Ragan Fox lived a dream 10 years in the making as a houseguest on the CBS reality show Big Brother, which just finished its latest season.
He just fell short of his goal of claiming the $500,000 prize, which was awarded to Hayden Moss, the former Arizona State University baseball player.
"I've been a fan of the show for a decade, so being a houseguest was a dream fulfilled. I loved every challenge and have a bit of [ post-traumatic stress disorder ] PTSD from each big argument.
"Big Brother was a lot harder than I thought it would be; I have no regrets doing the show."
Fox, 34, a professor at California State University-Long Beach, lives in West Hollywood, was the long gay participant this round. And he's "terminally single," he said.
So who's Mr. Right?
"Smart, composed, in his 30s, decent-looking [ and ] doesn't give a poo about Big Brother," Fox said.
Fox ultimately won $20,000 for being the second saboteur.
He said his Big Brother highlight was "developing a friendship with Matt; he's really become one of my closest friends. Any moment that Britney, Matt, and I put our evil brains together was a highlight for me," too.
Fox said his most memorable Big Brother moment was when Kathy got stuck in the caramel and screaming for assistance.
"I adore Kathy and, at the time, it was hard to watch her stuck; but the image of it haunts me in the best possible way," he said.
Fox admitted that he voted for Hayden to claim the championship.
"Hayden played a better game than [ semifinalist ] Lane, for whom I also have a lot of admiration and respect. Hayden's a great guy, fierce competitor, and wanted to win more than any member of the Brigade," Fox said. "I was expecting more house-knowledge competitions toward the end of the game, so I thought I had a good shot at winning. I wanted to win. Nobody in that house is happy leaving unless they've won.
"For many Big Brother houseguests, the show is a means to some other entertainment-related end; this isn't the case for me. I've got to jump back into my academic life: teaching and research. I'm also going to be more active in my dating life, or lack thereof. After living with 12 other people in the Big Brother house, it would be nice to live with one in my apartment."
Fox said he hopes to use his national TV exposure to advocate against the bullying of gay youth. "Thus far, the gay community's response to my involvement in the show has been pretty amazing," he said.