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"It's Like a Guillotine": The Anonymous' Tyrenna Blames Empathy for Her Downfall
The "mom" of the contestants admits she made one big mistake that led to her exit from the house.
Spoilers for Episode 4 of USA's The Anonymous!
It all came down to a battle between two insightful minds: Xavier Prather and Tyrenna Tolbert were set to choose who got to terminate another player this week on USA Network's The Anonymous.
With no protection gained in the Safe Box round-robin challenge (which Marcel Cunningham won), Tyrenna was left vulnerable and ended up getting sent home; she was blindsided by background machinations in the game that identified her as a threat.
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"I think I was doing fantastic at Anonymous play," Tyrenna told USA Insider of her game assessment. "For the real, live play, it took me a minute to really settle into the game. I've never played any type of reality show before, so it took a second."
Unfortunately, she got her game legs too late to stick around. With hindsight, she told us what she did wrong and who she admires most that's still in the game.
Tyrenna admits her strategy for the game kicked in too late
As a 35-year veteran of the U.S. Army, Tyrenna was one of the most mature competitors in the cast, so she knew that she would be a likely target just based on the median age of those in the house.
"All of them, with the exception of two, could have been my children," Tyrenna said, laughing. "But I have a 26-year-old daughter so I think being relatable, for the most part, was pretty easy. I think I was late to the party in terms of strategy. When I was ready to do strategy, day one, they were [already] on it, you know? With hindsight, there are a couple of things I just would have definitely done a little bit differently, but I'm proud of how I played the game."
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As for her fellow players, Tyrenna said she loved the "one-liners" from Dillian Frelow the most and then the surprising gameplay from quiet conniver Jack Usher.
"Jack's game is fantastic," she said. "The bow tie and this real schoolboy kind of look, I'm so impressed with how well he's playing the game. He definitely was a sleeper."
Did the Safe Box players believe Marcel or not?
This episode introduced a new mini-game. The five players who were put on the block in Anonymous Mode were given the opportunity to win immunity if they picked the correct box, or stole the correct box from another player. A guessing game of bluffing and strategy, Marcel admitted on the first turn that he had the coveted box. However, no one believed him and thus no steals were attempted.
Shockingly, Tyrenna said she knew that Marcel had the safe box.
"One of the things that I did — once I realized we were playing the game — is I looked at everybody's body language before the game, right? Then I paid attention to body language afterward, and I knew he had it."
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Why didn't she steal it? Tyrenna said she felt bad.
"Marcel had been on the chopping block it seemed like every single night, right? And in terms of odds, I was hoping the odds would have been in my favor, that either I would have got Anonymous, or somebody who liked me enough got Anonymous," she explained. "Had I known that there was this secret meeting of the minds trying to get rid of me, I probably would have been like, 'Marcel, I like you, but I gotta check this box. I gotta save my own butt.'
"Again, hindsight [being] 20/20, [it was] empathy," she said of her decision to let him keep immunity.
"But no empathy if I do this again! I'm burning the house down," she added, laughing. "I'm setting everybody on fire. I'm taking no prisoners. Everybody's just going down. I would just go out in a blaze of hope, right?"
Was Tyrenna's exit a complete surprise?
Once the vulnerable players got in their circle for the verdict, Tyrenna said he had an inkling that her time was up.
"I can tell the mood in [the] morning," she shared. "Plus, when I was looking at the chat, one of the reasons why I wanted to get rid of Robbi is because Robbi is a good player. When Robbi took on my persona, and once I saw my name come up in the chat, it's like a guillotine, right? How could I pivot to get the stink eyeball off of me?
"And because I was aligned with Lilly, and certain people felt a way about Lilly," Tyrenna said, adding that she felt like the others were trying to break up their alliance. "If I would have had another day, I assure you, I was coming because I had my coffee by that time. I knew what was really said. But I'm good. A day late, a dollar short."
Watch all-new episodes of The Anonymous on Mondays at 11 p.m. ET/PT on USA Network.
The Anonymous is available to stream on Peacock.
