Big Brother contestant Luke Valentine has broken his silence after being removed from the show for using the 'N-word' during a live stream.
Valentine addressed his fans in an Instagram Story posted on Sunday (13 August), days after his removal from the Big Brother house.
The former contestant entered the house for season 25 of the reality TV series this year, when he was joined by contestants including Jared Fields, Cory Wurtenberger, and Hisam Goueli.
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It was after only a few days in the house that Valentine used the 'N-word' during a conversation with these three contestants, in the midst of a live-stream on Paramount+.
"We were in the f**king [inaudible] room, n****," he said in the footage which was recorded on 7 August, before attempting to catch himself and replace the slur with the word 'dude'.
After the conversation, Valentine was called to a separate room before being removed from the show altogether.
In the wake of the incident, CBS and Big Brother's producers released a statement, saying: "Luke violated the Big Brother code of conduct and there is zero tolerance in the house for using a racial slur. He has been removed from the house. His departure will be addressed in Thursday night’s show."
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The rest of the contestants continued on with the show as normal, but Valentine remained quiet on the matter until he took to Instagram this weekend.
Valentine didn't address his use of the racial slur directly, and instead appeared shirtless and wearing headphones in a video in which he seemed to be coming to the end of a workout.
Speaking to his 4,000 followers, he said: "Hey, guys. Just letting you know, I'm alive, I've arrived and you gotta keep the flames stoked until next time. We can't burn out, no, no, no, the fires of love will continue to burn, baby.
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"So thank you for all the memes, thank you for all the support, the kind words."
Valentine's departure from the show was addressed by host Julie Chen Moonves in Thursday's (10 August) episode, when she explained how the cast had learned that Valentine had been evicted the night before.
"It was an emotional 24 hours in the Big Brother house as the houseguests learned that one of their own broke the Big Brother Code of Conduct and was removed from the game," she said.
Contestant Reilly Smedley was also seen telling the housemates Valentine had been 'removed from the house', saying: "[He] will no longer be participating in the Big Brother game. The game goes on and the live vote and eviction will go on as scheduled."
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