Big Brother Contestant GinaMarie Zimmerman Owns Up To Racism, Apologizes

Big Brother contestant GinaMarie Zimmerman is sorry for the racist behavior she displayed over the course of the show.

Zimmerman left the reality show’s bubble on Wednesday’s finale to face up to the racist behavior she showed over the course of the show, and the second-place contestant has been contrite in her post-show interviews.

For more than 90 days, GinaMarie has been locked inside the Big Brother house with no contact with the outside world. But there were plenty of eyes on her, with cameras recording everything that happens in the house and broadcasting live to the internet.

It was on these live feeds that viewers saw many instances of racism from GinaMarie, from slurs toward Candice, a mixed-race contestant, to more casual racism (like referring to welfare as “n***er insurance”).

Inside the house GinaMarie had tried to downplay her actions, claiming that it was Candice who provoked the argument. But the live feeds do not lie, and the houseguest known as GM must now own up to her actions.

GinaMarie was on a high at the conclusion of the Big Brother finale. Though she finished second to Andy Herren, GinaMarie still took home $50,000. But not long after the finale ended she faced questions about her racist behavior.

Unlike her fellow racist contestant Aaryn Gries, GinaMarie appeared at least to take some responsibility for her actions.

GinaMarie now apologizing if she said anything to offend anyone in any way. #BB15

— BigBrotherLeak (@BigBrotherLeak) September 19, 2013

In an interview with zap2it, GinaMarie did not hide from what she had done.

“I’m really sorry, I really do apologize if anything I said offended people. I didn’t mean to. I hope people can accept my apologies. I know it was pretty much wrong for me to do.”

GinaMarie Zimmerman has plenty of problems to face now that Big Brother is over. Earlier this summer, when her racism turned into national news, her modeling company publicly announced that it had dropped GinaMarie.

Zimmerman’s company, East Coast USA Pageant, Inc., released a statement that read: “We have never known this side of GinaMarie or have ever witnessed such acts of racism in the past. We are actually thankful that this show let us see GinaMarie for who she truly is. We would never want her to be a role model to our future contestants. In a business where we are surrounded by beauty every day we are saddened to see something so ugly come from someone we put on a very high pedestal.”

GinaMarie Zimmerman seemed crushed to learn the fallout from her Big Brother racism, calling the firing “a real stab in the heart.”