3 things about Michie Big Brother fans are missing if they aren’t watching the live feeds

Big Brother type TV Show network CBS genre Reality Where to watch Close Streaming Options

Big Brother airs three hour-long episodes a week, which seems like plenty of time to get to know the houseguests. But fans who avidly watch the live feeds, which give 24-hour access to the house, would disagree.

Image zoom Sonja Flemming/CBS

There are some things that CBS has completely left out of the episode footage that may shock fans, especially about Jackson Michie. Sunday’s episode showed houseguests Kathryn Dunn and Christie Murphy’s discussing Michie’s behavior — mainly the way he talks to women— but here are three things you may not know about Michie if you haven’t been keeping up with the live feeds.

The racist comments

Image zoom Sonja Flemming/CBS

Early on this season there was a lot of controversy around possible racism in the house. Michie was elected Camp Director, which allowed him to “banish” four houseguests. It’s no secret that of the four players Michie chose, three were people of color (Kemi Fakunle, David Alexander, and Jessica Milagros). It’s also no secret that the first three guests evicted this season were people of color (David, Kemi, and Ovi Kabir). But, the episodes showed various reasons why these players were targeted by Michie’s alliance, Gr8ful. What they don’t show are the various racist comments made by Michie and alliance member Jack Matthews.

While Jack seemed to be the ringleader of the racial slurs — which resulted in a stern talking-to from producers and a petition started by fans to have him removed from the show — Michie was almost always present when Jack was speaking this way (including when Jack said he wanted to “stomp a mud hole through [Kemi’s] chest” and referred to Kemi and Jessica as “maggots”) and has been caught saying things himself. Live feed watchers have heard Michie admit that producers also spoke to him about the comments. There’s even a muffled video where it sounds like both Jack and Michie use the N-word to refer to another houseguest.

While CBS hasn’t aired any of the racist comments or even had houseguests talk in the diary room about it, EW asked the evicted houseguests about their experience. When Ovi was asked about racism in the house, he said, “Subconsciously, yeah, I think some things came into play.” EW also spoke to Kemi: “I don’t want to say something without being certain about it, but we definitely felt a presence in the house that we weren’t a part of.” But the interview came just hours after she had been evicted and a day later, after she had some time to watch the show and see what was said about her, she released a statement on her Twitter condemning what she saw. “I am extremely disappointed and disgusted by the behavior I am being made aware of that occurred thus far in the Big Brother house. The degrading and threatening comments made by some houseguests and laughed at by others are outrageous and hard to see,” she wrote.

He’s been cheating

Image zoom Sonja Flemming/CBS

In week 4, Michie agreed to be one of the four “have-nots” in the house. Being a have-not means houseguests must sleep in a designated “uncomfortable” room, take cold showers, and may only eat “slop,” a chunky concoction that looks as gross as it sounds. But despite being a have-not, fans have seen Michie acting suspiciously — and other houseguests talking about it — on the live feed. He often goes into the shower with full pockets, where he stands with his back to the water. Sometimes he’ll duck down where the cameras can’t see him and when his head comes back into view, it seems that his mouth is full.

So what happens when a houseguest breaks the rules? If a have-not is caught eating food that isn’t slop, they get a penalty vote. This means the next time they’re on the block for eviction they automatically have one vote cast against them. However, CBS has made no indication that they plan on punishing Michie for breaking the rules and now that he’s no longer a have-not, it seems unlikely that they will.

His relationship with Holly was on the rocks

Image zoom Monty Brinton/CBS

Michie’s showmance with Holly Allen isn’t as picture perfect as it might seem on TV. And no, it’s not because he hooked up with Kat in week 1. Before Holly won this week’s HOH competition, the couple had a blow-up fight. Holly had voiced concerns about having sex in the house, and considering they are on a show all about watching contestants 24/7, that makes a lot of sense. Although production is generally respectful and points live feed cameras away from houseguests in the act, Holly told Michie she wanted to be more careful about where and when they had sex (there are some places in the house, like the HOH shower, that don’t get camera coverage).

In response, Michie decided it would be best if the two ended things. He claimed he didn’t want to be with someone who regretted him. He stormed off and when Holly brought a peace offering, he stubbornly insisted he didn’t want to talk about it. But when it was time for the HOH competition, the showmance seemed to be back on track because Michie was not afraid to boss Holly around from the sidelines.

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