'Big Brother' Champ: Show was Easy

NEW YORK (AP) â€” ``Big Brother'' winner Eddie McGee found his 88-day stay in a camera-arrayed house much easier than expected. <br><br>``I thought it was going to be cutthroat, where you have

Tuesday, October 3rd 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) â€” ``Big Brother'' winner Eddie McGee found his 88-day stay in a camera-arrayed house much easier than expected.

``I thought it was going to be cutthroat, where you have to sleep with one eye open,'' McGee said Monday. ``Actually, the other people were very nice. A bad day at the `Big Brother' house was running out of toilet paper.''

McGee, a 21-year-old New Yorker who lost his left leg to cancer at age 11, won the $500,000 grand prize Friday during the conclusion of the CBS reality series. Declared the favorite among viewers who took part in a phone poll, he prevailed over the nine rivals he joined in the made-for-TV house July 4.

``Big Brother,'' which aired as much as six times per week, drew disappointing ratings amid complaints that the house guests' day-to-day life made for dull viewing. Asked how CBS could have made the series better, McGee was stumped.

``I'm not sure what type show they were looking for,'' he said. ``A harsh reality, where people would fight? If that's the case, I believe the casting should have been much different. This group was a walk in the park.''

A journalism major at the University of Texas-Arlington, McGee had expected to be banished from the house in time for the new school year.

``I'm enrolled in school this quarter,'' he said, then looked at his watch. ``In fact, I'm supposed to be in class right now.''