Outspoken Black Voted Out of Reality Show

William “Mega” Collins, an outspoken African American youth counselor, Thursday night became the first contestant to be ousted from the CBS reality hit series, “Big Brother.”

Just moments after learning he had been evicted, the 27-year-old said: “I love it. Gotta be No. 1--either the first one out or the last one out.”

In a post-eviction interview that was part of the show, Collins confirmed reports that he had been an officer with the New Black Panther Party for Self Defense. While he said he hasn’t held that position for several months, Collins said he supports many of its views.

Ten contestants, including Collins, have been isolated in a custom-built house since July 4, filmed around the clock with that footage turned into a weekly series by CBS that has been drawing about 10 million viewers a night.

Collins had spent most of his time since “Big Brother” began airing confronting his predominantly white housemates about race and other issues. As part of the rules of the “Big Brother” game, last week Collins and another contestant were picked for “eviction” by the group. But the ultimate decision rested with viewers who called in to vote. In the end, 73% of the callers wanted Collins to leave. The other candidate, Jordan, who is a stripper, remains in the house for now. (CBS identifies contestants only by their first names).

After being told that he was moving out, Collins exclaimed, “Yes!” raised his arms in the air, said a brief “Good luck” to Jordan and immediately left the house. The others pursued him to hug and kiss him goodbye. He then walked out of the complex and into the arms of his girlfriend.

The interactions between Collins and the others have triggered heated discussions in cafes and Internet chat rooms across the country over the unresolved tensions involving race that were being played out on the show.

In one particularly heated exchange, he accused Brittany, a 25-year-old sales representative and housemate, of having token black friends, a charge that reduced her to tears. At the time, he told Cassandra, a communications officer with the United Nations and the other African American in the house, that his purpose was to make the other contestants “face their fears.”

After leaving the house, Collins said, “I have no regrets.” Of his confrontational style, he said: “Live by the sword, die by the sword. My outspokenness made me the one people love to hate.”

Collins said that he was confrontational partly because of a feeling that the contest was not interesting.

He won’t be the last to go. Every other week, one of the occupants will be voted out, and the last person left in the house will win $500,000.