Aaryn Elizabeth Williams (née Gries; born September 3, 1990) is an American reality television personality, YouTuber, and business owner from San Marcos, Texas.
[3][4] Gries was born in San Angelo, Texas, on September 3, 1990, and raised on the ranch of her father, a German Texan.
[7] As of part Zephyr Talent, Gries has landed very few gigs in Texas, including modeling lingerie on the runway during Austin Fashion Week at La Zona Rosa Marketplace.
[9] She was also part of the "Blonde-tourage" alliance with Girton, Kaitlin Barnaby, Jeremy McGuire, Nick Uhas, GinaMarie Zimmerman, and Jessie Kowalski.
[10] After Girton was evicted, Gries won the "Big Brother BBQ" Head of Household competition in the following week with McGuire (her teammate) and ended up taking the HOH position.
[13] Following the eviction of her ally Barnaby, Gries won her second Head of Household competition in "Roulette Me Win", making her the first HouseGuest to hold the title twice this season.
Gries became the center of controversy after making remarks widely condemned as racist and homophobic by the show's live feed viewers as well as host Julie Chen.
[15] These comments led to negative reactions from many fans of the show, and more than 27,000 people signed a petition asking that Gries be expelled from the house before she was evicted.
On the controversy, CBS stated "Big Brother is a reality show about watching a group of people who have no privacy 24/7 — and seeing every moment of their lives.
Aaryn is a young 22-year-old college student that has spent 70 days living in a fish bowl and making mistakes for America to see."
[26] Gries comments in the house led to her losing representation from her talent agency and her job as a magazine spokesmodel.
[27][28] Gries's mother apologized for the offensive comments after hiring a publicist, and spoke out against the exploitation of her daughter's words for ratings in an interview given to the Los Angeles Times a few days after her eviction.