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Every Big Brother superfan remembers the shock and awe they felt when Dan Gheesling hosted his funeral in season 14. It’s undoubtedly one of the best and most iconic moves in the show’s history, especially because it worked. And one of the reasons why Dan’s funeral was successful was because he drew from real anger he felt toward Danielle Murphree during the spectacle.

Danielle Murphree, Ian Terry, and Dan Gheesling, who starred in 'Big Brother 14' on CBS, pose for pictures at the finale. Danielle wears a red dress. Ian wears a light blue button-up shirt and khakis. Dan wears a dark gray suit over a black button-up shirt and jeans.
Danielle Murphree, Ian Terry, and Dan Gheesling | Photo by Sonja Flemming/CBS via Getty Images

During week seven of Big Brother 14, Frank Eudy won the Head of Household competition and nominated Dan and Danielle for eviction. His target was Dan, and during the Power of Veto competition, Frank’s ally Jenn Arroyo won. This seemingly sealed Dan’s fate, especially since he had to spend 24 hours in solitary confinement as a punishment from the POV competition.

But what the houseguests didn’t know was that while Dan was in the Have-Not room, he was concocting a master plan. And it would later become known as Dan’s funeral.

Once his 24 hours were up, Dan stumbled out of the Have-Not room, pretending he didn’t feel well. And after “resting” for a bit, he called a house meeting. There, he told his fellow houseguests, “I’m dressed in all black for a reason. I want to welcome you guys all to my Big Brother funeral.”

Dan went around and explained to each person how they impacted him. When he got to Frank, Dan told him that he wanted to apologize to him separately after the house meeting. And for Danielle, Dan expressed his disappointment in her. He said, “We don’t need to get into it now. But in this game, you’ll never earn my trust back. You know what you did. And in this game, you’re dead to me.”

Afterward, Dan spilled the beans about his alliance, the Quack Pack, to Frank in the HOH room. They created a final two. And Dan convinced Frank to get Jenn to use the veto on him and nominate Britney Haynes. Dan later explained to Danielle that his funeral was an act in Big Brother 14.

Dan reveals why he was mad at Danielle

Seven years after Big Brother 14, Entertainment Weekly editor Dalton Ross conducted an interview with everyone present for Dan’s funeral. He went through every event the week that led to the house meeting, with commentary from those who experienced it.

In the interview, Dan disclosed that his anger at Danielle during his funeral was real. And it’s all because of the POV. During the competition, Dan was mad at Danielle for trying to win when the plan was to let Britney or Shane Meaney win and use the veto. However, as fans know, Dan was also trying to win.

“I think that’s one of the two angriest moments I’ve ever been in the game, and I pride myself on controlling my emotions,” Dan explained. “I can remember I was seeing red because it made no sense to me. I’m like, ‘You know I need these points, so why are you doing this?’ It’s not like Britney doing that because I get it: She wants to win.”

He continued, “But Danielle didn’t really need to win because I’m going home over her, and she’s taking points away from me, and she doesn’t have a shot to win this. So I was furious, and I didn’t understand. But I took that feeling and really just pushed it more to ‘Now you’ve really got to run the table here. You’ve got to get every question from here on out if you want to stay in this game.'”

After Jenn won, Dan went off on Danielle, but that never made it on the show. And when Dan was in solitary confinement, he used his anger toward Danielle to formulate his plan.

Dan revealed, “I start to piece it together more. And the best way to wrap up a lie in the Big Brother house is to surround it with truth. It really started with me wanting to take a shot at Danielle because I was angry. I was very angry that she went after those points, so that’s where I started the thought process.”

So even though he made up with Danielle, there was some truth behind Dan’s brutal words.

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Would Dan ever play ‘Big Brother’ again?

Dan later spoke with Entertainment Weekly again in 2022, and they asked him if he would ever return to Big Brother. Sadly, it sounds like his reality competition series career is over.

“For me, it’s a non-option for a couple of reasons,” Dan shared. “If we were to boil it down to like two points, one is my family. And two is, to play the game, at least how I play the game, I have to have this intense drive. Both times, I was willing to do whatever it took. I was like training before the season. I was there — I was ready. And I can tell you right now; I don’t have that passion to play right now.”

He added, “I don’t really have an incentive to play. I don’t have that drive to play the game — I just don’t. I like to compete in other things. But Big Brother, I just don’t have that. I feel like I’m done.”

Big Brother 14 is available to stream on Netflix or Paramount+.

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