With the most diverse cast in the show’s history and the biggest prize ever, Big Brother 23 promised to be a season unlike any other. The masterful Cookout alliance ensured that the U.S. version of Big Brother would have its first-ever Black winner and a final six comprised of all Black houseguests.
During this historic journey, many likable houseguests playing the game well were evicted too soon while other houseguests managed to stick around. Whether a houseguest stayed too long or was evicted too soon is primarily dictated by fans’ feelings towards each houseguest’s overall likability and the quality of their gameplay.
Left Too Soon: Derek Xiao
While Derek X didn’t come into the season as a Big Brother superfan like many of his fellow houseguests, he quickly developed a deep enthusiasm and love for the game that made him a fan favorite. He wasted no time in dominating competitions, forged strong connections with other houseguests like Hannah, made the first big move of the season when he backdoored Christian, and solidified the Lord of the Latrine as one of the show’s best costumes. Derek X was the rare kind of houseguest who was well-liked by practically every group of Big Brother fans.
Being evicted at any point would’ve been disappointing, but his eviction was made even worse by the fact that it could have been avoided. During the week he was evicted, he lost the HOH competition by 1 second and he had enough BB Bucks to play Chopping Block Roullette, but chose not to play because he mistakenly believed that he was safe.
Stayed Too Long: Derek Frazier
Out of all the Cookout members, Derek Frazier contributed the least to the powerful alliance. He did not win any competitions and did not do enough socially to help the Cookout. In fact, many of the issues within the Cookout were created by Derek and his unwarranted dislike for Tiffany.
He coasted through the game on the coattails of the Cookout. In addition to his lackluster game, Derek made many misogynistic comments and was insistent about getting the female houseguests out of the house.
Left Too Soon: Claire Rehfuss
Claire had one of the best personalities out of all the houseguests this season. She was hilarious, fun-loving, loyal, and an authentic individual. Her DR’s were among the best to watch this season as they felt equally honest and entertaining. From a game standpoint, Claire was an excellent ally and genuine friend to Tiffany and Hannah. The three of them could’ve been a powerful trio of women that went to the end of the game together.
Instead, Tiffany nominated Claire to help the Cookout reach the final six. While Claire understood that Tiffany didn’t want to nominate two Black houseguests against each other, it didn’t make it any easier to see the likable Claire go, especially knowing how Claire could’ve furthered the games of Tiffany and Hannah.
Stayed Too Long: Alyssa Lopez
Alyssa didn’t have much strategy other than being loyal to Christian and Xavier and benefitting from their competition wins and strong connections in the house. The only reason she stayed in the game as long as she did was that she was Xavier’s main ally outside of the Cookout.
She did win a few competitions, but these wins were not too impressive as they included a veto competition that Kyland threw to her and the Chopping Block Roulette competition that she won because she was the only houseguest to participate. It would’ve been more satisfying to see the last non-Cookout member be someone playing an overall stronger game.
Left Too Soon: Tiffany Mitchell
Tiffany deserves the most credit for the Cookout’s success. She came up with the idea that each member of the Cookout should have a “plus one” outside of the alliance and if a Cookout member ended up on the block, they should sit beside their plus one. This was an excellent strategy for the Cookout as it ensured the alliance never had to choose between any of its two members before reaching the final six and it helped the other houseguests from seeing the secret Cookout alliance.
In addition to this great strategy, Tiffany made the biggest sacrifice when she put her plus one and best friend in the game Claire on the block, which none of the other Cookout members ever had to do. Despite everything she did for the alliance, Tiffany was the first person targeted and evicted when the Cookout reached the final six.
Stayed Too Long: Xavier Prather
Xavier was a major physical and social threat in the game. He was well-liked, well-connected, easily won competitions when he needed to, and threw plenty of competitions that he didn’t feel he needed to win. After staying off the block for a while, Xavier ended up on the block several weeks in a row.
The houseguests had numerous opportunities to evict one of the biggest threats in the game and they squandered each of these opportunities, often evicting a weaker player instead. The houseguests got rid of the people Xavier wanted them to get rid of, kept him safe, and paved the way for him to win the game instead of doing what was best for their own games.
Left Too Soon: Hannah Chaddha
Hannah was always loyal to the Cookout–even when it meant taking steps to get rid of her good friend Derek X–and got other houseguests to underestimate her intelligence and strategy, often to their own detriment. As a Big Brother superfan, Hannah was also a delight to watch thanks to her infectious enthusiasm in response to experiencing hallmarks of the game like Zingbot.
Heading into the final five, Hannah was the only remaining houseguest who stood a good chance of beating Xavier in the final two and was the houseguest most likely to bring Azah to the end of the game. Yet, Azah still chose to nominate Hannah at this juncture in the game, a move that ended Hannah’s game far too soon.
Stayed Too Long: Sarah Beth Steagall
Tiffany and many other houseguests tried to get Sarah Beth out for a while, but she managed to stay in longer than expected thanks to her and Kyland winning HOH in consecutive weeks. When she won HOH, Sarah Beth put up the same nominees that Kyland put up at the start of his HOH reign during the previous week. Sarah Beth did all of this to backdoor Derek X, who wasn’t coming after her.
Sarah Beth genuinely thought getting Derek X out was good for her game as she viewed him as a huge threat socially and in competitions, but all she ultimately did was further Kyland’s game instead of her own.
Left Too Soon: Whitney Williams
While this early evictee was not initially a fan favorite, her posts on social media since leaving the house have resonated strongly with fans. Many fans have realized that Whitney would have supported many of the women in the game and helped them go further.
Once the teams’ twist ended, Whitney likely would have aligned herself with Hannah and many of the other women, maybe even creating the all-female alliance that many fans have been craving for years. Since she was evicted before jury and while the teams’ twist was still in effect, fans didn’t get to see this or how Whitney would’ve played the game on her own terms.
Stayed Too Long: Brent Champagne
Even though Brent was evicted during week three, he still managed to stay in the game for too long. It was uncomfortable watching him try to flirt and get close to Hannah as she was clearly disinterested in him and uncomfortable with him, yet he continued to persist.
Brent was also extremely arrogant and made painfully nonsensical comments like “My body perceives my intelligence” and believed he was some kind of mastermind when he was anything but. Being unanimously evicted in week three after he spent most of the week believing he was safe was a satisfying way for him to go, but it would’ve been even better if he’d been evicted in week one or two.
