'Big Brother's Vince Panaro announces he and his girlfriend Kelsey are on a break

Big Brother runner-up Vince Panaro has announced that he and girlfriend Kelsey are taking a break after his controversial relationship with Morgan Pope on the show's 27th season.


"I think coming out of the house, I just wanted to prioritize talking to Kelsey. I wanted to prioritize getting my head on straight and decompressing and processing everything that I just experienced for the past three-plus months," Vince, 34, explained in an October 20 YouTube video.

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Vince proceeded to answer a "common question" he's been receiving from Big Brother fans.

"What everybody is asking me is, 'What is my relationship like?' Kelsey and I have talked everything out," Vince said several weeks after he and Kelsey were spotted having a tense conversation while running errands in Calabasas, CA.


"We have talked about everything and anything possible, and we're currently taking time to process everything individually, and you know, figure out what things look like after that."

Vince went on to share what he really appreciates about Kelsey, whom he had been dating for seven years before he competed on Big Brother.

"She had the respect for me to be the first person that I see when I leave finale night and to stick around and have those conversations with me when she could've left and could've never spoken to me again and thought that... this was the end of the line for me," Vince said.

"That's what she could've done. That's what a lot of people might have done. She was there to -- first, above everything else -- make sure that I was okay mentally coming out of there, knowing the backlash that I was going to be receiving."

But at the same time, Vince suggested that Kelsey was disappointed in him and wasn't going to forgive and forget quickly.


"She has enough respect for herself to take her own independent time and figure out what she wants and to process her own experience individually. And I respect that too," Vince said.

"It wouldn't matter if we were on the verge of breaking up before going in the house or if we were on the verge of getting engaged. The fact of the matter is, I was in a relationship entering that house."

Vince, taking accountability, elaborated, "And however anyone reacted towards me is because I welcomed it. I set those boundaries that that was okay and that was acceptable within my relationship. So that's all on me, and I understand the way that it looked."

Vince admitted that living in that strange, unique environment, "lines started to blur" for him.

"I felt like any level of affection was normal in that alternate reality I was living in," Vince explained.


"And some people say, 'How could you be that stupid? How could you not see it?' And to that, I could only say, 'Well, you'd be surprised. I can be that stupid, I guess.' I don't know."

Vince continued, "In hindsight, can I see how that's disrespectful to having a girlfriend? Yes, 100 percent. And I'm sorry for that! And to be honest, that's on me, 100,000 percent. That is on me. I set the boundaries."

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Vince reiterated how he -- not Morgan -- was the person in a committed relationship outside of the Big Brother bubble.

"I was the one who said, 'This is normal.' And it helped me mentally in that house. But outside, I could see that not being respectful to having a girlfriend, and I should've been extra cautious. But the fact of the matter is, I wasn't," Vince confessed.


Vince admitted he "needed that level of comfort" from Morgan to survive in that house.

"I had somebody in the house who was providing me with that and was also an incredible gameplayer and friend," Vince shared.

"I knew she was going to be a force to be reckoned with, and I knew she was going to start winning all types of competitions and it would help keep me safe. It's gameplay and it's also human, but I was just seeking that. I needed that, and that's all I can say about that."

Vince insisted he "never" wanted to "embarrass" his family, friends or even himself.

"But definitely not Kelsey because she didn't sign up for the show. I did. And then of course there's a lot of public scrutiny as well," Vince noted.


"I never viewed myself as coming out of there as a villain by any means. I never had the intention to hurt anybody outside of my normal life. And even if I didn't have the intention, I'm not okay with hurting people, even if I didn't mean to."

Vince admitted that he "still hurt people" and that's "not okay" in his book.

"And that's something I feel really, really bad about. And that's something I have to live with," Vince noted.

Vince wrapped up his video by saying that although he left Big Brother with a scandal to deal with, he had an "incredible experience" overall and he's "an even bigger fan" of the show now than he was before.

"The producers take such good care of you, but you're in a pressure-cooker environment where it's designed to see if you crack. And I cracked -- a few times," Vince concluded with a laugh.

An insider had told The Sun earlier this month that Vince and Kelsey were "no longer dating" but they were "hashing things out" post-show.


Kelsey reportedly decided she was "done" with Vince about halfway through Big Brother's 27th season because he had "disrespected" her by constantly flirting with Morgan.

However, Vince reportedly didn't find out that Kelsey had dumped him until Big Brother's finale night on September 28.

"Vince was told that Kelsey broke up with him on the Big Brother stage, and he learned from the other contestants," a source who was present at the Big Brother finale told The Sun.

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While Vince's parents were sitting in the audience on finale night, Kelsey was noticeably absent.

The source alleged that Vince was "in complete denial" about his relationship with Kelsey.


According to the eyewitness, Big Brother 27 houseguest Jimmy Haggerty -- who had been voted out of the Big Brother house pre-jury and could therefore connect with the outside world -- was the person who broke the bad news to Vince.

After being named the runner-up of Big Brother's 27th season, Vince told Entertainment Weekly that he was "not worried" about his relationship with Kelsey or how she perceived his flirty interactions with Morgan throughout the season.

"I mean, Kelsey is the -- she's the most secure person in the world," Vince said. "We know our relationship, we know the boundaries we set."

At that time, however, Vince said producers had yet to give him his phone back.

Vince and Morgan's extremely close friendship was a storyline on Big Brother.

Vince and Morgan's behavior in the house -- including extremely long hugs, sleeping in the same bed, and showering next to each other -- had the other houseguests gossiping.


Keanu Soto, for instance, joked about being on a show called Cheating Island, but Vince and Morgan kept insisting that they were just best friends.

Vince didn't seem to think he had done anything wrong, but he began questioning his future with Kelsey when she clearly opted out of recording a video message for him once he made it to the Final 5. (Each Final 5 houseguest received a sweet message from loved ones and significant others).

"Am I single right now? Did Kelsey dump me?" Vince asked in the Big Brother Diary Room towards the end of the game.

"Perception-wise, am I too affectionate with Morgan? We like to spend time together, and yeah, we sleep in the same bed, but it's a giant bed and her head is at the opposite of me."

Vince continued, "Have I crossed boundaries that I'm not aware of, that I didn't think I did, but maybe I did?"

Earlier in the season, when Zingbot had roasted some of the Big Brother houseguests, the robot said, "What do you call someone who lights up when Vince enters the room, gives him long, passionate hugs and warm, affectionate cuddles?"


Zingbot then looked at Morgan and yelled, "His girlfriend! Zah-zah-zah-zing!"

Morgan seemed very upset by the zing, telling the cameras that she totally respected Vince's relationship with his girlfriend back home.

And Vince insisted to Us Weekly after the show that he never crossed the line with Morgan.

"I didn't think anything of it. I just was living in the Big Brother house," Vince explained, before adding, "I just assumed everyone would lay around. Everyone lays on top of each other."

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Vince elaborated, "Past seasons that I've watched live feeds, it's just kind of the vibe, and that's how some people are more affectionate with their closeness to you. And some people are not."


Vince walked away from Big Brother with $75,000 for finishing in second place. He only received one jury vote to win the game from Morgan.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski