He didn’t win Big Brother, but Tucker Des Lauriers did win a few other things. Not only did he win the fan vote for America’s Favorite Houseguest (and the $50,000 that comes with it), but he won something even more valuable… Rubina’s heart.

Tucker presented showmance partner Rubina Bernabe with some flowers during Sunday’s live two-hour finale, and even though she wanted to avoid any stage smooching, it was clear she was smitten. Entertainment Weekly caught up with Tucker shortly after the finale to get his reaction to winning the fan vote, getting back together with Rubina, his next steps on reality TV, and what he made of Makensy’s shocking decision to bring Chelsie Baham to the end instead of Cam Sullivan-Brown.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Congratulations on winning America’s Favorite Houseguest. You’ve been off the show for a while, so were you surprised?

TUCKER DES LAURIERS: I had no idea. I really thought that Quinn, and Angela, and Leah was talked about, and Chelsie was talked about… I don’t know. I don’t like to count my chickens before they hatch. I was freaking out and trying to remain calm and just still be me under this intense scenario. So yeah, I didn’t really know. I had no idea. And all the polls were saying different things, so it was intense.

What are you going to do with the 50,000?

Well, I definitely owe Rubina a trip, so I’m going to start there and get Ziggy an older brother dog. Those are the only two things I have in mind right now. The rest will come as things come at me. I very much go with the flow. But yeah, I just got to take Rubina on a trip and formally apologize. That’s the first thing on my mind.

I know you haven’t had a lot of time together yet, but tell me about the reunion with Rubina.

I watched the live feeds nonstop. I saw she had her moments of doubt, which everyone naturally would. I would’ve been doing the same stuff in there. Shout out to Cam, my dog in the crib having my back! I love it. But I could just see on her face, she didn’t know. And when I got to see her, I brought her flowers and it was just so unreal. She looked amazing. She’s the sweetest person ever, so it’s very hard to put those feelings into words, but it was beautiful and I’m very excited to see where our future goes from here.

Did she deny you a kiss on the stage?

Oh yeah! No, that’s how we are. I loved it. The banter back and forth. I deserved that. I’m not going to be like, “What?” No. And also, I remember hearing on the feeds, she’s like, “I don’t want to kiss him on a stage. We already did that. We already gave America enough of that. Let’s save something for us.” I’m right there with her. It was the cutest thing ever. And I just love her so much. So I’m very excited.

You said you want to make this work, but you’re in New York and she’s in Los Angeles, so how does that work?

Just watch us baby! We survived the Big Brother house. I think everything else will be easy. I’ve been bi-coastal, I’m hoping to have more work out here. She’s been in New York a bunch and has been thinking about going there, so we’re just going to take it one day at a time. I think we’re both very optimistic and happy and wanting it to work, but we’re very much reasonable human beings that know you left one world to go into this crazy world and you’re going to go back to a whole new world.

So let’s see if we can make it work out. And I think we have everything in line to do that. And I’m very excited to see where it goes. And regardless of whatever happens, I will forever cherish our relationship, our respect and appreciation of one another — but not ending on that because I think we’re going to run it up, baby!

What goes through your mind — and maybe comes out of your mouth — when Makensy chooses to bring Chelsie to the end instead of Cam?

Just freaking out! Super ups to everybody who made it that far. It is a very tough thing to do. And when you start to feel a little trust in somebody and you think it’s real, you run with it. I did the same thing with Angela, and that happened to me. So I’m not like “Makensy, you idiot!” I’m just like, “Nooooo, Makensy! I’ve been there. You had it! You would’ve had it in the bag with Cam!”

But I also don’t how much closer they got, what personal things that they’ve talked about, and whatever else. And so I’m just excited for everybody and I really feel like everyone that went in there is a winner regardless. One person got the miracle, but it was a once in a lifetime experience that I think we all really made the most of. And that’s a beautiful thing. So I respected everybody’s gameplay, and that’s Big Brother. That’s all I can say. And people can think X, Y, or Z about Makensy doing that move, but they’ll never know what it was like to be her in that house and all the sacrifices she felt Chelsie made for her, and vice versa.

What was it like watching yourself back on TV when you got out of the house?

I’m sorry, Cedric! You did say that stuff. I know we’ve talked about it and everyone still talks about it. We’ve apologized to it a million times, but that part I was like, “Dang, you suck!” — talking about me. But we all also know it was a game and it was high stakes and it’s water under the bridge. Cedric and I we love each other, we respected each other’s gameplay, we pushed each other in the game.

So mainly just watching it back was that moment I was like, “Ahhhhhhhhh….” And then a lot of just like, “Yeah, I’m weird and dang my mouth is huge.” Random things like that. But it’s been really fun. And I think watching it back allows you to reassess your points of views on things, remembering your emotions in certain scenarios, and being able to self-assess and hopefully become a better person afterwards. So it’s been good and a big learning point and fun.

You’ve conquered Big Brother as America’s Favorite Houseguest. What reality show do you want to do next?

What reality show thinks they can take me, baby? I’m ready to run it up! If we want to do an All Stars, how are we doing? If we want to do The Challenge. I could do The Amazing Race, a little Survivor. I’m an open book. Let’s do it! Run it up!

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