The Cookout alliance was one of the greatest in the history of Big Brother. Now host Julie Chen explains how it could affect BB24’s gameplay.
Last season, The Cookout became one of the greatest alliances in the history of Big Brother, and host Julie Chen Moonves discussed how its members’ strategies could affect the Big Brother 24 gameplay. In Big Brother 23, six houseguests–Azäh Awasum, Hannah Chaddha, Derek Frazier, Tiffany Mitchell, Xavier Prather and Kyland Young–came together to achieve a common goal: to crown the first Black winner in the history of the game. They achieved this goal; not only did the entire alliance make it to the Final 6 but Xavier also won the game and took home the $750,000 grand prize.
It was Tiffany’s “master plan” that got all six members to the Big Brother 23 Final 6. Although large alliances usually fall apart at some point during the game, Tiffany devised a plan to keep The Cookout together, no matter who the Head of Household (HOH) was. Each member of The Cookout would have a plus-one with whom they would share a place on the chopping block as a pawn, a plan which would not only keep The Cookout under wraps but also ensure the votes to keep the alliance safe. This plan impressed fans so much that Tiffany won America’s Favorite Player at the end of the season, taking home the $50,000 prize. When The Cookout made it to the Final 6, Xavier said one of the most iconic lines in Big Brother history: “Welcome to The Cookout!” Although some of the members expressed doubts about the alliance along the way, the fact that they were able to stay together and complete their mission proved that they were some of the greatest players that the game had ever seen.
In an interview with Us Weekly, Julie speculated about how The Cookout could affect the gameplay of the Big Brother 24 houseguests. She said, “I think everyone’s gonna try and model that, whether or not they can pull it off.” Julie remarked. “The [Big Brother] Cookout almost didn’t pull it off. We saw dissension amongst themselves, people wanting to suddenly go into business for themselves and maybe not playing it totally on the up and up to their alliance members.” Julie referred to the fact that The Cookout almost broke apart a few times, most notably when Tiffany refused to throw an HOH competition that would allow Kyland to win and evict her plus-one, Claire Rehfuss. Although this caused some tension in the Big Brother alliance, Claire ultimately was evicted during Tiffany’s HOH because Tiffany stayed loyal to The Cookout.
Julie went on to wonder if the genius and solidarity of the Big Brother Cookout alliance could ever happen again. She continued, “Can that be recreated? I think people are gonna try, but all you need is one fly in the ointment. You just need one person who goes rogue. That’s really hard. And I mean, for so long, for three months? Good luck. We’ll see. Expect the unexpected.” Historically, larger alliances usually do not last long because the members begin to see themselves as threats and evict each other prematurely.
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Big Brother houseguests who are also superfans have been known to emulate past players and try to recreate their gameplay. Tiffany’s “master plan” strategy was one of the greatest in the show’s history. But now that it has been done once, competitors will be on the lookout for copycat game plans. Whatever happens this season, The Cookout’s legacy will definitely live on in the Big Brother house for years to come.
