Warning! The following contains spoilers for Big Brother Season 23's live eviction results in Week 6. Read at your own risk!
Britini D'Angelo fought as hard as she could to stay in the Big Brother house this season, but she ultimately wasn't able to overcome the secret plans concocted by The Cookout. D'Angelo is officially Season 23's first member of the jury, and the now-former Houseguest is "proud as hell" of all she accomplished in the game despite her rampant nominations. A lot of that pride is tied to D'Angelo's life outside the show, specifically her journey through life after being diagnosed as autistic at an early age.
Coming out of the eviction, Britini D'Angelo took questions from CinemaBlend and other press, and I asked about her lifelong journey with autism and if she had any advice for future Big Brother hopefuls who are also on the autism spectrum. Not only was Britini "honored" to answer the question, but she also gave some background on the obstacles she overcame to make it to Big Brother in the process.
Oh my gosh I am honored to be answering this question right now. For me, I was diagnosed at 22 months old. . . I was non-verbal, I had no eye contact, and I had no social cues at all. So for me, coming from being diagnosed at 22 months to sitting in this chair right now, being able to speak and come on Big Brother, what I say to everyone is everyone can do this. Never give up on your dreams, never back down from a challenge, and if something’s hard, that’s ok. It’s ok because it’s going to make you stronger in the end. For me I’ve had to work harder than everybody else to get to this point and so many people wrote me off. My mother calls me a miracle on a daily basis because me sitting here was not the plan. It just wasn’t.
Fans may be shocked to hear about the struggles Britini D'Angelo has faced throughout her life, especially given her reputation as one of the most high-energy and talkative Houseguests this season. She gave the Big Brother audience not just one, but two impromptu raps on live TV during nomination ceremonies, and she even overcame adversity with a key veto win that resulted in the elimination of Houseguest Christian Birkenberger. Though she didn't win it all, there's no denying D'Angelo's significant impact on Season 23.
There's also no denying that Britini D'Angelo is a role model whose accomplishments fly in the face of foolish stigmas against autism. D'Angelo has found plenty of success outside of reality television as a 4th Degree black belt under the Chuck Norris system, and as a Tik Tok personality with over 178k followers. D'Angelo told CinemaBlend having autism has only made her stronger, and she name-checked Season 14 winner Ian Terry (who publicly revealed his autism diagnosis in Season 22 of Big Brother All-Stars) as evidence that Big Brother is a game anyone can play. In her words:
So many people helped me along my journey. I am honored to be even sitting in front of you being able to speak on this. For me, my autism has made me stronger. It has absolutely made me the strong, confident woman that I am today, and I am proud as hell of it. And I’m proud as hell of the journey that I’ve been on. . .So be proud of your journey. Be proud of every obstacle you have to overcome, and be ok with the obstacles happening because they make you stronger in the end. Anyone can sit where I’m sitting, I proved it this season. Ian, myself, everyone can do this! So for me, what I say is never give up on your dreams. Always be authentically yourself because you are amazing exactly the way you are.
Britini D'Angelo's was positively glowing with passion in her response, similar to the fire she had in Diary Room sessions in which she committed to fighting as hard as she could to stay in Big Brother. D'Angelo told CinemaBlend she ultimately had no regrets about how the eviction went down, and she had been notified an hour and a half prior to the vote she'd be going home. For now, the reality star is excited about her next responsibility which, barring a battle back, will be to help determine the overall winner of Big Brother Season 23.
Big Brother airs on CBS on Sundays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at 8:00 p.m. ET. For more on the show, be sure to read our recap of Sarah Beth Steagall's big Head of Household win, and what her plans could be for the coming week!
