Taylor Mackenzie Dickens Hale (born December 31, 1994) is an American

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

personality and beauty pageant titleholder. She is the winner of the 24th season of the American reality television series '' Big Brother'', becoming the first

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

woman to win the series. She is also the first houseguest to win both the game and the America's Favorite Houseguest prize. Prior to ''Big Brother'', she was crowned

Miss Michigan USA The Miss Michigan USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Michigan in the Miss USA pageant. It is currently directed by Proctor Productions. Their first Miss USA victory was in 1990, and notable because ...

2021 and won Miss Congeniality at the

Miss USA 2021 Miss USA 2021 was the 70th Miss USA pageant, held at the Paradise Cove Theater of River Spirit Casino Resort in Tulsa, Oklahoma on November 29, 2021. The edition marked the first year of the competition under Crystle Stewart's directorship. At ...

pageant.

Personal life

Hale was born on December 31, 1994, in Detroit, Michigan. She attended

Detroit Country Day School Detroit Country Day School (also known as DCD, DCDS, or Country Day) is a private, secular school located in three campuses in Oakland County, in the U.S. state of Michigan, north of Detroit. The administrative offices, facility services, safet ...

from kindergarten through grade 12, graduating in 2013. She graduated from

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

in 2017, where she was a member of

Alpha Phi Alpha Phi International Women's Fraternity (, also known as APhi) is an international Fraternities and sororities in North America, sorority with 175 active chapters and over 270,000 initiated members. Founded at Syracuse University in Syracuse, ...

sorority. Hale resides in

West Bloomfield, Michigan West Bloomfield Township is a charter township in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A northwestern suburb of Detroit, West Bloomfield is located roughly from downtown Detroit. As of the 2020 census, the township had a population ...

. On November 9, 2022, she confirmed her relationship with fellow '' Big Brother 24'' contestant Joseph Abdin. They announced their breakup on April 19, 2023.

Miss Michigan USA

Hale won the

2021 pageant in August 2021 after nearly a year-long postponement due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. She did not place in the

Pageant, but she was awarded Miss Congeniality.

''Big Brother''

Season 24

CBS announced Hale as a ''Big Brother 24'' houseguest on July 5, 2022. Hale's fellow housemates ostracized her upon entering the house, making her an early target in the game and leading to her being nominated for eviction in each of the first two weeks. Hale was also the target of comments deemed microaggressive by some viewers of the show, and disparaging remarks about her appearance and personality. During the third week, Hale joined "The Leftovers" alliance, securing her safety for the remainder of the season. Hale won two Head of Household competitions; during weeks six and eleven. Hale was awarded the $750,000 grand prize by the season's jury, winning by a vote of 8–1 over Monte Taylor, and she became the first African American woman to win a regular season of ''Big Brother''. She is also the first houseguest to win both the game and the America's Favorite Houseguest prize, awarding her an additional $50,000. With total cash winnings of $800,000, Hale has won the most money of any houseguest in the history of the series.

''Reindeer Games''

In 2023, Hale returned to ''Big Brother'' to compete in the holiday spin-off season, ''

Big Brother Reindeer Games ''Big Brother Reindeer Games'' is a reality competition television series and spin-off of the American version of '' Big Brother''. It premiered on CBS on December 11, 2023, to December 21, 2023, and is hosted by former ''Big Brother'' HouseGue ...

''. She finished as the runner-up of the season.

Filmography

Television

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hale, Taylor 1994 births African-American beauty pageant winners African-American female models Big Brother (American TV series) winners Columbian College of Arts and Sciences alumni Detroit Country Day School alumni Female models from Michigan Living people Television personalities from Detroit