Although Derrick Levasseur was incredibly strategic, ultimately resulting in him winning Big Brother 16, his gameplay is highly underrated amongst the Big Brother fandom. In fact, many believe Derrick does not get nearly enough credit for how good of a game he truly played. Some have even said Derrick once played a near-perfect game. Despite all of this, Derrick is still an underrated former winner of the show.
Derrick competed inside the Big Brother house during season 16 of the show in 2014. He said goodbye to his wife and one daughter at the time to embark on a life-changing experience. Inside the house, Derrick hid his true identity of working in the police force from his housemates. In doing so, Derrick managed to use the skills he previously learned from his career as an advantage in the game. He ultimately won the entire competition with a jury vote of 7-2 against his best ally, Cody Calafiore.
Although it has been nearly seven years since Derrick won the half-a-million-dollar grand prize, he has not necessarily received the proper recognition for his gameplay. Fans took to Reddit to debate whether Derrick’s gameplay is overrated or underrated. A majority believe the way Derrick strategically played Big Brother 16 was actually near perfect. One user praised Derrick, writing, “Derrick played the cleanest single-season victory we’ve ever seen from a first-time player.” While there have been past players that used their knowledge from their first go-around on the show to play a better, more strategic game their second time in the house, Derrick managed to come up with the perfect game plan on his first try.
Despite his season ultimately having the most nominations ever due to the Battle of the Block twist, Derrick still managed to avoid sitting on the block all summer, which is ultimately impressive in and of itself. Derrick also found a way to use this twist as a way to benefit his game. He aligned himself with the right people early on in the game. In doing so, his alliance members were always in charge of the house, alleviating the need for Derrick to constantly win competitions. He was never anyone’s target, and he continued to run the house week after week.
There is no doubt Derrick had a nearly perfect Big Brother game strategy. But, there are still fans who think he is actually overrated. Some have argued Derrick only won due to the lack of strong players during his season. This argument can be rebuffed by the fact that two other winners came out of that same season. Derrick also oftentimes receives hate for allegedly teaching Cody Calafiore how to play a flawless strategic game, ultimately “ruining” Big Brother: All Stars last summer. On the other hand, it is actually impressive that Derrick managed to play such a successful game while also essentially training another player along the way.
