Photo: CBS Broadcasting, Inc.
If you didn't check out last night's season finale of Big Brother, now is the time turn around because there are spoilers ahead.
Having cleared out those who might think we're spoiling things for them, let's get down to business. Last night, history was made. For the first time in the show's 23 seasons, Big Brother crowned a Black winner. This time around, Wisconsin attorney Xavier Prather took home the grand prize of $750,000 by earning all nine of the grand jury's votes in the final round. In a recent interview with Insider, Prather said that he plans to use the money to "support his nephew, pay off student loan debt from law school, help out family and friends, and invest and save."
"To be the winner of Big Brother is already a tremendous honor. So to be not only a winner of Big Brother but now the first Black winner in BB U.S. history is an amazing feeling," he told Us Magazine.
"I came in the season having my own personal reasons to win, but I also wanted to crown a Black winner for the culture. And to be that person, that representative, for the game and the Black community is amazing. It’s a great feeling and something I’ll never forget."
Prather's victory was partially engineered by "The Cookout" alliance. Orchestrated by fellow Big Brother contestant Tiffany Mitchell, the alliance featured the game's six Black players, Derek Frazier, Hannah Chaddha, Kyland Young, Azah Awasum, Mitchell and Prather. Working together, all members of "The Cookout" advanced the to final rounds.
"I don't know how to fully accept credit for being the mastermind behind the Cookout. We walked into that house on day one, looked around, saw each other, and I think we all realized we cannot target each other — that's just something we cannot do. So it was an understanding we had on day one," Mitchell told Entertainment Weekly.
"By week three, I knew we needed a plan, and I did make it my mission to create a plan that would allow all six of us to get to the end, instead of us trying to blindly feel our way through. I have so much respect for the Cookout."
Unfortunately, "The Cookout" architect was knocked out before reaching the last round of voting. Frazier won the second-place prize of $75,000, but Mitchell did not go home empty handed. She took home the title of "America's Favorite Houseguest" and $50,000.
“It’s almost more than winning the game because winning the game, it’s the jury that votes for you,” she said after winning her $50,000 prize.
“But America has to vote for you to be America’s Favorite Player. That is such a privilege to me. I am just grateful for being recognized in that way.”
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