Not everyone who leaves the Big Brother House is voted out!
Big Brother season 24 has only finished its first week, and it's already one of the most chaotic seasons in recent memory. With one contestant leaving of her own accord due to "personal matters," the show has already had to change course and rethink their plans.
On Thursday, the live eviction episode wound up not featuring a live eviction at all after Paloma Aguilar left the house prematurely. The news surprised fans, as a self-eviction is an exceptionally rare occurrence on the show.
However, it's not unheard of. In fact, houseguests either choosing to leave or getting the boot from producers -- also known as getting expelled -- has happened numerous times, typically following some headline-grabbing drama.
In the wake of season 24's tumultuous first departure, ET is looking back, chronologically, at the eight times houseguests have packed their bags before their time would have otherwise been up.
Justin Sebik, Season 2 -- Expelled
After several instances of threatening to physically attack other players and destruction of property in the house, Justin Sebik's time on Big Brother came to an end when threatened another player, Krista Stegall, with a knife. The incident happened after a night of heavy drinking for he and Krista, and Justin later claimed the incident was a joke. Producers were convinced that Justin posed a threat to the safety of the other players and he became the first houseguest to get expelled, after spending 10 days in the house.
Scott Weintraub, Season 4 -- Expelled
During Season 4, the show featured the X-Factor twist, in which the original cast of houseguests would be joined in the house by one of their exes. When Scott Weintraub found out that his ex, Amanda Craig, had been cast, he threw a violent and destructive fit, which saw him throwing chairs around the house, breaking furniture and causing the other houseguests to hide in fear. He was eventually made to apologize to his fellow contestants, but was expelled by producers out of a concern for the players' safety. Scott was in the house for eight days.
Neil Garcia, Season 9 -- Self-Evicted
After seven days, producers revealed to the houseguests that Neil Garcia had to leave the house unexpectedly for "due to an urgent, personal matter." The reason for his departure has never been revealed, although some fans have speculated that it was due to the untimely death of a relative. However, this has never been confirmed.
Chima Simone, Season 11 -- Expelled
Friction between Chima Simone and Big Brother's producers existed throughout her 42 days in the house. She often refused to go to the diary room when called, she would remove her microphone, obstruct cameras and several times she threatened to cause major disruptions during live shows. Chima's conflict with the producers stemmed from her feeling that one of the season's twists unfairly manipulated the competition. After she threw her mic into the pool and fought with producers, she was eventually evicted, and not allowed to serve on the jury. Instead, her jury vote was left up to America, and viewers were given the opportunity to vote for a winner on her behalf.
Dick Donato, Season 13 -- Self-Evicted
In season 8, Dick Donato became one of the most infamous houseguests in the show's history, by starting fights, sowing the seeds of chaos and generally causing drama left and right. However, his strategy eventually paid off when he won the season, making it to the final two alongside his fellow houseguest and formerly estranged daughter, Daniele Donato. The father-daughter duo returned in Season 13, however Dick chose to leave the show after six days. While it was initially not explained why he left, Dick later revealed that a routine blood test conducted by producers showed that he was positive for HIV, and he has since been receiving treatment.
Willie Hantz, Season 14 -- Expelled
Only one day after his reign as the first Head of Household of Season 14, Willie Hantz was expelled from the Big Brother house. Willie was combative with his fellow contestants and behaved in an intimidating manner that was objectively against the code of conduct for the show. However, he was finally evicted on Day 14 when he got into a confrontation with houseguest Joe Arvin in the face.
Megan Lowder, Season 19 -- Self-Evicted
Life in the Big Brother house proved very difficult for Megan Lowder very early on, and she chose to exit the show after just eight days, due to suffering from PTSD, caused from when she served in the Navy. In an interview with The Desert Sun, Megan revealed that during her time in the armed force she was sexually assaulted. "So in the house… I had a lot of guys yelling at me and attacking me and it started really affecting me and making my anxiety severe and I was starting to get physically ill. I was throwing up, I had diarrhea, I was nauseous all the time." After getting into several confrontations and then falsely accusing another houseguest of using a racial slur, Megan recalled that she "went into the diary room where I started having a panic attack and they wound up taking me to the hospital a couple hours later."
Paloma Aguilar, Season 24 -- Self-Evicted
After sparking drama with fellow houseguest Taylor Hale, Paloma Aguilar shocked her fellow houseguests when he unceremoniously exited the competition after eight days. Throughout the week, the Paloma told the fellow houseguests that she suffered from anxiety and was not sleeping more than two or three hours a night. "I want some privacy. I'm serious. I physically cannot sleep in this house. I'm exhausted," Paloma shared in the diary room. She also wasn't eating regularly and was asking other contestants to vote her out. Eventually, Head of Household Daniel Durston called everyone into the living room to read an announcement delivered by the producers. "Houseguests, due to a personal matter, Paloma will no longer -- Paloma will no longer be continuing in the Big Brother game," Daniel read through tears. "She wanted to pass along that she loves you all and wishes you all the best." Because of her departure, the two houseguests nominated for eviction were both saved.
New episodes of Big Brother season 4 air Sundays, Wednesdays and Thursdays on CBS.
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