Why Is Audrey Hiding In Her Room on ‘BB17’?

Something strange has been happening in the Big Brother house during the last few days of live feeds, and I seriously need assistance unpacking it. In case you only watch the episodes as they air and are not obsessed with deconstructing every second of the live feeds like I am, you may have not heard the news: Audrey has been isolating herself in the house for the past three days.

But wait, you might be saying to yourself. What exactly does mean exactly?

Well, it means that, after Audrey had a panic attack in Vanessa’s room — during which she claimed to hear ringing in her ears and to be hallucinating — Audrey disappeared into the Diary Room for FOUR HOURS. During that time, she postponed — and then completely skipped — the veto ceremony.

Since then, Audrey has retreated to the Have Not room, and has been there ever since.

So, why exactly has she gone into hiding? Is it strategy to make the rest of the housemates pity her, or is she legitimately breaking down under the pressure of the game? There’s no way to know for sure, but the production team definitely seems to believe that Audrey’s behavior is more than just gameplay. As Big Brother Gossip points out, ever since she has been holing herself up in her room, they have been bringing her meals, allowing her to break the Have Not rules (i.e. bringing her pizza instead of slop) — and then the live feed randomly glitched for a while and displayed a "technical difficulties" message.

Yeah. Something fishy is DEFINITELY going on here.

So I have two theories, both of which make me super sad for Audrey and her future in the game. I think she’s either, a) Having a legit nervous breakdown and is totally inconsolable, or b) Biding her time until Thursday, when she knows she will be evicted anyway. But why would she do that instead of just leaving the house now? Personally, I think it's because she would lose out on her weekly stipend of $750 that each of the players get while in the house, AND not be allowed to return to the live finale. Essentially, it’s a breech of contract, and Audrey could get in a lot of trouble for it.

I don’t want to downplay Audrey’s potential distress, but I’m guessing her current behavior is an attempt to stay out of the game until she’s evicted.

Then again, the production team has made some serious exceptions for her. Maybe they know something about her current state that we don’t?

Either way, I hope Audrey is OK and that she has some sort of trick up her sleeve to account for her worrisome behavior. However, if she really is struggling, it might be for the best if she's sent home — a reality television show is certainly not worth a nervous breakdown.

To keep track of everything going on in the Big Brother house, check out Bustle’s very own Big Brother podcast, The Diary Room. Listen to the latest episode below, and be sure to check out future episodes on Bustle’s SoundCloud page and iTunes.

Want even more Big Brother? Bustle’s App has you covered. It’s THE go-to place for any BB fan looking for round-the-clock Season 17 updates. BUT FIRST, you need to download the app from iTunes.

Image: CBS (3)