'Big Brother 24': Paloma Aguilar Breaks Silence on Controversial Exit

Big Brother 24 housemate Paloma Aguilar has broken her silence on her recent controversial exit. "No 750,000 dollars was worth the cost of my mental health," the 22-year-old exclusively told Us Weekly in a statement about her exit. She also noted that her choice to leave 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."

Ahead of her exit, Aguilar says that she and Taylor, 27, developed a friendship, which she is very happy about. "Her and I became actually very close towards the end – the thing is they cut the beginning clips and ran with it," Aguilar claimed. "I told her I didn't want to hear it in the last episode because I was exhausted and I knew our girl well enough that it didn't even matter because she's just trying to play [the] game either way." She also stated that not all of their interactions were shown on-screen. "Remember that reality tv isn't always real," Aguilar said.

"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," the home remodeler went on to say. She also added of Hale: "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."

It was announced on July 15 that Aguilar had chosen to leave the Big Brother house, citing private personal reasons as the cause of her decision. Despite her claims that two are friends, during her time in the house fans felt they noticed Aguilar being very rude toward Hale, once allegedly calling her a "lying b—."

"Bro, I've tried to be compassionate toward her. She's such a b— to me. She has not talked game to any of the girls," Paloma told several of the other housemates, seemingly indicating that in the past she felt she'd made sufficient attempts to bond with Hale. "Her personality just rubs people the wrong way and she lacks, most of all, self-awareness."

Aguilar continued: "She can be a snake in the garden. She will stab you from the back and make you a turkey club sandwich, OK? I see it. I'm a girls' girl and I love strong women. We play a similar game but I'm playing it better." Big Brother 24 airs Wednesdays and Sundays at 8 p.m. and Thursdays live at 9 p.m. on CBS and with live streaming for Paramount+ subscribers. Those interested in trying out a free trial of Paramount+ can do so by clicking here.