Warning! The following contains spoilers from Big Brother Season 23's live feeds as of Sunday, August 29th. Read at your own risk!
Derek Xiao's eviction provided a big advantage for The Cookout in maintaining their goal to make Big Brother's Final 6, and Tiffany Mitchell's Head of Household win only made it more assured. Tiffany's nomination plans for Week 8 were evident well before she ever won, and it would seem a bulk of the house is still on board with her plan. Of course, there was a hitch in that plan , as the Coin of Destiny was used, and Tiffany's HOH was effectively usurped by the winner.
Claire Rehfuss won the Coin of Destiny, but thanks to Tiffany's loyalty, Claire has decided to keep the nominations the same, with Kyland Young, Sarah Beth Steagall, and Xavier Prather as the third nominee as part of last week's punishment. The Cookout was lucky that Claire stayed loyal to Tiffany's wishes, but there's still a chance for plans to go awry with the veto. With that being said, here's who won the veto and what the plans are for it in the coming week.
Hannah Chaddha Won The Power Of Veto
For the first time since Big Brother Season 23 started, Hannah Chaddha has won a competition in earning the Power of Veto for The Cookout, which prevented the nightmare scenario of Sarah Beth Steagall winning and taking herself off the block. Hannah apparently only beat Sarah Beth by less than 30 seconds, so there was almost a reality where The Cookout was at risk of losing one of their own. Of course, it didn't happen, and Hannah even got an additional prize by way of the chance to watch a movie with a couple of Houseguests.
Will Hannah Use The Power Of Veto?
Hannah Chaddha has the power of veto and could use it on fellow alliance members Xavier Prather and Kyland Young. At the moment, she's suggested using the veto on Xavier, which would remove the third nominee and give The Cookout an additional person to vote between Kyland and Sarah Beth Steagall. It's a move that would make Alyssa Lopez happy as well, and could keep a target off Hannah's back if Alyssa happens to win the next Head of Household. Overall, not a bad game move, and one that will do little to impact the vote either way.
Will Sarah Beth's Eviction Expose The Cookout?
Sarah Beth Steagall has a snowball's chance in hell of surviving eviction this week, but could this move expose The Cookout to the remaining Big Brother Houseguests outside the alliance? Claire Rehfuss joked with Derek Xiao prior to his eviction about the possibility of an all-Black player alliance, but the two laughed it off. Alyssa Lopez openly mentioned a couple of days ago that the house was almost completely rid of "the White players," which could be an indication she thinks something is up to.
The truth of the matter is, I'm not sure it would matter one way or another if Claire or Alyssa did figure it out. Claire was informed by Big Brother producers after her Coin of Destiny win that she can play in the Head of Household, but she must throw the competition, since she cannot actually win back-to-back Head of Household competitions. This means that Alyssa is the only non-Cookout member that can win HOH in Week 9, and if she doesn't, there's a good chance she could see the block and go home.
At this stage, it would seem keeping The Cookout secret is more or less a formality than anything else. Sure, there is a small chance Alyssa Lopez and Claire Rehfuss could win the Head of Household or save themselves with a veto win, but the odds that both will do that over the next two weeks are incredibly slim. The Cookout has the numbers to snipe both of them systematically and then see their goal of making the Final 6 down to the end. It's pretty damn impressive given their alliance members have only had control of the house for half the game, and they will surely be remembered one of the more historic alliances in Big Brother history.
Big Brother airs on CBS Sundays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at 8:00 p.m. ET. Continue to stick with CinemaBlend for more on Season 23, such as our recent conversation with Derek Xiao about all his regrets in the game to that point.
