‘The Amazing Race’ Season 34: Derek and Claire Say ‘Big Brother Trauma’ Made Them Not Trust Fellow Contestants
Derek Xiao and Claire Rehfuss learned one thing on Big Brother Season 23: Trust no one. OK, they learned more than that, but this lesson, in particular, stuck with them as they embarked on The Amazing Race Season 34. In a recent video on their YouTube channel, Derek and Claire revealed how “Big Brother trauma” led them to be less “trusting” of their fellow contestants on The Amazing Race, and how that mindset could come back to bite them.
‘The Amazing Race’ Season 34’s Derek and Claire competed on ‘Big Brother’
Before their romance began, Claire and Derek met while competing on Big Brother 23 last year. They quickly formed an alliance with fellow Houseguests Travis Long and Kyland Young. Even as tensions rose in the house with every eviction, the two maintained their alliance until Derek himself was evicted. Soon after that, Claire joined him on the jury.
While alliances are common on Big Brother, betrayal and secrets are also just as prevalent. That’s why it’s not surprising that Derek and Claire became a bit more cautious of everyone around them after their time on Big Brother. Still, once they joined The Amazing Race, they realized that not every competitor has an ulterior motive.
Derek and Claire said ‘Big Brother’ has made them less ‘trusting’ of competitors on ‘The Amazing Race’
Derek and Claire sat down together after The Amazing Race Season 34 Episode 3 to discuss what happened that week. The episode featured the first half of a Mega Leg in Italy. First, the teams had to choose between two Detours: “Head of the Class,” which involved an anatomy lesson and test, or “The Big Cheese,” in which teams had to deliver two halves of a massive cheese wheel to different restaurants. Then, they headed to the Ducati factory, where one teammate assembled a bike.
While completing “The Big Cheese,” Claire and Derek spotted fellow competitors Michael and Marcus Craig. They stopped the team to ask for directions, and Marcus was happy to help. However, Derek and Claire quickly grew suspicious of how willing Marcus was to give directions.
“Me and Claire are from Big Brother. I know they’re not just gonna give us the clue,” Derek said.
Derek and Claire noticed that Marcus and Michael went in another direction, so they followed. However, Marcus proved that he was telling the truth, and Derek and Claire had to backtrack. Luckily, their destination was right around the corner, but that could have put them way behind.
“Our experience on Big Brother definitely scarred us a bit because we were not as trusting,” Derek added. “But he genuinely was just trying to help us.”
The couple learned each other’s strengths and weaknesses on ‘Big Brother’
Aside from scarring them, Big Brother did give Derek and Claire a slight advantage on The Amazing Race. For starters, they already had experience with camera crews and the ins and outs of reality TV. Plus, their time together on Big Brother gave Derek and Claire time to learn about each other’s strengths and weaknesses.
“I think it was my physical endurance on some of the challenges,” Derek told Us Weekly before The Amazing Race Season 34 began. “But then Claire has one of the best memories of anyone I know. She has great attention to detail and there are so many challenges where it literally is just attention to detail.”
“Derek’s weirdly good at a lot of things. If you watch Big Brother, he would be very good at random challenges,” Claire added. “I do think that we complement each other pretty well.”
Fans can tune in to The Amazing Race on Oct. 12 to see how Derek and Claire do in the second portion of the Mega Leg. New episodes of The Amazing Race air on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET on CBS.
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