By RODNEY HO/ rho@ajc.com, originally Thursday, July 23, 2015
Villa Rica's Audrey Middleton dug her own grave on "Big Brother" and found herself out of the house Thursday night.
This past week, she created a lame lie and covered it up poorly with one of her few allies on the show. She then got into a big argument and alienated herself from the rest of the houseguests.
Her departure quickly became a foregone conclusion. On Thursday night, everyone voted against her - except wrestler Austin Matelson, for no obvious reason.
She left the house quickly, hugging only Vanessa Rousso.
As circumstances the past week fell apart around her, Audrey spiraled downward. She isolated, spending five consecutive hours in the diary room. She wrapped herself in a blanket and wore sunglasses, talking to nobody. She stopped playing the game and didn't even show up for the veto meeting.
During the ceremony, Head of Household and Atlantan Shelli Poole picked Audrey as the replacement nominee.
"I've been sad. I've been angry. I've been confused," Shelli said. "But this is the best decision for both of us."
The houseguests wondered if Audrey would quit. "Emotionally, I don't think she can handle this game any further," said James Huling. He felt so bad for her, he made her an omelette.
They showed video of her Villa Rica-based family watching her make her big reveal the first episode. They are very supportive of her now. "She's a very special child," her mom Mireya said. Marc, her father, said, "To have that kind of freedom is important."
In what was supposed to be her defense speech before the elimination, Audrey started classy, then got bitter:
"I just want to say, what an honor it's been to come on this platform with 16 people who come from totally diverse walks of life including myself being the first transgender person on the show and being embraced on the first day and not being questioned. It's unique for me and powerful that we can get to share this and exmeplify this for America. From a game perspective, this is a move you've wanted for a few weeks now. Merry f***ing Christmas!"
She was placed for eviction against dentist John McGuire, the ultimate pawn.
Audrey's game play over the month was erratic, to say the least. For a time, she tried to lay low. But Audrey couldn't help herself. Earlier in the week, she decided to tell Shelli that Jason Roy was targeting her, which was a lie.
As a result, Shelli placed Jason on the block. Jason quickly told Shelli that he was not targeting Shelli, which was true. So Shelli, already not fully trusting Audrey, asked her about the situation. Audrey tried to say she heard it not directly from Jason but "everyone," which is possibly the lamest lie ever. Shelli called her out on it.
Instead of letting things lie and stop stirring crap up, Audrey went to James and told him that Shelli "betrayed" her by throwing her under the bus with Jason. (Huh? Audrey created this mess! Talk about deflection!) She somehow thought Jason could be an ally. Nope. He went straight to Shelli and Clay Honeycutt to tell them about what Audrey said.
"She's digging her own grave," Clay said.
"She makes me paranoid. I can't take that!" Shelli said.
Audrey felt pitiful and alone in the claustrophobia of being in the Big Brother house.
Shelli: "On a personal level, I absolutely love her and she's a friend for sure. But on a game level, I don't think I can level with her at all."
She struggled putting Audrey up: "I don't want to watch this later and regret it," she said, crying to Clay.
But she had no choice. Audrey played the game poorly and paid the price.
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