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There was only one way for Big Brother Season 24 to end, and no one thought it was possible after the racism, misogyny, and colorism that transpired during week one. What started as a season full of hate and ugly behavior finished with the most satisfying win in Big Brother history. And we have Taylor Hale to thank for that.

Taylor Hale, who won 'Big Brother 24' on CBS, rejoices in a confetti shower while wearing a light pink gem-studded jumpsuit.
Taylor Hale | Photo: CBS

The season began with racism and bullying

The moment Taylor walked into the Big Brother Season 24 backyard, multiple houseguests unfairly judged her. Paloma Aguilar and Alyssa Snider, in particular, bonded over their shared hatred for Taylor, and all they knew about her was that she was a “pageant girl.”

Soon, Jasmine Davis, Indy Santos, and Ameerah Jones joined in on the Taylor hate, and they formed an all-girls alliance with Brittany Hoopes. And their mission was to evict another woman — Taylor. Then, when Taylor informed Monte Taylor that Paloma might be coming after him, he ran back to Paloma and she denied everything. Soon, every little thing that Taylor did was used against her.

The entire house turned on her, and Head of Household Daniel Durston nominated her for eviction. He belittled Taylor by telling her that she had to apologize to her fellow houseguests for what she did. However, Taylor had no idea what she did wrong because she didn’t do anything wrong. Clearly, the hatred for Taylor was rooted in racism, jealousy, and sexism.

Multiple microaggressions toward Taylor occurred during the first few weeks, including the notion that she would “blow up” even though she was the most level-headed person in the house. And despite the mistreatment, Taylor persisted and never lost sight of the end goal.

Taylor Hale won ‘Big Brother 24’

The formation of the Leftovers and her allegiance to them secured Taylor’s safety for a few weeks in Big Brother Season 24. And her fantastic social game resulted in her greatest enemies, including Indy and Jasmine, becoming big Taylor advocates in the jury house.

Taylor worked hard to change the opinions of those who disliked her, and her persistence led her to the final two chairs on finale night.

Monte underestimated Taylor and brought her to the final two, where she demolished him. She answered the jury’s questions with ease and gave the best Big Brother finale speech of all time. And in the end, Taylor won Big Brother 24 in an 8-1 vote. The fans also awarded her America’s Favorite Houseguest, the first time the winner has won that award.

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‘Big Brother 24’ has the best redemption arc

If you asked Big Brother 24 fans at the beginning of the season how they would rank it among the other seasons, they would probably rate it very low. The racism and bullying put a dark cloud over the game, making it unenjoyable to watch. However, we all underestimated Taylor’s karma and ability to persist through the darkest days.

Taylor’s win is significant not only because she is the first Black female winner of a regular Big Brother season but also because of how she played the game. As Taylor said in her speech, it was time for a new kind of Big Brother winner. Gone are the days of competition wins and big evictions as indicators of playing a good game. Taylor brought us back to old-school Big Brother, which was advertised as a social experiment.

Taylor saved Big Brother 24 through her resilience, kindness, and ability to make her worst enemies fall in love with her. And now we can say Big Brother 24 is one of our favorite seasons. However, maybe we’ll skip over the first couple of weeks during a rewatch.

All episodes of Big Brother 24 are now streaming on Paramount+.

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