Derek Xiao won the fifth Head of Household competition that took place in the Big Brother 23 live feeds, following Whitney Williams' eviction by a unanimous vote of 10-0. BB23 has been a dynamic and game-heavy season so far. Once Brandon Frenchie's Slaughterhouse alliance came crashing down, a new power alliance was formed: the Royal Flush. Xavier Prather, Derek Xiao, Kyland Young, Tiffany Mitchell, Claire Rehfuss, Alyssa Lopez, Christian Birkenberger, and Sarah Beth Steagall have all stayed loyal to this alliance, but cracks started to show as they decided on targeting Whitney Williams or Hannah Chaddha.
Meanwhile, the Cookout alliance is still a very powerful - and very secretive - group on Big Brother 23. This alliance includes Tiffany Mitchell, Azah Awasum, Xavier Prather, Derek Frazier, Kyland Young, and Hannah Chaddha. Going into week 5, having a strong voting block of six people gives the alliance absolute control of the game. With that said, some fans wonder how deep the loyalty between those people will go, and this week might test some of the loyalties within the Cookout. It is now do-or-die for the remaining BB23 players who want to make it to jury.
Now, Derek Xiao has become the fifth HOH of Big Brother 23. This is the last pre-jury eviction of the season, so Derek X's decisions will likely be affected by which players he and his allies want to see in the jury (versus which houseguests shouldn't be there). At the moment, lots of players want to take a shot at Christian and Alyssa. Christian is a comp beast, Alyssa is a savvy player, and they are also a showmance duo. In turn, there are people wanting to take a shot at Sarah Beth, and if Derek X catches wind that she was gunning for Hannah last week, it might make up his mind. However, putting up any of those three would break up the Royal Flush for good, and it's not clear if Derek X is ready to make that move yet. If he opts for an easier route, it is possible that he could put up easier targets like Britini and Derek F on the block.
Considering that the teams' twist is now officially over, there won't be a Wildcard Competition this week. The only way for these players to guarantee their safety is to compete in the Power of Veto comp and win. Given how important it is for these houseguests to make it to jury, it is not likely that the targets of the week will just accept their fate like certain evictees did in past weeks. There are a lot of gamers inside the BB23 house, and this could become an extremely game-heavy week for the show and the live feeds.
This will surely be yet another interesting week of Big Brother. Alas, the game will now be played differently since teams don't matter anything anymore. More than ever, the fans can expect the unexpected this week.
Big Brother 23 airs Sundays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at 8pm ET/PT on CBS.