‘Celebrity Big Brother’ Star Ryan Lochte Gets Emotional Revealing He Got ‘You Should Die’ Letters After Rio Scandal

Although Ryan Lochte was one of the first houseguests to be evicted on Celebrity Big Brother, Monday night’s episode saw the final five crew reminiscing with season 1 competitor Mark McGrath about everything that’s happened throughout their time in the Big Brother house — which includes the Olympic swimmer opening up to his housemates about the scandal surrounding him at the 2016 Olympics.

An emotional Lochte, a far cry from his typical lighthearted personality, came clean about the struggle he faced since the infamous incident in Rio de Janeiro. When asked by Kandi Burruss why he decided to do Big Brother, Lochte said he wanted people to see him for who he is rather than for how he has been portrayed in headlines.

He explained the incident, which occurred when he and three of his Olympic teammates drunkenly visited a Rio gas station to use the restroom and claimed that they had been held and robbed at gunpoint. Admitting that he had “over-exaggerated” the story, Lochte said he and his fellow athletes were blamed for the international incident.

“They blamed us because I fabricated the story,” he said in the previously unseen flashback. “I said the gun was pointed at my head, but, it was, like, from me to you. But when I told the story, I was still, like, really drunk.”

Following the scandal, Lochte was dropped by four of his sponsors and charged with filing a false police report.

Calling the backlash from the night the “hardest time of my life,” Lochte said what he found most difficult was when he would get messages from people telling him he was no longer their role model.

“I’m a role model for these kids, and when I get messages saying, ‘You should die,’ and ‘I thought you were my role model; you’re not anymore,’ that is what really got me,” Lochte said, tearing up.

“I went from everyone loved me, and I was on top of the world, and then I was one of the most hated people,” he lamented.

The episode also saw a flashback to when Lochte’s fellow Olympic athlete, Lolo Jones, who still remains in the house ahead of the season 2 finale, opened up to her roommates about her decision to remain a virgin until she is married.

After telling Tamar Braxton and Natalie Eva Marie that she’s single because of her busy Olympic schedule, admitting that she spent a mere three weeks at home in 2018, she said her virginity might also have something to do with it.

“Another reason why I’m probably single is because I’ve never had sex and guys do not want to wait for girls,” she revealed to Braxton and Marie, who were shocked. “I’m waiting ’til marriage. That’s ended a lot of relationships.”

The Olympic bobsledder and hurdler explained that her decision has “ended a lot of relationships.”

“A lot of [my exes] either think I’m lying, so then they hang out and then they’re like, ‘Oh, she was telling the truth.’ Or there’s the ones that think it’s a challenge,” she said.

Braxton, who called Jones’ decision “amazing,” also played devil’s advocate, true to form. “What if you marry him and [the sex is] just not good? What are you going to do?” she asked.

“Well, for me, it’s gonna be good, ’cause I don’t have a comparison,” Jones replied.

The season 2 finale of Big Brother: Celebrity Edition airs live on CBS Wednesday, Feb. 13 at 9 p.m. ET. Jones, Braxton, Burruss, Ricky Williams and Dina Lohan remain in the running for the $250,000 grand prize.