'Big Brother' Winner Taylor Hale Talks Secret To Winning: 'I'm Used To Criticism'

As the first black woman to win the 24th season of the American reality TV show, "Big Brother," Taylor Hale is garnering recognition far and wide after such a feat.

On top of emerging the winner of the show, Hale was also voted America's Favorite Houseguest, becoming the first winner to claim the honor. Hale shed light on her interesting experience in the house while recounting her past deeds, explaining how they contributed to her win on the show.

After just over 24 hours since the "BB24" winner made history, she is becoming accustomed to seeing her face all over the internet, especially on Twitter. She expressed her love for the support from her fandom, who call themselves 'Hale Raisers' and told them to "keep raising Hale."

The 27-year-old told PEOPLE that supportive gestures reminded her that the "core instincts" and "assumptions" she had about herself, the way she presented herself, and her communication skills did not initially make her understand when she was in the house.

However, being aware that other people could see who she was showed her that she was not doing anything wrong and was not the "villain." Apart from being the program's winner, earning a combined sum of $800,000, Hale may have been loved by nationwide viewers, but she did not have it so easy in the house.

Over the months on the show, she was falsely accused of using someone's mental health and had cuss words thrown at her by fellow houseguests. However, she always kept up with her kindness, even after discovering a supposed supporter thought of making an all-white alliance, all of which she mentioned in her touching final plea to jurors.

The 27-year-old ultimately left the house as both a champ and the people's champ, and she cannot wait to keep engaging with her fans in the real world again. Fans would recall that she previously earned the title of Miss Michigan USA, and she touched on how the past success prepared her for the hurdles she faced on the show. Hale shared:

"It's funny. You can do all the media training in the world, you can do all the interview prep in the world, but you're still a human behind everything that you experience."

She added that when she was crowned Miss Michigan USA, she was the second Black woman in 15 years to earn the honor, and she was of a darker complexion than her predecessor. So, upon her crowning, she began receiving racist remarks like "Miss Michigan USA should not be Black" and "Miss Michigan USA should give up her crown for the first runner-up," who was a blonde white female. 

The personal stylist went on, "So, I'm used to criticism. I'm used to letting things roll off my back. And I won't say that I'm glad that I experienced that before, but it did come in handy in the house." Even so, it was one of those things where she realized it was not her responsibility to "coddle somebody else's hatred."

But she knew it was her obligation if she harmed someone to be accountable for her actions by trying "to find common ground there" and apologizing. On the other hand, if someone was spreading hatred or rumors that she believed were totally false, it was not her responsibility to "make up for their actions."

Following a leading eight-to-one jury vote from fellow "Big Brother" houseguests and a moving final plea to the jurors, Hale was crowned the winner of the 24th season of the CBS show. The Blast shared the champ's plea not long after her win, revealing that she considered herself a sword, not a shield, and a victor, not a victim. 

She also said, "If there is one word that is going to describe the entire season, it is resiliency. If you were to ask yourself who the most resilient person of this season has been, it is me."

The West Bloomfield native challenged the jurors to choose a resilient and persistent winner before pointing out that she never and would never give up on herself. She also wanted them "to make the hard decision and change the course of the game, and choose progress for the course of this game."