The ‘Big Brother Australia’ journey came to an end for Soobong Hwang on Wednesday night, making him the third to be evicted from the BB house.
His eviction came after Fijian-Australian Laura Coriakula and Chinese-Australian Allan Liang got the boot in the past two days.
In a time when diversity and representation is being discussed widely, housemate Allan said it’s a “coincidence” and “bad luck” that the first three to be eliminated are all people of colour.
Speaking to HuffPost Australia, he said Laura, Soobong and himself were big threats to other housemates in their own ways.
“It was coincidence, it was a bit of bad luck and it just happened that Laura is of that ethnicity and that she is a strong person athletically,” said Allan.
“Then you’ve got me who is the brains behind the operation that plays a great social game, and then you’ve got Soobong who everyone thought was a threat because he’s quite an interesting character.”
Laura agreed that it was a “coincidence” but also mentioned an “us and them” dynamic as she gravitated more towards Allan and Angela, who was born and raised in Kenya.
“I think in the house, and it could be such a coincidence that we are just strong players, but if you look at it the other way, and if I’m honest, I did not connect or relate to anybody in the house on that note, and maybe they felt that too because they thought, ‘You know why is it just us getting along?’” she said. “Always this us and them.
“Think about a workplace, the ethnics immediately draw together as a team. Inside the house, obviously Angela and Allan were the only two people I thought I could relate to,” she said.
“There’s this kind of unspoken language where we will immediately band and respect each other knowing when you’re in the presence of a lot of white people.”
Laura explained she could “instantly” relate to her fellow culturally diverse housemates, however “it’s a bit more of a slow burn when it comes to creating a connection with a white person because I’m trying to filter out, ‘Okay are you racist or do you get it?’”
Former ‘Big Brother’ housemate Priya Malik, who placed fourth in the 2014 series, said she believes race could play a part in nominations, but it wouldn’t be the “sole basis” of eliminations.
“Race can play a part in [lack of] popularity for a mainstream Aussie show however this was proven wrong when I became a finalist,” she told HuffPost Australia.
“In saying that, a lot of racist slurs were used for me [by viewers] when I appeared on the show. Although maybe it was also because I was so unapologetically Indian, but I wouldn’t have done it any other way.”
Viewers took to Twitter on Wednesday night to voice concerns about the unsettling theme of the evictions:
‘Big Brother Australia’ airs Sunday 7.00pm, Monday-Tuesday 7.30pm on Channel 7.
This article has been updated to include Tweets from the time the episode aired on Wednesday night.