Big Brother houseguest James Huling made a passing comment on Wednesday night's broadcast about how he spent three years in prison -- leaving many surprised viewers wondering what crime he had committed.
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"I did three years in a prison with big men yelling at me," Huling said during last night's episode while standing up to fellow houseguest Clay Honeycutt, who was bad mouthing him for putting him up on the chopping block.
However, there's reportedly a different story behind it. According to multiple reports, Huling was never actually incarcerated.
While CBS did not immediately reply to Reality TV World's request for comment, Huling's "prison" remark appears to be a reference to his previous employment as a corrections officer.
Before the Big Brother season began, Huling's roommate Jason Hester conducted an interview with Times Record News, the newspaper in James' hometown of Wichita Falls, TX.
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Hester revealed, although Huling's career is now in retail, he had previously worked as a corrections officer. Huling, who recently moved to Wichita from Sumter County, SC, had also noted in his CBS bio he served in the armed forces for six years.
During Big Brother's Wednesday broadcast, Huling was even shown (see above photo) sporting both a hat and a worn, cutoff T-shirt which appeared to be associated with prior employment as a corrections officer in South Carolina. The hat read "SCDC" -- the acronym for the South Carolina Department of Corrections -- and his shirt stated "J. Huling" under an image of an officer's badge with the year 2011 on it.
Huling also appears to have a LinkedIn profile that states he served a corrections officer beginning in 2010.
Huling's record isn't squeaky clean, however, as he was reportedly arrested in Sumter County in August 2014 for "Contempt of Family Court" and posted $1,200 bond.
Huling was raised in a boys' foster home in South Carolina when his mother had passed away from cancer and his father was unable to care for him. In his teen years, the self-described "Hillbilly Asian" was adopted by a Caucasian family and grew to love his southern, country roots.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski