Surviving in a game like The Anonymous isn’t easy. Coming into the game when it’s already in progress? That’s a true uphill battle. But, when Wayne Nichols came into the game during Episode 4 as part of a surprise twist, he wasn’t scared. The former detective has faced off against worse threats than DANI.
Unfortunately, Wayne’s time on The Anonymous came to an abrupt end during the latest episode, when Jack Usher once again earned the power to eliminate.
Amid Wayne’s departure from the show, he spoke to Reality Tea about his experience on the show. From coming face-to-face with a Big Brother winner to taking a big swing in the face-off, Wayne had the ride of a lifetime, even if he didn’t win.
The pros and cons of being late to the game
As part of the twist in Episode 4, DANI brought Wayne into the in-progress game along with two other new players. Their uphill battle started right away, but Wayne wasn’t scared. He was just happy to be there. Can you blame him?
“I was so glad to have made the show,” Wayne admitted.
He continued, “It definitely was a surprise to me, but it was certainly a challenge that I had to quickly say, “All right, you’ve been in the situation before where things are not ideally on your timeline or, you know, the chosen environment.’ So I went with it.”
Although Wayne would have preferred to have been on The Anonymous from Day 1, he was relieved when he met the other players, and they were genuinely excited to see fresh faces. Whether or not that was part of their strategy remains up for debate.
Wayne explained, “You probably saw some players who were legitimately excited because now it maybe gave them a Plan B, a different sort of strategy that they can maybe pursue where the new three players benefit their game.”
Why Wayne didn’t hesitate to hide his law enforcement background
From poker pros to Survivor alums, we’ve watched a handful of players on The Anonymous conceal their true identities. As a former detective who specialized in online crimes, Wayne had some serious advantages in this game of deception. However, he quickly hid that background from the rest of the players and told them he was a janitor.
According to Wayne, he knew that revealing his law enforcement background in the game would be a “no-go.” However, he did admit that he had a moment before filming started when he reconsidered. His wife had to talk some sense into him.
“I’m like, ‘Maybe I should tell them,'” Wayne recalled of the conversation with his wife.
He continued, “She just looks at me. She’s like, ‘Are you crazy?’ She’s like, ‘Why would you ever, ever reveal that?'”
Although advantageous for his game, Wayne said it was tough keeping that big part of his life under wraps. How exactly do you make friends with people in the game if you can’t genuinely connect with them about your life experiences?
“It was tough for me, though because, you know, my history as an investigator, my law enforcement background, I’m very proud of it,” Wayne shared.
He continued, “I’ve got great stories. I’ve got great life experience, work experience. So to be in an environment where I’m very outgoing, I share, I tell stories. To not be able to tell any of that stuff, it was very difficult for me.”
The face-off heard around the world
Although Wayne got sent home this week, you can’t say he didn’t put up a fight. During Episode 5, he went balls to the wall in the face-off challenge in hopes of winning safety from elimination. From calling out alliances to going head-to-head with Xavier Prather, Wayne took some big swings and has zero regrets about it.
“I knew that I needed to make a big move, and I kind of looked at it like, listen, ‘I don’t want to go home with regrets,'” Wayne explained.
He continued, “I didn’t know exactly how it was going to play out and unfold. And I guess it worked to my advantage that during that challenge, I didn’t go first or I wasn’t selected to choose my box first. So I kind of got to see like, ‘OK, I’m going to strategically approach this and see if I can shake it up.'”
To say that he shook things up would be an understatement, although it ultimately didn’t go as intended. He wanted to get a big reaction from Christopher Shulstad, and that didn’t happen. Instead, he wound up going back and forth with Xavier. Either way, Wayne said watching the challenge back, was almost as fun as living it.
“Listen, it was fun to do. It was probably more fun to watch because I didn’t realize the reactions from all of the other players who were watching,” Wayne said with a laugh.
“Honestly, that made my entire night to see Jack [Usher] and Lilly [Jenkins], and you know, everybody. It actually made me feel like a million dollars,” he added.
DANI made Wayne Nichols one of the ‘cool kids’
When Wayne got eliminated from The Anonymous in Episode 6, he said that part of his goal was to make his kids proud. Now that the show is airing, he said it’s been a blast reliving it with his family.
“They had no idea how strong of a social media game that USA [Network] has. My daughter is like mind blown when she sees her dad tagged in all these amazing videos and advertisements,” Wayne confessed.
He continued, “As all of the cool kids say, I’ve been trending for the last couple of days in the household.”
Of course, in the game, getting to work with Xavier from Big Brother was one of the highlights. Wayne said that seeing him that first night was a complete surprise and a game-changer. Meanwhile, at Wayne’s house, his kids are still starstruck by their dad’s sudden social media presence.
He explained, “They’ve watched the game, but there’s just something about the social component of it, that the social media advertising, my daughter is so thrilled about that. So it excites me, you know?”
Wayne quipped, “My 15 minutes starts officially now, right?”
The Anonymous continues on USA Network, Monday nights at 11/10c. New episodes are also streaming on Peacock.
TELL US – DID YOU HAVE A FAVORITE MOMENT FROM WAYNE THIS SEASON? WERE YOU SURPRISED BY HIS ELIMINATION? DO YOU THINK WAYNE MADE THE RIGHT CALL BY CONCEALING HIS LAW ENFORCEMENT BACKGROUND?
