The game play is getting trickier and the backstabbing getting even more devious as the season heats up.
*Caution: Spoilers ahead!*
The Cookout alliance is making history, and rapidly coming to its inevitable conclusion, in Thursday's thrilling double eviction episode of Big Brother!
If you're anxious to just find out who got kicked out, scroll down below. But first, it's important to see just how this eviction played out over the last week.
Tiffany Mitchell became Head of Household last week after Sarah Beth Steagall got the boot, and she had a lot of difficult choices right off the bat.
The Cookout is one of the strongest Big Brother alliances ever and is made up the six Black houseguests -- including Tiffany, Derek Frazier, Kyland Young, Xavier Prather, Azah Awasum and Hannah Chaddha. Their goal from the outset has been to make Big Brother history by sticking together and making sure the final six houseguests are all people of color.
However, Tiffany's best friend in the game has been Claire Rehfuss, who is not apart of the alliance. So while the others in The Cookout wanted Tiffany to nominate Claire and Alyssa Lopez for eviction, she instead nominated Alyssa and Xavier, as a pawn.
The plan didn't sit well with Xavier, who's been on the block quite a few times this season already, often by happenstance, and it didn't pan out either. Alyssa ended up winning the Veto competition (which involved using tweezers to stack tiny cocktail glasses inside a miniature house), and took herself off the block.
Despite the pain it caused her, Tiffany realized that nominating Claire was the only option she had. If she blew up The Cookout and nominated someone in her alliance, she'd be sure to be the next and only target. So she bit the bullet and nominated her best friend.
During a tearful and painful conversation between Tiffany and Claire, Tiffany couldn't just outright reveal the existence of The Cookout, but explained she didn't feel morally right pitting two people of color against one another on the block, and had to nominate Claire.
Thursday's first eviction ceremony kicked off essentially at the start, as the night was jam packed, with essentially an entire week of competition playing out live over the course of an hour. Meaning there would be an eviction, a new HOH comp, a nomination ceremony, a Power of Veto comp and a second eviction ceremony.
Claire and Xavier both delivered appeals, but it felt like both of them knew the inevitable outcome, and Claire used her speech to not-so-subtly encourage everyone to be suspicious of Xavier for playing the best game -- unaware of The Cookout's true power.
By a vote of 3-1 (with Hannah throwing a vote to evict Xavier as part of a bigger master plan to place suspicion on Kyland) Claire got the boot, and she left the house without taking any time to give hugs or say her goodbyes. She didn't seem to be in the mood for any platitudes.
Speaking with host Julie Chen Moonves for a brief exit interview, Claire said she was disappointed to be going home, but understood Tiffany's position and held no ill-will toward her. She also explained that she'd sowed the seeds of doubt toward Xavier so the remaining houseguests would direct their attention toward him and away from Tiffany.
Even after getting the axe, Claire is still a loyal bestie.
The breakneck pace of the episode continued as the six eligible houseguests went head-to-head in a HOH competition testing their memory and visual comprehension skills. Everyone put up a good fight, but it was Hannah who took home the win.
She then had literally just a few minutes to game plan and strategize, and ended up putting Alyssa and Xavier on the block. She convinced Alyssa she was actually a pawn to get Xavier evicted -- but the reality of the situation was the exact opposite.
After the nomination ceremony and a quick commercial break, the houseguests took to the yard for the all-important Veto competition, which basically involved them reassembling a giant foam Big Brother logo. It was a quick challenge compared to the many others we've seen this season and Xavier ended up securing the Power of Veto.
Unsurprisingly, Xavier ended up removing himself from the block -- despite being Alyssa's close friend and ally -- and Hannah nominated Kyland in his stay. It all came down to Kyland and Alyssa.
Xavier stayed true to their friendship by voting to evict Kyland, although it was only because he knew the others would be voting for Alyssa, and wanted her to know he'd been her genuine friend. By a vote of 3 to 1, Alyssa got the boot.
However, with Alyssa now evicted, The Cookout has succeeded in making history! This is the first time ever on Big Brother in which the final six houseguests have all been Black, and it means this season will see the series first-ever Black winner.
This means, however, that The Cookout alliance is essentially done for, and with a surprise double elimination in store for the houseguests next week, it'll be interesting to see who can play the game the fastest and who will crumble under the pressure.
Big Brother airs Sundays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS. For more, watch below.
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