After a season full of being targeted and persecuted by her houseguests, Taylor Hale made history as the first Black woman to win the game of Big Brother. The 27-year-old personal stylist also became the first houseguest to win the $750,000 grand prize and the $50,000 that comes with being voted “America’s Favorite Houseguest.”
In the game of Big Brother (BB), a reality TV show airing on CBS, 16 strangers enter the BB House to spend three months disconnected from the outside world. Throughout the summer, the houseguests participate in a series of competitions to obtain both power and safety. Each week two houseguests are nominated for eviction by the Head of Household. A proceeding vote leads to the eviction of one houseguest.
From the moment Taylor walked through the front door into the BB House, a huge target was painted on her back. Her early game was defined by a narrative pushed by the girls in the house. Her opponents dubbed her an “ice queen” and “seductress” who cared more about winning the affection of the men in the house than the grand prize.
This shared perception of Taylor fueled the motivation to create an all-female alliance, known as “The Girls Girls.” This alliance consisted of all of the female players in the house except for two – Taylor, the only dark-skin Black woman, and Nicole, the only lesbian in the house. Hale spoke with her fellow houseguest about her personal struggles with colorism, which many viewers and BB alumni attributed to the treatment they saw Hale endure.
Week after week, Taylor was subjected to racist comments and relentless bullying within the house. Eventually, her fate began to change. After fellow houseguest Daniel exploded at Taylor in front of the house, some of the players began to realize how unfair the persecution of Hale had been.
Seven players decided to band together to not only protect Hale from the treatment she had endured but to change the fate of the game which had been primarily run by the all-female alliance. They called themselves “The Leftovers.” The alliance quickly gained control of the house and sent home the major offenders in Taylor’s mistreatment.
Although Taylor had a difficult time winning over the affection of her housemates, BB fans did not hesitate to support the former beauty queen. There was an outpouring of support online for Hale throughout the season, and her supporters voted in her favor to win the title of America’s Favorite Houseguest.
This title comes along with a $50,000 cash prize. For the first time in BB history, the winner of the season also secured the America’s Favorite Houseguest title, adding to the reasons Taylor has earned her place in the BB history books.
Although the fate of her game changed with the newly formed Leftovers alliance, Taylor did not stop facing microaggressions at the hands of her fellow houseguests.
In 2021, Season 23 of BB crowned the first ever Black winner, after the historic all-Black “Cookout” alliance strategically made it to “Final Six” (the point of the game where only six houseguests remain).
During week eight, a member of the Leftovers alliance, Kyle, became concerned that an alliance similar to the Cookout alliance of Season 23 was forming between the people of color within the game. Kyle shared his worries with two other white houseguests and proposed that they should work together to protect themselves. Kyle listed all of the white players when suggesting who should be in this alliance.
These two houseguests informed the remaining three houseguests of color of Kyle’s plan. When informed of this, the three players, Taylor, Monte and Terrence, called a house meeting to address what had been said.
After everything was explained to each of the remaining seven houseguests, Taylor, along with the other two Black cast members, sat Kyle down to further educate him on the impact of his ignorance. Taylor not only had to put her own game aside to educate Kyle, but she also had to sit next to him on the block come eviction night. She shared her resentment over this in her finale speech.
“You know Kyle, I am not going to hate you as a person, or paint you out as an intentional villain, racist, et cetera, et cetera. One thing I will say is that as a Black woman in this world I don’t get the chance or opportunity, privilege if you will, to be sat down and walked through these things,” said Taylor.
Taylor always returned stronger through all the aversion she faced in the house. Week after week, she played the game with her back against the wall. A frequent house target, Hale never let the lies spreading around the house get in the way of her commitment to the game.
Taylor remained resilient when no one was in her corner and fought for herself when no one else would. She knew that this resilience was not in her own self-interest, but in the name of every Black woman across America.
Taylor remained committed to not nominating another Black woman for eviction, despite the potential game advantages. Hale spread a message of mutual support between women. This larger messaging fueled her game, until her very last moments in the BB House where she delivered her finale speech. Leaving the house on an empowering high, Hale spoke of her individual strength throughout the game and what it means for women elsewhere.
“I have bled out the most in this game, but I have bandaged myself back together every time and gotten up and continued to fight, because like so many other women in the world that is what we have to do to make it to the end,” Taylor said.
Taylor Hale was one of the strongest players Big Brother has ever seen, and she was a true inspiration for what the show should work to represent in the future.