The Big Brother 23 houseguests have revealed the nicknames they had growing up, some of which have carried over not only to their adult lives but also to the BB23 house. Not long before the season premiere back in July 2021, fans were introduced to 16 brand-new houseguests from all over the country. These individuals put a hold on their day-to-day lives for the chance at winning what they thought was going to be a grand prize of $500,000. To their surprise, however, the prize amount was increased to $750,000 for BB23.
Last summer, producers made the decision to bring back former players to compete on an All-Stars season. This was decided in an effort to eliminate the casting process, which became much more difficult due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, that season did not succeed in the way they had intended it to. The All-Stars season was ultimately a major letdown for many fans due to the lack of any excitement and suspense.
Even though the Big Brother cast members are not allowed access to the outside world, they do get to have one-sided connections with the fans through their Diary Room chats. Over time, producers brought each houseguest into the Diary Room to individually ask them about their childhood nicknames. According to EW, some of the nicknames are quite obvious, while others are surprisingly unique. One of the more obvious nicknames was Claire Rehfuss. She explained that her family and friends call her "Claire Bear." As seen throughout the episodes and live feeds, Whitney Williams, who was evicted during week 5, typically gets called "Whit." Another familiar nickname is "X" for Xavier Prather. What they may not know is that when Xavier gets called by his full name, he feels like he has done something wrong.
Some of the more unique nicknames on BB23 come from Derek Xiao, Britini D'Angelo, Alyssa Lopez, and Christian Birkenberger. Derek's parents call him "Dereka" due to the fact "it flows easier in Mandarin." Meanwhile, Britini shared a beautiful story when she explained why her parents call her "Butterfly." When she was diagnosed with autism, her father questioned whether she would "be a caterpillar all her life," to which her mom responded, "no honey, she's going to be a butterfly." When it comes to the now broken-up showmance, both Alyssa and Christian have unique nicknames as well. Christian's parents call him "blueberry eyes" because of his bright blue eye color. At home, Alyssa usually gets called a variation of nicknames that include "Mocha," "Mocha Bean," and "Mocha Latte."
Other nicknames that got carried into the Big Brother house include those of Tiffany Mitchell, Sarah Beth Steagall, Azah Awasum, and Hannah Chaddha. Tiffany is referred to as "Tippy-toes." Sarah Beth's name tends to get abbreviated to "SB." Azah's name will be shortened to "Oz." Lastly, Hannah often gets called by her last name, "Chaddha."
Big Brother 23 airs Sundays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at 8pm EST on CBS.
Source: EW