bbspy

How did you get your name?
It wasn’t from Lauryn Hill! My uncle Jack, God bless the dead, would always take me to get ice cream. I loved ice cream! My parents would say, “Stop feeding that boy ice cream!” But he said, “I don’t care, give him what he wants!” He nicknamed me Scoop and it stuck. Then of course I was a fat guy, so it was Fatman Scoop. It was that simple.

You’re not bothered by the Fatman part?
No, because it takes all kinds of people for the world to go around. There are people who are skinny, there are people who are fat. Everybody has something, so it takes a bunch of different people to make the world go round.

You’re well known for hyping up crowds. Will you use that to your advantage on launch night?
For me, it’s more about being myself. People know Fatman Scoop and I want them to know the other Fatman Scoop. Part of the reason that I decided to do this is because when people see me in the street, the first thing they do is start dancing. And there’s no music! So people don’t know the other side and I want people to know the other side. This isn’t about grabbing cash, it’s about the reintroduction of Fatman Scoop as a personality, not the guy that you hear yelling all the time. There’s a mum in the middle of England somewhere, you call them ‘mums’ right? Well there’s a mum who doesn’t know Fatman Scoop. OK cool, maybe this is their introduction.

You may want to show people that you’re a nice guy, but the House can drag people into arguments. How will you avoid that?
It’s very simple. I’ve got to be true to myself and stay true to my moral compass. If I can do that then I’m a winner already. If I can go into this chaos and nonsense and continue to keep my moral compass where I’m comfortable then I’ve won already whether I get voted in or voted out. That’s what I want to do. By nature I am just a cool guy. The thing about this is that it’s the unknown. You don’t know what is going to happen tomorrow or in four weeks so all I can do at this point is submit.

Are you a patriotic person?
I am patriotic to an extent. I am proud to be an American regardless of what goes on with us racially, socially, whatever. I am still happy to be an American because it is where I am from, it’s where I live and it’s all I know.

What will you miss most about America?
That’s tough, My family. You’re used to seeing people all the time, you grew up with them, some of them you made them! So you miss that and this is the thing I think is the toughest. I said my goodbyes and I felt like I was going to jail! I’ve never been to jail so hopefully this is the closest that I get. Jail for celebrities!

Are you nervous?
There is always a sense of trepidation when you enter the unknown and it’s an abyss because you don’t know how deep it will get. But I put my faith in myself and I put my faith in God and I’m like, “Let it roll”. This is an exercise in submission, this is an exercise in mental toughness. This is an exercise in everything. Socially, learning how to deal with people, acceptance, it’s all of that and you have got to give in and rock out.

What will annoy you?
I don’t know. I can’t say. There is no baseline for it. How can you tell? You have to ask me that question when I leave! Did people know what Perez Hilton was going to be last year? No! You do not know what it is until you get in there. The difference is I watched the show before, now I’m part of the show.

Will you be a good Housemate?
I think I’m going to be a great housemate. I’m a very fun loving guy, I like to talk and I am a very truthful guy. As long as I can stay with that, I think that is my skill set. I have an idea of some people who are going in but I don’t know. Then with the British people, I don’t know what the hell they are so I have got to learn people on the fly. I don’t know what these people did and they may not know me. But guess what? We’re going to find out! I’ll judge them as they are. You can’t take people at face value, you have got to know them. We will know by next Friday who is who and what is what because you can’t keep the facade up if it’s not you.

Will you help with the cooking?
I’m good at what we call the ghetto classics like peanut butter and jelly, grilled cheese, I’m great at that! I take classes at the cooking school when I can because when you know how to cook that is a skill. Even though I’m fat and you’re skinny you still want to eat! You got to eat, you got to sleep, you got to die, you got to shit. I’m not going to deal with your shit so if I can cook for you that is something.

Do you hope to change some stereotypes about Americans?
Everybody walks in with preconceived notions and stereotypes but it is all going to melt away by Wednesday. What this is going to boil down to is not USA v UK, it’s going to be people with people. I don’t care if you’re from Tokyo or India. If you are in that House, USA v UK is going to go away real quick. It’s going to be a story of people and the only thing that will separate us is accents. It could be love, anger, whatever. This is the only damn show where people are chess pieces, so you watch the chess pieces go round 24 hours a day. That’s it!

How would you celebrate winning?
Definitely pizza! I will do a victory lap of Channel 5 and I’ll get on the breakfast shows and say, “I’m here!” I’m going to have fun, man. If I win I am going to use it for some good. Going to hospitals and stuff, I love that. Celebrity is cool and fun but it is also about how you use it as a person.

What do you like about Britain?
I’ve been here hundreds of times and I love the rain. I like the people and I like the fact that when I come out here I can move around with no problem. The only thing I can’t do is drive a car but if I win Celebrity Big Brother by some chance from The Lord, please believe I will learn how to drive a car on the other side of the road. There will be crashes but I will learn how to do it!