’Celebrity Big Brother:’ Omarosa Gave Chuck Liddell a Secret Message Before His Eviction

Chuck Liddell was the first to be evicted from the Celebrity Big Brother house, and he took a secret message from Omarosa Manigault with him.

Liddell, a retired UFC champion, was voted off of the show by a loose alliance of other house guests. He opened up about his disappointment in an interview with PEOPLE, and he also disclosed the secret Manigault asked him to carry out of the house.

The interviewer asked Liddell about the slip of paper that Manigault handed to him as he said goodbye to all the other contestants.

“Oh, she gave me a phone number to call her mom,” he said. He didn’t offer much more information than that — whether he was calling Manigault’s mother as a favor, or if she was a fan. Whatever, the reason, Liddell revealed that he didn’t know much about Manigault going in, but he came to respect her.

“I didn’t know too much going in,” he admitted. “I met her before a fight, and I liked her. I heard [from] a lot of people in there that she’s a lot of different things, but I thought she was great. She used to be a volleyball player, I think she’ll go far in this competition. I hope she does.”

When asked who he thought might win the whole thing, Manigault was one of the first names on Liddell’s mind.

“Any predictions for who might win?” the interviewer asked.

“I would say Omarosa is going to be tough in there. I think she’s got a shot,” Liddell said. “Shannon —I think she’s got a big target and people are coming after her. Maybe Marissa [Jaret Winokur]. She might slip in and knows the game. She might be able to slip by everybody, and don’t sleep on her. She might be able to pull it off.”

He felt that the playing field is pretty open with him out of the picture. When asked why he thinks they were so quick to evict him, Liddell said he was a threat in the games, plain and simple.

“I think because I was one of the strongest players. They were worried about me,” he said. “James was able to convince them that I was more of a threat than he was.”

Manigault was mysteriously hospitalized on Friday night, and fans and contestants alike wondered whether she’d return to the house. On Saturday, she did make her way back onto set at last. The show’s producers announced that Manigault had suffered an asthma attack on Friday evening that required medical attention, but now she’s back for good and in it to win it.

Celebrity Big Brother is on a unique condensed airing schedule to compete with coverage of The Olympics. New episodes premiere on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights at 8 p.m. until the end of February.