Paloma Aguilar was kicked out of the Big Brother 24 house on Wednesday, just one day before the show’s first live eviction. On Thursday’s episode, the shocking news came out
At the 25-minute mark, Aguilar’s lack of sleep took center stage when she said that anxiety kept her from sleeping more than 2–4 hours a night. She told Matt Turner, “I can’t sleep at all in this house.” “I’m really ready to go.” She told the other people staying in the house that she couldn’t eat or sleep, which made them worry about her health. Then she went into the Diary Room and didn’t come out, causing more worry in the house.
Later, Head of Household Daniel Durston called a house meeting and got everyone in the living room. “Paloma is leaving the Big Brother game because of a personal matter,” he read from a card. “She wanted everyone to know that she loves them and hopes for the best for them.”
Even though the live feeds were cut off late Wednesday night, popular feed recapper hamster watch was the first to report Aguilar’s removal at 12:30 am Thursday. “I don’t know if it’s medical or by choice, and we might never know. If it’s medical, the show needs to think about privacy,” she wrote.
The feeds were down all day Thursday and while the show was on, but they should be back later tonight.
Fans of Big Brother had a lot to talk about in the 24 hours before Thursday’s episode. People on social media talked a lot about Aguilar’s disappearance from the feed streams. Some said she went into the Diary Room early on Wednesday and was never seen in the house again. Later that day, houseguest Ameerah Jones was heard saying, “I hope Paloma stays in this game, we need her,” to which Kyle Capener replied, “Oh my gosh, I know. I know that they were talking to her and then…” The feeds were then cut off all at once.
A houseguest has left the Big Brother house before for personal or medical reasons. In Season 9, Neil Garcia walked on Day 7 because of some unknown personal news. “Evel Dick” Donato, who won Season 8, left Big Brother 13 early for unknown reasons. It wasn’t until years later that he told people he was living with HIV. Megan Lowder left the house after Season 19 because she was having trouble with anxiety and PTSD.
Aguilar’s exit is controversial because she and other houseguests said bad things about another Black cast member, Taylor Hale. Hale, a personal stylist from Detroit, Michigan, who is 27 years old, has been shunned by the house and has been the target of many small slights, many of which were started by Aguilar as part of a plan to get Hale kicked out. Some people said Hale was “aggressive,” and others said she would throw a temper tantrum once she was nominated. Others said they didn’t like her as soon as they saw her, and in Wednesday’s episode, she was shown loudly crying alone in the bathroom.
Producers told our sister site Variety that “production has talked to the houseguests about microaggressions and that everyone went through the sensitivity training at the beginning of the year.”
Many former houseguests, like the winner of Season 23, Xavier Prather, have spoken out about how Hale was treated. “In the future, I hope it doesn’t take a ‘Cookout’ for Black houseguests (or any POC houseguests) to finally escape the feeling of being ostracised in the Big Brother house for just being there,” he wrote. “Change MUST happen! Until then, I know my fellow Michigander will keep her head up and stand tall like the Queen she is.”
In another part of Thursday’s show, host Julie Chen Moonves told the house that the night’s plans had changed. The original plan was to have a fight between one of the two nominees chosen by the house and one of the backstage pass holders instead of a vote and eviction. The loser of that competition between two people would have been kicked out.
But since the twist was supposed to send one houseguest home tonight and Paloma, who had a backstage pass, was one of the five houseguests who could have been sent home, the twist was canceled. Chen Moonves then told Brittany, Alyssa, Taylor, and Terrance they were all safe.
Part 1 of the Head of Household competition started with a backstage-themed obstacle race that was run in multiple heats. After winning her race, Jasmine tripped and fell. It looks like she broke (or badly sprained) her ankle in the fall. We won’t know who will win the competition or what will happen to Jasmine until Sunday.
