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The Anonymous' Bismah Ahmed: "Nina, You Eliminated Me. You Better Win!"
The political lobbyist found The Anonymous competitors more "stressful and aggressive" than her day job in politics.
It took seven episodes, but the trio of new competitors thrown into the mix of USA Network's The Anonymous competition strategy game — Bismah Ahmed, Wayne Nichols, and Victoria Vesce — is now down to one. Wayne was voted out first, then Bismah, leaving Victoria as the last one standing, clinging onto her alliance with Christopher Shulstad for safety.
As dominant player Nina Twine won this week's Anonymous status, she was responsible for Bismah — unexpectedly! — going home. Considering Dillian Frelow's episode-long silent treatment antics in the house, Bismah thought she was safe and that he had sealed his fate. But, surprise!
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Bismah joined us for our weekly USA Insider exit interview, where she candidly spoke about her reaction to the vote results, revealed her closest ally in the house, and picked the player she said had better win the whole game.
Being a late addition to the game allowed for barely any game at all
A political lobbyist by profession, Bismah is used to entering a room of strangers and turning it to her advantage. But that never happened in The Anonymous house and she said it was because of the solid alliances already formed.
"It was very hard coming in late in the game," Bismah assessed. "For me, it was let's look at the trends and the data. Four women went home. OK, that's a problem for me. That's a problem for anybody who's a woman in this domain, right? So that was my play coming into the show."
However, Bismah said she couldn't get any traction with the existing women for a new alliance, as they blamed prior exits on other reasons.
"I do feel like it's so easy to pit women against each other, and I think I saw that in real-time," she said.
Lilly found a friend in Bismah
For several reasons, Lilly has had a tough time scrabbling for any traction in the game. She's been up for elimination in most rounds and has never been part of any major alliance featuring dominant players like Nina, Jack, or Andy. But we came to find out from Bismah that she and Lilly Jenkins formed an alliance that served them both well.
"At the end of the day, I knew Lilly always had my back, and she was always going to have my back, even if she put me up for elimination," Bismah revealed. "There's no world that she would have eliminated me."
Asked how they came to snap together with such loyalty, Bismah said it happened on the second day of her inclusion into the house.
"We connected on a personal level," she shared. "There were so many things that I really related to her about. We'd talk about family, we talked about everything, and I was like, 'You know what? At the end of the day, I actually really love this girl.' I don't know if people took enough time to really get to know her on that personal level."
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However, their "unspoken bond" could only go so far when Nina was planting seeds of dissent among the other players about Bismah, and then used her Anonymous Mode position to take her out.
"I'm not gonna lie, there was genuine surprise," Bismah said of her reaction to her ousting. "At the same time, do I understand why she eliminated me? Yes, I do. She was the one who told Christopher that 'Jack is coming for you.' Then, Christopher let me know that Nina was the one that told me Jack is coming for me and Victoria. So immediately I knew. I'm having a lot of conversations with Jack and Nina together. She can't be trusted because I thought Jack was one of her strongest alliances.
"So am I going to give you any more information after that? No," she continued. "And the thing is, I respect your game. I'm not even coming for you. But is it a game that I want to be involved with? No, absolutely not. I don't want to be part of the rumor mill. So am I shocked? Yes, and no."
Bismah shares her favorites to win
In that vein, Bismah now wants Nina to win the whole game, and she's got a message meant just for her: "Listen, Nina, you eliminated me. You better win! I know you have what it takes to win."
If that doesn't happen, Bismah said she's rooting for Marcel.
"He's been the underdog," she explained. "He has said it himself that he doesn't give a good first impression. I thought he just didn't want to talk to me, and that's why I came for him in the chat. And to be honest, if I was Anonymous, I wouldn't have eliminated him. That's the sad part. I would not have eliminated him."
Now back in the real world, Bismah said she loved her time in the house.
"By nature, I'm a very competitive person, and that's why I thrive in politics because it is very volatile, it is very competitive, and it is very aggressive. And so to find a situation more stressful and more aggressive than that is hard," she said of the game. "But I absolutely loved doing this and I know what I would do differently. And I know what I would not do differently."
Watch all-new episodes of The Anonymous on Mondays on USA Network.
