Misplaced blame? Big Brother 24 houseguest Paloma Aguilar revealed that it wasn’t her fellow cast members who forced her into an early exit — it was the game itself.
Nothing but love for this beautiful cast? I genuinely have come out of this experience with only good things to say about each individual; aside from any gameplay that was talked,” Paloma, 22, wrote via Instagram on Tuesday, July 26. “I left because of an ongoing mental health battle I faced which began once inside the walls of an idealistic utopia of a reality set. A reality that was far from the reality of my San Diego life.”
The former contestant, who shocked viewers when she exited the game prior to the first eviction on Thursday, July 14, revealed that she “forgot” to “take care” of herself after becoming “so obsessed” with playing the game.
“FOMO consumed my every move,” she wrote in her lengthy post alongside a photo of the entire BB24 cast. “I would get 2-4 hours of sleep at night — no normal human could function off of (sleeping hours are 10 pm-10 am but everyone keeps each other up gaming), I did not see the sun for 5 days so I began to lose touch with reality.”
The California native added that the “psychological challenge” she faced while being watched by “100 cameras working 24/7” damaged her mental health and “ate me alive” — something “no one understands” unless they have “firsthand experienced” it.
Paloma also slammed Big Brother for allegedly portraying things “to fit a narrative for ‘good TV,’” claiming that the “feeds cut from room to room when things are said that can jeopardize the storyline [they’re] going with. She then backed up her claims by stating that she “studied at Berkeley MediaST10.”
Concluding her statement by warning viewers that the show is not “the ultimate truth of reality” one might assume, the TV personality thanked “everyone for their love and support during this extremely hard time” before revealing that she would be “addressing more of my time in the house little by little.”
Palomar Agular on ‘Big Brother.’ CBS
Following her exit, Paloma exclusively told Us Weekly on Friday, July 22, that she left the reality series because “no 750,000 dollars was worth the cost of my mental health,” noting that it had nothing to do with fellow houseguest Taylor Hale. “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 explained that not everything between the pair made it on screen, saying, “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’s time on Big Brother initially made headlines ahead of her departure after fans accused her of treating Taylor, 27, poorly. In one episode, Paloma was heard referring to the Detroit native as a “lying bitch.”
However, the reality star insists that things were amicable between the women and lighter moments simply never made the final cut of the show. “She didn’t try to ally with any of the girls 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,” she told Us.
