In the 23 years Big Brother has been on the air, a lot of players have come and gone. While most players leave the house through an eviction process, a few have taken a different route. Some players have been asked to leave, while others have chosen to walk out all on their own. Let’s take a look at all the Big Brother self evictions.
Neil Garcia (Season 9)
Big Brother 9 houseguest Neil Garcia was the first player to leave the game voluntarily. The Realtor lasted seven days in the house before exiting on his own accord. The circumstances surrounding Neil’s exit are still very much a mystery. Despite years of speculation from fans, the reason for his sudden departure has never been revealed.
Dick Donato (Season 13)
After coming out victorious in Season 8, Dick Donato returned to the Big Brother house for Season 13. However, the TV villain’s game was cut short this time due to a personal matter.
In 2014, Dick revealed on an episode of VH1’s Couples Therapy that he left the Big Brother house after producers informed him he tested positive for HIV on a blood test.
Megan Lowder (Season 19)
Megan Lowder decided to self-evict from the house following a few incidents with her fellow houseguests. On night 1, Megan got in a heated argument with houseguest Josh Martinez. The BB19 winner called her “a bully” and “a snake” during the disagreement.
In a June 2017 interview with The Desert Sun, Megan said her interactions with some of the men in the house triggered her PTSD.
“When I was stationed in Norfolk, Virginia, I was sexually assaulted and I got really bad PTSD from it,” she told the outlet. “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.”
During the first week, Megan found herself in hot water again after she falsely heard a houseguest make a racial remark about another player. Megan told the outlet that the incidents affected her mental health, which led to her decision to self-evict on day 8.
Chris Kattan (Celebrity Big Brother Season 3)
Comedian Chris Kattan competed on Celebrity Big Brother in 2022 but chose to leave the game after 15 days. Chris explained his reasoning for self-evicting in a February 2022 interview with Us Weekly.
“At some point, it just became hard not to talk to family,” he told the outlet. “And for me, it became hard to be disconnected to the outside world. I don’t think I was so ready [or] realized what that felt like when you have cameras on you 24/7, except for when you’re going to use the bidet.”
“I didn’t realize how much I missed my family and friends and my loved ones and girlfriend,” he added.
Paloma Aguilar (Season 24)
Season 24 houseguest Paloma Aguilar left the Big Brother house on day 8 after telling houseguests she was experiencing anxiety and having trouble sleeping. The interior designer walked into the Diary Room and never returned. Producers canceled the first eviction after Paloma’s exit, which saved Season 24 winner Taylor Hale from elimination.
Paloma opened up about her sudden departure in July 26 Instagram post detailing her struggles with mental health.
“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,” she wrote in the caption.
She added, “I became so quickly obsessed with the game. I forgot how to take care of myself. FOMO consumed my every move. I would get 2-4 hours of sleep at night – no normal human could function off of (sleeping hours are 10pm-10am but everyone keeps each other up gaming), I did not see the sun for 5 days so I began to loose touch with reality, there’s no windows, and 100 cameras working 24/7 – even when you’re sleeping – ate me alive. No one understands the psychological challenge of reality television unless you have first hand EXPERIENCED it.”
TELL US – WHICH HOUSEGUESTS SELF-EVICTION SURPRISED YOU THE MOST?
