After 24 seasons, “Big Brother,” the summer competition-reality show of CBS, has crowned its first-ever Black female winner.
On finale night Sunday (September 25), former Miss Michigan USA Taylor Hale, 27, earned another title and made history as this season’s winner of “Big Brother.”
A jury of nine former houseguests awarded Hale the win and the $750,000 grand prize by a vote 8-1 against Monte Taylor, a 27-year-old personal trainer from Delaware.
Hale’s historic win came not without hardship as she was mistreated by her castmates and faced microaggressions from the beginning of the game.
Throughout the season, the pageant queen faced the block and was up for eviction from the “Big Brother” house six times, which is more than any other winner in the show’s history.
However, Hale’s social prowess and resiliency helped her navigate over 80 days in the house and make it to the end, where she delivered a powerful speech about her unique journey that ultimately wooed the jury.
“I am not a victim, I am a victor,” Hale told the voters on finale night. “And if there is one word that is going to describe the season it is resiliency. And if you were to ask yourself who was the most resilient person of the season, it was me.”
Hale’s victory marks the second year in a row “Big Brother” history has been made.
Last summer, Xavier Prather became the first Black winner of the regular series, which launched in 2000.
In 2019, singer Tamar Braxton also made history as the first Black woman to win the CBS spin-off “Celebrity Big Brother,” a condensed version of the mainline show that enlists famous houseguests.
On top of her already-historic win, Hale became the first “Big Brother” winner voted by fans as America’s Favorite Player, which comes with an additional $50,000 prize.
“It’s like winning Ms. Congeniality all over again,” Taylor told host Julie Chen-Moonves at the close of the finale. “But it’s a cash prize this time.”
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