About Russell
Born September 1, 1984 in St. Cloud, Minnesota, and known by his friends as “Russell the Love Muscle,” this one time commercial real-estate broker by day, mixed martial arts fighter by night, was a fan favorite of the 11th season CBS’ Big Brother. Loud and brash, Russell held true to his self-proclaimed statements of “holding nothing back” and “always being ready for a fight.” In fact, throughout his stay on Big Brother, Russell successfully orchestrated many uneasy, and sometimes chaotic situations between he and other contestants in order to shake things up, exposing other persons’ weaknesses and discovering lies.
Confrontation was his forte, intimidation his dagger, intelligence his trump card. All aided in creating hard-dealt mind games for the other house guests, which caused multiple opponents to fold under the pressures. One contestant even chose to leave the show early before being evicted rather than deal with Russell.
In the end, Russell’s strategy did not earn him the title of Big Brother champion. But it did get him a 6th place finish, a place on the jury council and, more importantly, brought him to the forefront of popularity, with the “in your face” house guest maintaining a constant focus on the reality-based game show, even after his eviction. On the airing night of his eviction episode, CBS experienced its highest rated show in the history of Big Brother, providing proof of Russell’s great impact on the program. He was by far the largest personality, bringing much needed excitement to season 11. Such may be a bold statement, but ratings say it all. Becoming known as a “villain” has not waived Russell’s true nature of being an optimistic, fun-loving person at heart. He faced Big Brother like he does everything in life, as a challenge. His way of dealing with the challenge was to purposefully become something he really is not…..well, to a degree. Russell is direct and speaks his mind, which some people do not take to easily. Therefore, it was not difficult for him to add in those elements required to form the “Russell” America came to know and love on Big Brother.
But never did he allow himself to mix game with reality, which is simple to do when caught up in dramatic moments. Never did he take anything personally, even if others did. And never did he forget his tactics and overall outlook on the game. After all, “…it was just a game.” – Russell
Throughout his life, Russell has faced difficult diversity and trials, but has never given in. One prime example occurred during his college years at the University of California at Davis, where he was badly injured after a nearly fatal motorcycle accident. Russell doesn’t focus on the negative of that, nor any other, situation. He chooses to instead count his blessings and always learn from his past mistakes.
Some people might find it amusing Russell’s biggest pet peeve is people who don’t think before they act. But Russell does not deny his mistakes and takes full responsibility for his actions, embracing and using his life experiences to feed the hunger he has towards meeting his goals with success. He’s a fighter, in every way possible. Nevertheless, he lives life with a smile because, according to Russell, “if you’re not smiling, you’re not living.”
