An inevitable exit. Sarah Beth Steagall became the third member of the Big Brother 23 jury on Thursday, September 2, as The Cookout alliance continues to run the game.
The forensic scientist, 27, was voted out 5-1 against her closest ally, Kyland Young, and now recognizes she didn’t have much of a chance of staying.
“Especially knowing what I know now that I’ve been evicted – all I could have done would have been either had the BB bucks to play for the Coin of Destiny, and maybe win it, or win the veto, which I was unable to do either things,” Sarah Beth tells Us Weekly exclusively. “So I don’t think there was really anything I could have done, now that I know about the secret alliance this week, to change my fate.”
That being said, the South Carolina native does have a few regrets. “I think if anything, I should have just been a little more loyal or spent more time growing and bonding with the alliances that I already had. I think that would have benefited me more than just making more alliances,” SB tells Us. “I also do regret making my loyalty to Kyland so obvious.”
Kyland revealed to her in his goodbye message that he was involved in a “secret alliance” that wanted her out, and Sarah Beth is starting to put the pieces together. “I’m guessing that there is a secret alliance with the goal of having the first Black winner of Big Brother, which I think is really cool,” Sarah Beth says. “I totally understand why that would be super important to both Kyland and to Azah [Awasum]. So my guess is that Azah, Kyland and Xavier [Prather] are definitely in that alliance.”
Watch above or scroll down to read our full interview with Sarah Beth where she also talks about who’s playing the best game and whether she would ever play again.
Big Brother airs on CBS Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays at 8 p.m. ET.
Us Weekly: What do you think you could have done differently, or better, this week to stay in the game?
Sarah Beth Steagall: This week in particular? I think that – especially knowing what I know now that I’ve been evicted – all I could have done would have been either had the BB bucks to play for the Coin of Destiny, and maybe win it, or win the veto, which I was unable to do either things. So I don’t think there was really anything I could have done, now that I know about the secret alliance this week, to change my fate.
Us: Kyland mentioned he was in a secret alliance during his goodbye message. Who do you think is in the alliance with him? Talk us through that.
SBS: So, also in Azah’s goodbye message, she mentioned that she had to be OK with evicting me because of a mission that’s close to her heart. And there are also things that Kyland said to me in the house about who he would take to the final two if he got there, and why he would do it, and how it would be important for his career and his image. So, putting all of those things together, I’m guessing that there is a secret alliance with the goal of having the first Black winner of Big Brother, which I think is really cool. I totally understand why that would be super important to both Kyland and to Azah. So my guess is that Azah, Kyland and Xavier are definitely in that alliance. As far as how big it is and who else is in it, I’m not sure. Maybe Tiffany [Mitchell]? But it’s kind of hard at this point to know because it does make me … you have to rethink a lot of conversations that I’ve had, if people were in the secret alliance or not. But I feel pretty good about Xavier, Azah and Kyland being in it. Everybody else, I’m not quite sure who would be in it or not.
Us: Who was your closest ally other than Kyland? Do you regret not making more connections or alliances?
SBS: I do not regret not making more alliances. I think I had enough. I think if anything, I should have just been a little more loyal or spent more time growing and bonding with the alliances that I already had. I think that would have benefited me more than just making more alliances. Especially since I got to a point in the game where I knew I was going to be targeted because I was close to Kyland. And you can’t really play a floater game if you’re being targeted. It doesn’t really work. I also do regret making my loyalty to Kyland so obvious. I don’t think it was bad gameplay of me to have one person who I was fully loyal to, and then other people that I was a little less loyal to. I think, obviously not knowing about the alliance and if the secret alliance hadn’t existed, I really don’t think that that was bad gameplay. So I don’t regret that. Mainly what I regret is that it became so obvious to the rest of the houseguests that my level of loyalty with Kyland was so much higher.
Us: Who do you think is playing the best game at this point?
SBS: I think the person playing the best game so far is Xavier. I suspect that he’s part of the secret alliance, which means he has those people working for him. But I also think he has really good connections with everybody else in the house. He’s definitely convinced people that he’s a really loyal player, which I think particularly this season, people are liking. He’s also not bad at competitions as well as [being] connected socially. So I definitely think he’s set up to win this game should he make it to the final two.
Us: Would you ever play Big Brother again?
SBS: I think it would be very difficult for me to play Big Brother again, looking at how my season went. I think I would go into the house and people would not trust me. I kind of knew with my strategies and how I was playing the game, that this was likely going to be my one and only opportunity to play Big Brother because of that, which is part of the reason I was trying so hard to stay in the house. But that’s not to say that I wouldn’t be tempted if it was offered to me because I really do love the game. And I do think if I had a second shot, I could do better.
