‘Big Brother 23’: Derek Xiao Says Producers Encouraged Him to Play for Safety
[SPOILER ALERT: Spoilers ahead for Big Brother 23 Week 7 nominations, High Rollers Room twist, and Power of Veto results.]
During Week 7, the houseguests had the opportunity to compete for the Chopping Block Roulette. Even though Derek Xiao didn’t feel the safest with Head of Household Sarah Beth Steagall, he chose not to compete for safety. According to Derek X., a producer seemingly repeatedly encouraged him to play during a Diary Room session.
Derek Xiao had the most BB Bucks going into Week 7
When the jury phase began, the High Rollers Room opened up, which allowed the houseguests to compete for influential powers, including the second Power of Veto, the opportunity to save someone while randomly putting up another person, and the ability to secretly overthrow the current Head of Household by naming the nominees.
From Weeks 6 – 8, fans have the opportunity to vote for their favorite houseguest, with the top three earning $100, the next receiving $75, and the rest are given $50.
Derek Xiao has won $100 both times but chose not to play in the Veto Derby or Chopping Block Roulette as he wanted to save up for the most powerful one, Coin of Destiny, available in Week 8.
Additionally, he thinks he has the votes to stay if he did get backdoored.
Derek Xiao says producers seemingly encouraged him to play for safety
Alyssa Lopez won the Chopping Block Roulette and took Derek “Big D” Frazier off the block, as the Head of Household Sarah Beth Steagall reportedly requested.
The spinning wheel then randomly named Xavier Prather as the replacement nominee, alongside Claire Rehfuss. Derek X. wasn’t chosen to compete in the Power of Veto, and Sarah Beth began thinking about backdooring him as he’s the biggest physical threat remaining.
Following the Veto competition, Derek X. joked with Tiffany Mitchell and Claire about his conversation in the Diary Room. He explained he told the producers how he didn’t feel safe that week but preferred to “risk it” because he wanted to play for Coin of Destiny next week.
According to the houseguest, the producer in the Diary Room asked him three times about playing in the Chopping Block Roulette. He claims he figured out she tried to warn him after realizing that Sarah Beth already had her Diary Room session.
Sarah Beth Steagall will likely backdoor Derek Xiao
Shortly after Sarah Beth became HOH, she revealed she trusted her former King’s teammates Xavier and Alyssa the least and wouldn’t mind taking a shot at Derek X. if given the opportunity.
However, she didn’t know who she should put up as the initial nominations as she didn’t know what would happen with the Chopping Block Roulette.
After discussing it with number one ally Kyland, she decided to go with his same nominations, Big D and Claire, from last week. According to Sarah Beth, they thought they had allies who would use their power and wouldn’t mind if either went home.
Additionally, her ultimate plan included backdooring Derek X., which she now has the opportunity to do. Big Brother 23 airs Sundays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays on CBS.
