Adam Poch and Fara Herzfeld – 10.10.10 and Adam’s Doug Flutie Hail Mary Pass

adam and fara

by Guest Blogger EllaMentry from Vegas Bash 2011

Big Brother 13’s Adam Poch and his sweetheart Fara Herzfeld met up on a dating website, not unusual in this time and age, but while this was Adam’s first go around with Internet dating, it was nearly Fara’s last.

“For me, I was going off the website. I was about to quit because I just wasn’t meeting quality people and Adam’s email was one of the best emails I ever saw in my life. It was questioning. It was personal. It was like someone actually read what I wrote and responded to it,” recalls this plucky blonde.

They set up a date once Adam was assured Fara’s Staten Island accent wasn’t Fran Drescher (TV’s The Nanny) over the top. Their first date landed on October 10, 2010 (10.10.10) and became the calling card for Adam and other HGs during his Big Brother stint. Every night at 10:10pm, she got a shout out. Fara’s spunk immediately drew the metal head’s attention and soon they were inseparable.

Though Fara didn’t know much about the BB auditioning process, in fact she’d never seen an episode of the series, she was there when Adam received his house key and had one hour to pack. Keeping this a secret for days while Adam headed to sequester was tough. She couldn’t even tell her mother, who was a bit leery of the new man in her daughter’s life because he kept taking off to places unknown.

“She’s not a good liar, she would never be good on Big Brother. She couldn’t keep a story together,” Adam reports.

Though the couple has only been together for a few honeymoon months, their separation brought them closer. “After being gone for three months and seeing her again and being with her again, it’s like the honeymoon is right back on. I was really hoping she was going to be supportive and be there for me when I got back. So I went into this knowing I could lose a lot, but I could also get so much more. That’s why I told her you will not be able to talk to me, but I can talk to you.”

Adam may have used the BB live feeds as a sounding board, as viewers would attest, but he also used it to communicate with Fara, 3k miles away – a lifeline if you will. On Fara’s part, she tried in vain to stay awake late at night to vicariously connect via Big Brother After Dark. Superpass Flashbacks eventually became her friend.

Handling the negativity from some fans proved a harsh learning experience for this schoolteacher. Not accustomed to the world of Twitter, blogs or the reality TV fan base at large, Fara was shocked with some of the vitriol Adam endured online throughout the three months. Like Matt Hoffman’s wife Stacey, she caught the brunt of how her significant other played the game. Through a close-knit support system on the home front, Fara was able to put aside the negativity that often accompanies reality shows.

“I wanted to read the negative stuff. I knew my game was not the best game ever played, so I knew I was going to have a lot of people who didn’t like the way I played the game and I wanted to read that. For me, that makes me laugh,” Adam maintains. “[They] don’t know what I went through… For them to criticize me about something they don’t know, makes me laugh.”

BB13 viewers throughout this season questioned Adam’s game play and while he’s considered a “nice guy,” he was taken to task via social media outlets. His laid back approach allowed him to slip through cracks other more aggressive players opened for him. As to strategy, Adam insists he tried to remain true to his word as the weeks moved forward. At one point as a show of faith, he offered Jordan a necklace that belonged to his girlfriend, an offer Jordan rejected.

“I wanted to be true to my word, but in the end I couldn’t because I had to do a Hail Mary,” Adam recalls. He and Doug Flutie differ in that Flutie’s pass was caught to win the 1984 Boston College v. Miami game, 47-45. “It was a Doug Flukey is more like it. I blew it,” he chuckles.

During the double eviction week, Adam says he didn’t believe Shelly really meant to turn on Jeff. She had been playing the double agent for so long it was becoming increasing difficult to read into her motives.

“We believed her, we believed her until it got to the day of the double eviction,” he answers. The night before he did tell Jeff for the first time that he was beginning to have his doubts about Shelly. When she blew up the next morning, “That was just Shelly trying to cover her ass.”

As to any lessons learned, this self-proclaimed super fan discovered how greed is a terrible sin, but difficult to rein in. After losing to Rachel first and then Porsche in the final three HOH competitions, he had to consider his options.

“I laid in bed the last couple nights thinking this is not the person that I am, but I came on the show to win a half a million dollars and If I did not figure out a way to convince one of these girls to take me to the final two, then why did I even come here? I was really wrestling with it because I tried to play a clean and honest game as much as one can in Big Brother. But, to know convincing them was going to be nearly impossible, I had to start the lying. What can I say to each one of them that would make them think they would win over me?”

Indeed Adam did try to persuade Porsche that if she won the third challenge and chose him over Rachel, he’d do what he could to hand her the win and happily accept the $50k bone. He also tried to get Rachel to believe Danielle would vote for her over him because Dani appreciates the game and Rachel was a much stronger player. Unfortunately for him, it was too little, too late.

On the subject of why he didn’t vote for Rachel in the finale, Adam explains, “Shelly asked me if I would vote for Rachel in the end. I said you know if Rachel kicks butt down the stretch and earns her right there, then I would vote for her. I said I would. I didn’t say I will.”

When asked if he voted his conscience, Adam would only say Rachel earned the win, “My hat’s off to Rachel. She definitely deserved that half million dollars.”

As for the happily reunited couple, they are moving in together coincidentally on October 10^th. Though marriage is an earnest topic of discussion, for now both will head back to work and start this new life chapter side by side. For Fara, this princess finally found her mench.

Adam firmly believes, “If I were a betting man, I’d definitely say the odds of us getting married are better than me winning Big Brother 13.”

To read EllaMentry’s Big Brother 13 and Vegas Bash articles, visit the Big Brother 13 category at the top of this page.