‘The Challenge: USA’: Kyland Young Considered Competing With Other Cookout Members a ‘Double-Edged Sword’
Fresh off their historic run on Big Brother 23, four Cookout members (Xavier Prather, Tiffany Mitchell, Azah Awasum, and Kyland Young) are competing alongside each other in new reality competition series, The Challenge: USA. Kyland admitted he considered playing with them “a double-edged sword.”
Kyland Young considered competing with other ‘Big Brother 23’ Houseguests a ‘double-edged sword’
Following a historic run on Big Brother 23, Kyland Young joined the cast of competitive spinoff The Challenge: USA, which features several reality TV stars from CBS franchises, alongside many former Houseguests from his season.
Even though it might seem obvious to work together, especially as The Cookout (consisting of winner Xavier Prather, runner-up Derek “Big D” Frazier, Azah Awasum, Hannah Chaddha, Tiffany Mitchell, and himself) is considered one of the most successful alliances in franchise history, Kyland admitted seeing them concerned him.
Speaking to US Weekly shortly before the season premiere, he pointed out there are six players representing BB23, the most coming from any show.
Therefore, Kyland knew it would make them “an easy target” immediately after entering the house. “I figured the game format might mix it up, but it was one of those double-edged swords,” he admitted.
Several ‘The Challenge: USA’ players named the ‘Big Brother 23’ group as their biggest threats
Before the players began the competition, they revealed who they considered their biggest threat in a clip released on YouTube.
Most of the competitors named Iowa-based police officer Sarah Lacina, noting they’re “terrified” of her, noticed she’s “strictly business” and is one of the more muscle-bound players.
Some listed the massive Big Brother 23 group as threats, admitting it concerned them to see so many competitors from the same season together.
The Amazing Race winner James Wallington pointed out their apparent numbers, and Survivor 41 star Danny McCray noted the format of Big Brother likely forms tighter bonds between the contestants due to them living in close proximity for several weeks, which puts them at an advantage.
Kyland placed fourth during ‘Big Brother 23’
In 2021, Kyland competed in Big Brother 23, where he joined the Cookout alliance in the first place. Consisting of all the Black Houseguests in the season, the group had the sole mission of getting the first Black winner in the history of the American franchise.
Tiffany instructed the members to create separate alliances with other players in the house and forbid them from all gathering in the same room at the same time.
In doing so, they were able to protect themselves from getting exposed. The Cookout successfully got all its members to the final six, where the group had to turn on each other. As the most strategic and well-liked, Xavier and Kyland targeted Tiffany first, followed by Hannah.
Considering him a threat he might not beat, Xavier turned on Kyland, resulting in a heated moment between the two after his eviction. Xavier won out in the end and chose to sit next to his only final two partner, Big D. As the Jury believed he played the best game, they awarded the Wisconsin-based lawyer the unanimous win and the historic $750,000 grand prize. Xavier, Kyland, Tiffany, and Azah are all competing in The Challenge: USA, as well as BB23 fan favorites Derek Xiao and Alyssa Lopez.
