In last week's episode we witnessed a moment that we now know to have been edited to give a certain narrative slant when Julie ran through the house showing what we were made to believe were shirtless photos that her husband Spencer had sent her. When Kelley was shown one of these photos, she recoiled in what could have read as excessive disgust but, after posting some clarity to her personal Instagram, we now have the full story of what it was that actually caused her to react in that way, and why she decided to leave the house, and the show as a whole, days before filming wrapped on the season.
"The reason for my departure was simple: I felt the need to protect myself, and I listened to my instincts," Kelley said on Instagram. "This is some of what happened: I was shown a photo of a cast member's husband's erection without my consent. I was asked on many occasions how many times I masturbated, and was baited into conversations of a sexual nature against my consent."
The episode Kelley is referring to was edited kindly, painting Julie with a level of grace she did not afford the rest of her castmates, but the truth of what happened was known within the house then, it's known to us now, and it was more than enough to make Kelley feel unsafe in a way in which she couldn't stomach living under the same roof as this woman one day longer, and no amount of fancy brunches and fake Mardi Gras parades would convince her otherwise. Something like this, being feral enough to force a cast member to flee, could lead Julie to believe that she "won" the game of reality television here but what was there to win, exactly, aside from an award for being the most bats**t? And factor in that she "won" at the expense of everyone else in the house and that price just ends up being too high for a flash of fame that will fade in a few weeks once Julie gets sucked back into obscurity.