A long time coming! Black players from both Big Brother and Big Brother Canada united for a weekend of bonding and celebration – tagged #BlkBBWeekend – in Phoenix, Arizona.
The attendee list included season 6’s Beau Beasley, season 9’s Parker Delon, season 13’s Lawon Exum, season 14’s Jodi Rollins, season 21 and 22’s David Alexander, and season 23’s Tiffany Mitchell, Kyland Young, Azah Awasum and Hannah Chaddha.
Big Brother Canada’s Andrew Miller, (season 6), Angie Tackie (season 8) and Breydon White (season 9) also flew in for the big event.
The special weekend meet-up comes after the U.S. version of the series finally crowned its first Black winner in Xavier Prather. (Tamar Braxton previously won season 2 of Celebrity Big Brother in 2019 and Tychon Carter-Newman came in first for Big Brother Canada 9 in early 2021.) Xavier joined a strong Black alliance – named “The Cookout” – that formed early in the season, dominated the summer and made history with fellow members Tiffany, Azah, Hannah, Kyland and Derek Frazier.
“This was a special weekend because we were able to personally thank the previous Black BB alumni players for opening up, not only their arms to welcome us in the the community, but opening the door for The Cookout to make Big Brother history,” Tiffany exclusively told Us Weekly. “It is their years of struggling to be accepted and represented that fueled our desire to ensure a Black winner for season 23.”
The idea of meeting up had been on season 18 player Zakiyah Everette’s mind “for a while,” she explained to Us. “I know my fellow African American brothers and sisters on the show have too,” she said. “After seasons and seasons of Big Brother and after the amazing win (finally) of a first ever African American contestant, we knew we had to celebrate each other.”
Despite not being able to make it to the eventful weekend, she added, “Each AA houseguest has had a very similar experience, one that only we truly understand. It was time to connect and show one another love and appreciation. Above all this celebratory trip was for us and I’m glad we were able to make it happen.”
Tiffany, America’s Favorite Houseguest season 23 winner, echoed that sentiment, telling Us, “It’s like popping the cork to a champagne bottle. We each had a turn in loosening the cork. The Cookout made history but we did not get to this point alone. This weekend allowed us to share our experiences and bond together. As a fan of the show I am honored to be accepted into the BB community as not just a player or a friend, but as family.”
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Scroll down to see more photos from the weekend and more of what the players had to say…
The idea of meeting up had been on season 18 player Zakiyah Everette’s mind “for a while,” she explained to Us. “I know my fellow African American brothers and sisters on the show have too,” she said. “After seasons and seasons of Big Brother and after the amazing win (finally) of a first ever African American contestant, we knew we had to celebrate each other.”
Despite not being able to make it to the eventful weekend, she added, “Each AA houseguest has had a very similar experience, one that only we truly understand. It was time to connect and show one another love and appreciation. Above all this celebratory trip was for us and I’m glad we were able to make it happen.”
Tiffany, 
