I Owe Shanna Moakler an Apology

Owning up. Carson Kressley may have made one of the biggest mistakes in Celebrity Big Brother history and boy, does he know it.

The Queer Eye alum, 52, now realizes that getting out Shanna Moakler, who was an ally and even used the Veto to save him the week before, was not at all in his best interest. In fact, he admits to being completely duped by Miesha Tate and Todrick Hall, and acknowledges that he owes the former beauty queen a major mea culpa.

“I think we really made a huge mistake,” Carson exclusively tells Us Weekly the morning after his Friday, February 18, eviction. “I owe her such a big apology, and that’s the one thing that I learned that is the most regrettable and has made me feel so awful because we should have listened to her and not the people that I thought we could trust, which we should have known better.”

The reality star thought his “long standing relationship” with Todrick from their time together on Ru Paul’s Drag Race meant he had a built-in trust and ally.

“I just kind of thought, ‘Well, this guy wouldn’t be misleading me this dramatically.’” he tells Us. “I swear [Cynthia Bailey and I] only had the best intentions and we thought we had somebody who was playing both sides. … And we didn’t know that that was mostly made up. I feel awful for Shanna and I need to send her the biggest apology ever because that is the one thing I didn’t wanna do, was something icky. And I did something icky.”

Carson goes on to express his regret several more times in hopes that he and Shanna can be friends: “I feel terrible about it and I’m literally trying to figure out how I should apologize, and say, ‘You don’t have to forgive me, of course, but I just want to let you know we were sold a bill of goods and I shouldn’t have been that stupid, and it was my fault and I take complete responsibility for it.’ I will apologize a thousand times.”

What else would Carson change about his game? And what factors will play into his vote on finale night? Scroll down to read the rest of our interview!

Celebrity Big Brother airs on CBS Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8 p.m. ET and Mondays at 9 p.m. ET.

Us Weekly: How are you feeling this morning?

Carson Kressley: Going in and then doing the thing, I was like, “I’ll be fine.” And then they pull you out and you talk to a psychologist. I’m like, “I’m fine.” Then you get out and you’re just like, “Wait, I have 1200 emails and so many messages on social media. It’s very overwhelming because you have been without a phone or any human interaction other than the cast members for, like, a month. So it’s really quite an experience. Hence, the not really sleeping. But, I think I’m gonna segue into going outdoors today and see the sun for the first time.

Us: What’s been the most surprising thing you’ve learned so far since being outside the house?

CK: I learned so many surprising things about people that I trusted and things that I thought were happening that weren’t happening. The first big whammy is when you sit down with Julie [Chen Moonves] and she’s like, “Now about Shanna, were you Big Brothered?” I’m like, “I don’t even know what that means, but if you are asking me, then I think we really made a huge mistake.” I owe her such a big apology, and that’s the one thing that I learned that is the most regrettable and has made me feel so awful because we should have listened to her and not the people that I thought we could trust, which we should have known better.

Us: Miesha put you and Cynthia up during her HOH. Shanna is the one that saved you with the Veto! Yet Miesha and Todrick convinced you to turn on her. Are you that gullible or are they that good?

CK: They were really good. I’ve had a long relationship with Todrick and working on shows like Drag Race. So I just kind of thought, “Well, this guy wouldn’t be misleading me this dramatically.” And with so much finesse and so convincing and getting both me and Cynthia. If it was just me, I would look to Cynthia and be like, “Are we supposed to believe them?” But they got both of us. I swear we only had the best intentions and we thought we had somebody who was playing both sides. So I guess we should trust the devil that we know as opposed to somebody who’s playing both sides. And we didn’t know that that was mostly made up. I feel awful for Shanna and I need to send her the biggest apology ever because that is the one thing I didn’t wanna do, was something icky. And I did something icky.

Us: She was ostracized quite a bit and it was almost like a mob mentality. Comments about her appearance were brought up. Do you reflect on that stuff and cringe?

CK: I don’t think I said much about her and I know I definitely didn’t say anything about her appearance. After she was gone, I still felt bad about it. And when people were starting to chatter about…