sense,” said Kirby who holds the record for the longest time spent in the Big Brother house at 147 days. ”The realization that you have given up a tremendous amount of time is a little depressing. I've realized that time is our most precious commodity.”

Still, Kirby does stay in contact with some of his former HouseGuests, notably his best friend Mike “Boogie” Malin.

“Howie (Gordon) will send me hilarious texts on occasion - or a picture of a girl he is "dating” - and I sometimes run into former players from my seasons and we are very cordial,” said Kirby.

What he finds strange and awkward is bumping into contestants from other Big Brother seasons who expect him recognize them but since he doesn’t follow the series, they are just total strangers to him.

“I wouldn't expect them to know me so I'm always surprised that they expect me to know them. It is funny how reality TV affects some people. The associated "fame" disappears as quickly as it came and that is a tough pill for some people to swallow,” says Kirby.

Besides the fame and the winnings allowing him to push the reset button on his life so he could pay off medical school loans, start a business and become an investor in others, he says the series hasn’t changed him or his life all that much. For Kirby, one experience or one part of his overall being doesn’t define who he is. He is media personality, doctor, father, friend and son.



In 2010, Kirby and his fiancée Erin Brodie, welcomed a son - William Cassius "Cash" Kirby - into the world. Kirby's first experience as a father was totally “hands on” as he delivered his own son.

“A lot of people are viewers in life but I pride myself on being an active participant. Delivering my son was indescribable."


As for whether he would like his son to follow a path into showbiz, Kirby says he is not worried about what the future holds. He just wants his children to be healthy and happy.

“My job as a parent is to prepare my son so that when an opportunity presents itself he has the confidence and intelligence to view it objectively. He'll have to make his own career decisions. While I'll always support him, I'll never sway his life choices. We all have to ultimately choose our own paths in life.”

And what fatherly advice does he have for this year’s HouseGuests? Kirby suggests playing smart and staying away from conflicts. Even though viewers may enjoy the drama, constantly being at the centre of conflict in the house won’t increase your chances of winning.

“You see, it is exceedingly difficult to be both entertaining AND win the show. If your goal is to win, which it should be, my advice is to take the time to truly learn some the nuances of your fellow houseguest's personalities to determine who can assist you and who is a threat,” Kirby advises.

He also suggests not playing aggressively right out of the gate but being a calm, collected and precise player instead.

“Players often confuse enthusiasm with great gameplay so slow down, Turbo,” laughs Kirby. “It sounds cliché' but Big Brother is a marathon. Contestants who attempt to sprint open themselves up to an early exit. That might not make for exciting TV but it will take you far in the game.”

As far as Kirby is concerned, he doesn’t regret a thing about how he played the Big Brother game or the decisions, moves he made.

“In Big Brother, just like life, you have to live with all the decisions you make so I tried to treat the game very logically. Naturally we all have regrets and rehash things in our minds but for the most part I'm pleased with what I accomplished. I can rest comfortably knowing that I left it all on the field", he concluded.



http://www.globaltv.com/BigBrother/2012/June/Will_Kirby_on_life_after_Big_Brother/



How ironic the one person I would never mind coming back and he's so over Big Brother, which is another reason why I like him. Unlike countless other past HGs he doesn't see himself as famous and a "star" and doesn't have this undying need to be back on Big Brother which sadly I feel a lot of them do especially those who have been on the past 6 seasons. I'm not saying all of them but the majority I believe are just as obsessed with it and the notion of their delusional "fame"

Also I find it funny him mentioning past HGs from other seasons expecting him to know who they are when he doesn't even expect them to know who he is and ironically he's the most memorable of all seasons. I only wish he would have named names, then again I'm sure we could probably guess them.

I'm sure the introduction went something like

"Hey!!! Dr Will don't you remember me I'm ______ from season _______...

Dr Will: (blank stare)...

Thanks for posting this article Erika! I think the difference between Will and many of the other former HGs is that Will had a good sense of direction of where his life was heading before BB where others used BB as a type of platform to gain fame and stardom which we all know is just not the case for most reality contestants. He has so much going for him and he really does not need this platform at all to gain any further success, although any type of publicity couldn't hurt. As with so many of us, he seems to have outgrown the reality show phenomenon. Let's face it, the reality show audience is much different now than 2001 when BB2 aired. I kinda felt like he never wanted to do All-Stars in 2006, but imagine what would have been with that season without Will? He was never my favorite (hence my username), but he defined the villain HG for BB and as we have seen, others that try pale in comparison to Will. I did have a point with this post, but now I'm not sure what it was?