(Fwrd Axis) — Big Brother Season 24 contestant Paloma Aguilar exited the show on Wednesday due to personal reasons, which was aired during Thursday night’s live show.
Host Julie Chen Moonves revealed at the top of the show that the show’s motto is “expect the unexpected” and something had occurred that would change the course of the live eviction show.
“An unexpected turn of events has now changed everything,” she said.
At the half-hour mark of the broadcast, the footage was shown of Paloma telling her fellow houseguests that she wasn’t sleeping at all and was struggling with her anxiety. She would eventually enter the Diary Room crying and not return. Then Head of Household Daniel Durston called everyone to the living room to read a note from production.
“Due to a personal matter, Paloma will no longer be continuing in the ‘Big Brother’ game,” he read as the fought back tears. “She wanted to pass along that she loves you all and wishes you all the best.”
Chen returned and announced to the house that the “Backstage Boss” twist was originally supposed to see nominees Taylor Hale and Terrence Higgins face off against the three backstage holders, and the loser would be sent home. However, since Aguilar was one of the members of the backstage crew and left the game, the eviction was canceled.
Aguilar’s departure from the show concludes a week that was filled with negative headlines for the show, centered around Paloma’s treatment of Hale, which then would eventually include the whole house targeting her.
Hale, a former pageant queen, has been the target of Aguilar and other houseguests. Hale has been repeatedly referred to as “aggressive” and others have said they fear she will have a tantrum if she doesn’t get her away.
On the live feeds, viewers saw Hale crying alone in the bathroom, and some cast members have said that they didn’t like her from the moment they saw her. Prior to that, Head of Household Daniel Durston and Aguilar discussed the nominations, which left him worried that having “two Black people on the block at the end of my week” would not be good for him moving forward.
“We need to put that aside, and America needs to put that aside,” Aguilar responded.
Big Brother producers spoke to the houseguests prior to the show beginning on July 6 with the cast undergoing sensitivity training.
Big Brother airs Sundays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays on CBS and streams on Paramount+.
