Domingue had always been a fan of the CBS reality show. “I think back to when I was eight years old,” she recalls, “and I would watch it as part of our family time. I’d say, ‘Oh, I’m gonna’ be on there one day’, so getting to be on Big Brother this summer was like going full circle.”
It was a wild summer for the St. Thomas More Catholic High School and LSU graduate (and her family): An invite to join Big Brother, a flight to Los Angeles in late June, and then, in terms of mother/father/sister communication? Nothing. Nothing but nothing.
“For about 100 days, that was so hard,” sighs her mother, Buffy. “We have two daughters (Lauren and older sister Sydney), and until Big Brother, we would talk to both of them every day.” But even though Buffy was told there’d be no contact with Lauren, “…and even though I thought I could handle it, I would get chest pains. Seeing her on tv wasn’t the same. Not being able to talk to her was the most unimaginable thing.”
Lauren agrees. “You have to understand; my mom and dad are people I can communicate with every day. Should I tie my shoe? I ask her opinion all the time. And suddenly, I wasn’t allowed to.”
Even before she moved in and began any extended stay interaction with her new roommates, Lauren had a game plan for survival…and success. “Part of my strategy was to be seen as unsuspecting, not as a threat to anyone. I think that strategy worked for a while. Build connections and relationships.” Truth be told, admits Lauren, her actual early goal was much more succinct. “I was just honestly hoping to make it past week one,” she laughs. Lauren survived week one, plus a number of weeks after that. “Now, it was kind of tough, mind you. People in the house were 10, 20 and even 30 years older than me.”
With each episode, her family back in Acadiana –while watching from afar---became increasingly engrossed in the friendships, alliances, manipulations and betrayals they were seeing. “We were all screaming at the tv,” remembers Buffy. “Had some watch parties at the house and different venues around Lafayette. ‘Don’t you dare say that to my girl,’ I’d scream. And even with moves she was making, I’d shout advice to the screen. ‘Why don’t you use that veto on him or her? Don’t do that! Don’t do it!’”
“I would say I am pretty proud of the game I played,” says Lafayette’s Lauren Domingue. “There’s a lot of deception and lying and gossiping, and I participated in some of that.” But in the end? When she said her ‘goodbye’ to Big Brother just a few weeks ago? “Most of all, I played the game that my loved ones would be proud of.”
Although the show is a competition—the last man or woman standing in the house wins-- the very premise of Big Brother is rooted in relationships: Relationships being formed, relationships torn apart and relationships sometimes re-formed. “There were some really high ‘highs’, and then some really low ‘lows’,” sighs Lauren. “I always tried to keep in mind everything I was doing and saying, and how it would be perceived by America.”
With each week of survival, the mood of the Domingue family changed from nervous to nervously optimistic. “Absolutely,” smiles Buffy. “My husband became more and more optimistic. ‘She’s gonna’ win, she’s gonna’ win’, he’d say. Obviously we were very proud.”
But, as the number of occupants in the house grew smaller and smaller, the ever-present air of Big Brother increasingly weighed on Lauren. “You’re spending every second putting someone on the block or evicting someone,” she analyzed. “The gravity of the situation and every move you make becomes heavier and heavier.”
“They call it campaigning to get people’s votes, and it really is almost like politics.” But Lauren kept dodging the collective grim reaper made up of her housemates. “With my second ‘Head of Household’ win, I felt like I was in a good position and could see myself making it to the end.”
Her stay on Big Brother lasted around 90 days. “I felt betrayal whenever Vince put me on the block; and then when Keanu won, I sort of knew my time was about over.” She left with a sixth-place finish, her head held high and no regrets.
What there are, says Lauren, are lasting friendships. “Several people on the cast I can’t wait to see again. Really feels like family.” Asked about rumors of romance with a particular housemate, she answers with a smile, “Some really awesome people in the house. You know, a lot of people I’m still talking with.”
What’s next is a move to New York City where she says there are a few opportunities that are options awaiting her, including rumors involving a few commercials. “No matter what, I want to keep moving forward.”
As for her extended stay in the Big Brother house? “Truly experience of a lifetime. It’s one that I’ll remember forever and cherish forever. Just a great experience and would not trade it for the world.”
Tune in to watch episodes of Big Brother on Paramount+.