'Big Brother 17' Premiere: Audrey Comes Out As Transgender In First Episode As Houseguests React, 'It's Amazing' [VIDEO]
Digital media consultant Audrey Middleton officially came out as transgender to her fellow houseguests in the premiere of CBS's Big Brother 17 Wednesday night.
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Audrey entered the Big Brother house during Wednesday night's premiere and revealed in her introduction to the houseguests that she is transgender.
"So, my name's Audrey and I'm 25, I'm from a little charming town outside of Atlanta. I'm a digital media consultant," she began, before revealing the big news: "Something interesting about me is that I am the first transgender person to be on 'Big Brother!'"
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Her fellow houseguests were very receptive to the news, with many saying she looked great. Professional wrestler Austin Matelson had a very supportive message that went even deeper:
"Most people can't even accept who they are and for you to actually come out and be like 'this is who I am,' it's amazing," he said.
Retail associate James Huling admitted that Audrey's coming out "threw me for a loop," but he related it to his own overcoming of adversity as an Asian-American living in the South.
Audrey teared up as she admitted that this was her "first time admitting it on a public forum," and she received even more positive replies from her fellow houseguests.
In a diary room confessional, Audrey said that it was cool how everyone seems so supportive, but ultimately, this is Big Brother and "there's only one winner and now it's game time."
It remains to be seen how Audrey will do in the game, though she was already making alliance with Da'Vonne Rogers and Shelli Poole on the first night. We will see how long this lasts.
Big Brother 17 airs tonight at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.
