Tony Esparza, CBS Scott Long: "I knew I could do [reality TV], and I could do it better." Click photo for larger image.

Scott Long, a 25-year-old unemployed Shadyside resident, got booted from the "Big Brother 5" house Thursday night in a 4 to 3 vote.

Long, who between lies to his fellow houseguests referred to himself as "Savage" on the CBS reality show, was clearly shocked by his ouster.

"There's a lot of stuff in that house, a lot of deceit, and I'm kind of shaken up by it," Long said in a post-eviction interview with "Big Brother" host Julie Chen.

Long, who graduated from Kiski Area High School in 1997 and from the University of Pittsburgh in 2002, acknowledged his role in that deceit, lying to fellow contestants about being a wealthy professional football player.

"Physically I'm built like a robot, and I'm mentally strong and that put an automatic target on my face," Long said in a phone interview yesterday. "The lies I brought forth were just to protect that image. ... If I portrayed myself as not needing money, why would they vote me out?"

Long said he felt bad about the lies he told, especially after reading the Bible while in the "Big Brother" house.

"I became closer to God in there; that's one of the things I took from that show," he said. "As the weeks went on I was reading the Bible, and doing that made me a better man, and I realized the things I was doing were wrong."

Long said he was approached by a casting director to audition for "Big Brother" while at a Pittsburgh bar.

"I don't dig reality shows because I think they're boring, and I'd never watched 'Big Brother,' " he said. But Long knew Alison Irwin, who appeared in last year's edition, and her now ex-boyfriend, Donny Patrick ("The Amazing Race"). "I knew I could do it, and I could do it better."

On the Internet, "Big Brother" fans love to hate Long, who appeared in the buff in Playgirl last year. One Web site included a poll about the size of Long's manhood.

"[Posing for Playgirl] was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Long said. "I'm not afraid to show anything, and I wanna be real."

Long has done clothed modeling work as well and is now considering a move to Los Angeles to pursue a career in entertainment. But first he'll be back in Pittsburgh today, and he intends to go "down to the Strip and have an amazing time with my friends and family."

Long's mother, Donna, teaches at Leechburg Elementary, and his father, Park, works in construction. Long said he's been overwhelmed with the response he's gotten from family and friends in phone calls since leaving the "Big Brother" house.

"I don't want to come off weird, but I'm just a celebrity beyond belief in their eyes," Long said. "My mom can't even talk to me straight. ... My life has definitely changed. I'm no longer normal Scott to a lot of these people."