‘Big Brother’ Winner Andy Herren Says Diversity On The Show Is ‘Atrocious’

Big Brother Season 15 winner Andy Herren is speaking out against the reality series and those behind the camera, calling diversity on the show “atrocious.” The reality star recently caught up with E! News and gave a lengthy statement regarding his treatment from the show after he won the first-place prize. Andy had been speaking out about the lack of diversity on the show in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement and responded to Survivor alumni signing a petition for their respective show to include a more diverse cast and crew.

“It is important to speak up because Big Brother has always had a problem with minority representation,” Andy began. “There are usually at most two Black house guests and one gay house guest and Latino and Asian representation is even worse.”

Andy also commented that out of the 21 winners of the show, 12 of them were straight white males. He said that these straight white men always have the advantage because “there’s so many of them.”

“The minority house guests have to work harder for connections from the start because they are almost always cast to fit a token role,” Andy added. “Think about it: We’ve had numerous all white male alliances but no all Black male or female alliances because there are never enough Black house guests to even make that happen. It’s so frustrating and wrong.”

Andy went on to comment that the show ignored him, which he felt made fans of the show hate him. The former winner believes he is one of the best players to ever compete on Big Brother, but no one really knows because the producers didn’t show how much of a mastermind he was and how he was running everything during his season. Andy claims he got all the hate from fans because of how he was edited.

The winner also remarked that he was never invited back to the show after winning his season. Most winners, and even just memorable personalities, are invited back for future seasons to host competitions. Andy said he has never gotten a phone call about anything since leaving the Big Brother stage.

In addition, he claimed the same fans are telling him to “shut up” lately as he speaks out against the show. The 33-year-old said fans don’t like when a minority cast member steps up and speaks out, but he feels this is the time to do so as the world is changing. Andy added that he hopes CBS works toward including more minority cast members.