Big Brother houseguest Paloma Aguilar has broken her silence on her abrupt and sudden departure from the Big Brother house on Season 24 as well as her controversial relationship with Taylor Hale.
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Big Brother host Julie Chen announced on the live July 14 episode that Paloma would no longer be participating in the game "due to a personal matter," and most of her fellow houseguests cried and wished Paloma well.
"No 750,000 dollars was worth the cost of my mental health," Paloma, 22, told Us Weekly in a Friday statement.
Paloma said her exit had nothing to do with Taylor, whom Paloma had been criticizing for days and targeting for eviction.
"It's crazy how people jump to conclusions with the whole racist bit -- Taylor and I are actually good friends so please keep hyping her up! She's a QUEEN," Paloma said.
Paloma said she and the 27-year-old beauty pageant queen and personal stylist actually developed a friendship before Paloma left the house.
"Her and I became actually very close towards the end -- the thing is they cut the beginning clips and ran with it," Paloma claimed.
"I told her I didn't want to hear [her excuse for sharing info with Monte Taylor] in the last episode because I was exhausted and I knew our girl well enough that it didn't even matter because she's just trying to play [the] game either way."
Paloma reminded fans that Big Brother, the TV show, is a very brief and edited version of the events that actually unfold in the house.
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"Remember that reality TV isn't always real. I'm always rooting for boss babes, never going to try and tear a strong woman down and I was extremely straight up with her the first days when we didn't mesh," Paloma said.
RELATED LINK: 'BIG BROTHER' SHOWMANCES NOWPaloma explained how Taylor "didn't try to ally with any of the girls" at first.
"And unfortunately our convo about that wasn't aired... Only love for this girl. I can't wait for her to come out so we can talk about it as two strong women," Paloma noted.
Towards the beginning of the game, Paloma had an issue with Taylor's flirtatious behavior.
Paloma didn't appreciate Taylor prancing around the backyard in a bikini and spending most of her time with the guys in the house.
"Her demeanor comes across even more cocky when she's not trying to make an effort with women. She's just digging that hole for herself with the girls," Paloma said.
It especially rubbed Paloma the wrong way when Taylor modeled her tight sparkly dresses and jumpsuits from prior beauty pageants.
Taylor then told her pal Monte Taylor how Paloma was afraid the men were forming an alliance and would come after the girls. Monte brought that information back to Paloma, who felt betrayed and decided that she needed Taylor to go home.
"She's such a b-tch to me.. Her personality just rubs people the wrong way and she lacks, most of all, self-awareness," Paloma vented at one point.
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Paloma also called Taylor "a lying b-tch" and "a snake in the garden."
She added, "[Taylor] will stab you from the back and make you a turkey club sandwich, okay?"
Many Big Brother fans accused Paloma of racist behavior and microaggressions directed at Taylor, including the show's Season 23 winner Xavier Prather, who had been a member of the historical "Cookout" alliance comprised of only people of color.
"The treatment of Taylor in #BB24 is a prime example of why The Cookout was formed," Xavier tweeted on July 10.
"Members of the black community (especially black women) and other people of color stand no chance in the Big Brother House due to perpetuation of micro-aggressions and unconscious biases which plague our society."
Xavier apologized for his own shortcomings when he played the game last year and continued, "I hope it doesn't take a 'Cookout' for black houseguests (or any POC houseguest) to finally escape the feeling of being ostracized within the Big Brother House for simply existing. Change is a MUST!"
Julie told Us in a subsequent statement how everyone is "flawed" at the end of the day and should practice "forgiveness, compassion and mercy."
"I am not obsessed with the live feeds, so I haven't seen every single thing that people are talking about," Julie said.
"I can say that if you were to talk to Taylor, I'm not so sure she would feel what everyone is saying, because a lot of things have happened behind her back, which is classic Big Brother."
RELATED LINK: 'BIG BROTHER' SHOWMANCES NOW: WHO'S STILL TOGETHER? WHICH COUPLES HAVE SPLIT UP?? (PHOTOS)
However, Paloma was shown having a heart-to-heart with Taylor prior to her exit, and the girls appeared to get along and bond.
Taylor is currently on the chopping block next to Joe "Pooch" Pucciarelli heading into the next two-hour Big Brother episode, which will feature the season's first eviction, Sunday night on CBS.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
