Big Brother Season 25 contestant Luke Valentine has spoken out after being expelled from the game for using a racial slur on camera. The 30-year-old illustrator from Florida took to his Instagram Story Sunday to share a vague, yet positive message while going for a walk shirtless. Valentine didn’t seem to be apologetic as he thanked people for their support and assured his followers he was keeping the “flames stoked.”
“Just letting you know, I’m alive, I’ve arrived, and you gotta keep the flames stoked,” Valentine said with a smile. “We can’t burn out, no, no, no, the fires of love will continue to burn.” He concluded, “So thank you for all the memes, thank you for all the support, the kind words.”
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Valentine was ejected from the Big Brother house shortly after dropping the N-word in the house Wednesday during a conversation with Cory Wurtenberger, Hisam Goueli and Jared Fields, who is Black. As shown during Thursday’s episode of Big Brother, Valentine said, “I’m in the f-king cheese room, n-a,” in an aside to Wurtenberger, who is white. Valentine tried to cover up what he’d said by correcting it to “dude,” continuing, “Anyways, we were in the f-king cheese room.”
Valentine continued to laugh as he apologized to Fields, telling him after Wurtenberger and Goueli left the room, “He got more mad about that than you. A little slip of the tongue.” Soon after, Valentine was removed from the house, having been called to the Diary Room before being ejected.
The houseguests then received a message from producers explaining what had happened. “Due to violating the Big Brother code of conduct by using a racial slur, Luke has been removed from the house and will no longer be participating in the Big Brother game,” the message read. “The game goes on and the live vote and eviction will continue as scheduled.”
Fields weighed in on what had happened in a Diary Room message during Thursday’s episode. “I don’t associate ignorance with malice,” he said. “Whether Luke meant it in that way or not, it was rules and regulations. We were told clearly before walking into this house. I completely understand the decision. I also understand there’s consequences to every action you make.” He continued, “It’s hard trying to help people understand where you’re coming from, especially being the only Black male in this house. With that being said, Luke, I hope for you the best and I just really do hope it was a learning situation for you.”
