Larissa Lima Blames California Politics for Her 'House of Villains' Banishment (Exclusive)

You never want to be the first — the first person voted off of a reality TV competition show, that is. And yet, sadly, every season needs that player who gets their torch snuffed, their knives packed or ordered to sashay away before all the rest. And E! Network’s House of Villains, which returned for its highly anticipated second season on Wednesday, Oct. 9, is no different. The reality show invites 10 of the genre’s most infamous and polarizing personalities to join together in one Los Angeles mansion and betray, backstab and banish their way to a $200,000 cash prize and the title of “America’s Ultimate Supervillain.”

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But even with a cast of iconic reality antiheroes like Survivor’s Richard Hatch, The Real Housewives of New Jersey’s Teresa Giudice and The Challenge’s Wes Bergmann, someone has got to go home first. Ultimately no villain is safe from getting nominated for the Hit List and having to face banishment at The Stronghold. One by one, competitors will be eliminated until only one “Supervillain” remains standing, with the rest chair-flipped into House of Villains’ loserdom. And on tonight’s episode, we officially saw that first chair flip, which sent 90 Day Fiancé star Larissa Lima flying out of the competition following a blindside by her former teammate and “Supervillain of the Week” Safaree Samuels.

Now banished from the game, Larissa talked to Parade regarding how she felt about Safaree’s deception, her reaction to that ridiculous Raiders-related fight with The Bachelorette‘s Victoria Larson and what she considers the “nail in the coffin” of her House of Villains experience. 

House of Villains Season 2 is here! Every week, Parade.com’s Christina Izzo will bring you interviews with the villain most recently banished from the lair. 

Interview with Larissa Lima from House of Villains Season 2

Christina Izzo: Let’s take it back to your initial thoughts about the cast. Who were you immediately getting along with, who did you think you were going to butt heads with? Did you know any of your castmates before heading into the house?

Larissa Lima: I heard about Teresa and [Tiffany Pollard] New York and Kandy Muse. I really like Kandy. I like Camilla [Poindexter], Richard, Jessie. Actually, I like all of them but in different levels of getting along. I never met anyone prior to the show. Sometimes you have connections, like you bump into them at an event. But no, I never saw them. 

At the end of the premiere episode, Safaree named you to the Hit List alongside Victoria and Kandy. Were you surprised to find yourself nominated so early in the season? Why do you think Safaree chose you?

I knew that it was going to be me because people’s behavior doesn’t lie. They can say whatever to you, but they start to act different, they start to avoid you like the plague. So Safaree started to avoid me even though they are saying, ‘No, it’s not you, you’re not the target.’ 

Were you surprised that Victoria and Kandy were also nominated?

I was surprised because Victoria was kind of close to Safaree. She was very, very flirty with him. And Kandy, she’s a villain but a sweetheart villain, so I didn’t get it. I thought [Safaree was thinking], ‘Wow, I’m the badass. I’m a this, I’m a this.” Well, if you’re a badass, then put a big name up there to show us your level of villainess!

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So then you had the Redemption Challenge, where you were tasked with collecting signatures on the busy streets of Hollywood Boulevard. Looking back, would you have changed up your strategy of promoting social causes to try to get people to sign?

I would not change my strategy, but looking and seeing the time was running out, I would’ve said, ‘I don’t care anymore, just come and sign.” I was having the feeling, if you start with the three causes, you had to stick [to that idea]. Kandy started with her character, [so I thought] you needed to stick with the character, you cannot change. The producers didn’t tell me this, I just had the impression that I had to stick with what I chose. 

I didn’t know that California is against all of the causes. What is going on in California?! It was amazing to see how the Californians think! I would say, ‘You don’t want to help the veterans?’ ‘No!’ ‘What about war heroes?’ ‘No!’ I was shocked! That challenge, what was bad just got worse. I didn’t think it was possible for anything to get worse. That one was the nail in the coffin for me. 

Related: Everything You Need to Know About ‘House of Villains’ Season 1 Including Who Won

Kandy ends up winning the Redemption Challenge, leaving you and Victoria up for banishment. What were your thoughts when you realized it was you against her? Did you feel confident? It seemed like Victoria was ruffling feathers with multiple people in the house.

Because Victoria was — I don’t want to use the expression ‘kiss ass’ — but she was being flirtatious and playful with the men. Maybe they thought she deserved it more. I was being organically nice, and I thought they would say [about Victoria], ‘This one is being too much’ while ‘This one here, Larissa, she’s taking her time, she’s not pushing me, she’s not, like, desperately trying.’ What villain starts to cry because you’ve got to go to the Redemption? 

We have to talk about that big Raiders-related argument that you had with Victoria. Was the fight really about football or had there already been animosity brewing between you two before that? Do you think that argument had any effect on how people voted during the Banishment Ceremony?

I don’t think the argument had anything to do with the votes, because they already had made their minds. It was already over for me. But Victoria had been pushing my buttons and my buttons and my buttons all this time, so I said, ‘You know what, I’m gonna now leave my mark because I’m over this, I’m done, you know?’ I tried to be nice and now they’re going to see. It was already a very difficult scenario because they already liked the other person, Victoria, as a friend, as an ally. And I didn’t have no one, besides Kandy. I had no other strong connection. It’s a very psychological game. I don’t know, I got not the best luck. 

Beginning Oct. 10, “House of Villains” will air in its regular Thursday timeslot at 10 p.m. ET/PT on E! 

Related: Monica Garcia Joins the Cast of ‘House of Villains’ Season 2