85 days, 16 houseguests, one house and one summer full of blindsiding and strategizing can only mean one thing – CBS’ “Big Brother.” Since its first season in 2000, “Big Brother” has captured millions of viewers, myself being one of them. The show completed its 23rd season this summer.
“Big Brother” is a reality television show where16 houseguests compete for $750,000. Houseguests compete in two competitions each week for about 12 weeks, which are the Head of Household (HOH) and veto competition. The HOH and veto competitions are tests of either endurance, skill, balance, athleticism or memory. The winner of the HOH competition nominates two of their fellow houseguests for eviction.
The veto competition has houseguests compete for the power to veto one of the HOH’s nominations. The person who wins this challenge can either keep the HOH’s nominations the same, or veto – forcing the HOH to put up a replacement nominee. The two final people nominated are then up for eviction, where remaining houseguests vote to evict one of them during the live eviction. Evicted houseguests then go to a jury house, where all of the jurors later vote for a winner during the season finale.
Throughout the game, houseguests must play an organized social game while trying to win competitions. This season had one alliance who took control over the house, known as “the Cookout.” The six members of the Cookout, Xavier Prather, Tiffany Mitchell, Hannah Chaddha, Kyland Young, Derek Frazier and Azah Awasum, are all Black, and their one goal was to ensure a Black man or woman won the game for the first time ever.
As a fan of this alliance, I was incredibly pleased to watch the Cookout be successful in its mission and crown 27-year-old Xavier Prather the winner on Sept. 29. Prather took home first place, the $750,000 prize money and the title of being Big Brother’s first Black winner.
“Being the first Black winner in [Big Brother] history is an honor. And it’s something that the individuals of the Cookout came together to make happen because we felt it was something bigger than this game. Representation is important,” Prather said in an interview with ew.com. “Now we want little Black boys and little Black girls to see: Hey, there are ways to be successful. There are ways to make an impact without being an amazing entertainer or being a professional athlete. You can still be successful in other ways. We wanted to show that with this season, and we accomplished that.”
One thing I loved about this season was how all the houseguests got along. Throughout the seasons, there have been many arguments and fights among players. However, this season all of the houseguests seemed to get along nicely, with little to no bitterness even as houseguests were evicted.
As much as I enjoyed watching this season, all good things must come to an end. Can’t wait to see what next summer’s “Big Brother” has to offer!
