Big Brother featured Derek Xiao winning the Power of Veto competition and using it to save Kyland Young, which forced the Head of Household, Brandon "Frenchie" French, to name a replacement nominee during the Season 23 episode that aired Wednesday night on CBS.
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After Derek X., a 24-year-old start-up founder from Baltimore, MD who currently resides in New York, NY, won the Golden Power of Veto, he decided to take Kyland, a 29-year-old account executive from San Bernardino County, CA, off the chopping block.
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Frenchie, 34-year-old farmer from Camden, TN who currently resides in Clarksville, TN, therefore named Travis Long, a 22-year-old start-up tech sales consultant from Austin, TX who currently resides in Honolulu, HI, the replacement nominee.
Heading into Thursday night's live eviction, Travis and Alyssa Lopez, a 24-year-old swimwear designer from Sarasota, FL, are in jeopardy of going home.
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The Big Brother broadcast began on Day 3 in the house. Frenchie explained how he had nominated Kyland as a pawn and Alyssa because she seemed to be involved in a showmance.
Frenchie, who admittedly wants meatheads out of the game, also set out to be "the showmance killer" this season.
Kyland said in the Diary Room he was confused because he thought he and Frenchie got along and had become friends, and he noted he'd be "absolutely heartbroken" to leave the Big Brother house first. Kyland also wanted to represent Black people well and was concerned about how it would look if he got evicted first.
Alyssa felt "completely blindsided" and didn't understand what Frenchie was thinking. She wondered if she was "the big fish" and Kyland was "the bait" to get her out.
Alyssa's team, however, pointed out how Frenchie appeared to target her because she seemed close with a big threat, Christian Birkenberger, a 23-year-old general contractor assistant from Harwinton, CT.
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Alyssa cried and lamented, "I don't know what I did wrong... His speech is what hurt the most."
Alyssa explained how Frenchie didn't even want to look at her or talk to her. She and Christian therefore sought out the Head of Household to talk, and Frenchie flat out admitted he went after Alyssa because of her close ties to "the big fish," Christian.
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Alyssa said she was really surprised because she wasn't about to get in a showmance and "smack lips" on Day 3 of the game. She insisted she and Christian were just good friends and teammates.
After talking to Christian and Alyssa and finding out they weren't in a showmance and Christian had no intention of going after him, Frenchie realized he may have "made a mistake" with his nominations.
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Frenchie just planned to adapt and focus on his next target or nomination; however, most of the house had already turned against him.
Travis was shown talking to his teammates about how Frenchie was playing too hard and would probably blow up his own game.
Derek X. agreed and said they needed to protect the house from Frenchie. Derek noted how Frenchie had been focused on putting out fires but he was the actually fire-starter.
Frenchie appeared to overhear the conversation, and so he intended to expose Derek X. as "the snake that he is."
Frenchie told Derek X. that he knew what was going on in the house and people were forming alliances behind his back, and everyone hoped he would just take a step back and breathe.
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Frenchie told Derek X. that he had given his team respect and he was owed respect in return.
Frenchie advised his buddy, Brent Champagne, a 28-year-old flight attendant from Cranston, RI, not to associate with Derek X. in order to be safe and not get into trouble, but since Brent and Derek X. are teammates, Brent decided to warn Derek X. that Frenchie was going after him.
Derek Frazier, a 29-year-old safety officer from Philadelphia, PA; Tiffany Mitchell, a 40-year-old phlebotomist from Detroit, MI; and Azah Awasum, a 30-year-old director of sales operations from Baltimore, MD, then discussed how the Black people in the house needed to have each other's backs.
The trio decided to get other allies but then always report back to the group, and they eventually added Kyland and Xavier Prather, a 27-year-old attorney from Kalamazoo, MI who currently resides in Milwaukee, WI, to the alliance, which they dubbed "The Cookout."
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Derek F. was thrilled about his new alliance but also told the cameras he still planned to stay loyal to his Final 2 with Frenchie.
Brent then spoke to Frenchie in private about how Travis was a bigger threat in the game than Derek X. Frenchie understood where Brent was coming from, but he had also promised Travis safety on Day 1.
It then became time to pick players for the first Power of Veto competition of the summer.
Frenchie hoped neither Derek X. or Travis would be picked to play so he could eventually backdoor one of them.
In addition to Frenchie, Alyssa and Kyland, the following houseguests were also selected to compete in the PoV: Tiffany, Travis, and Derek X.
Travis was Kyland's "Houseguest Choice."
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The first Power of Veto competition, dubbed "Massive Cocktails," required the participating players to simply roll a ball -- called "the cherry" -- down a tilted platform designed to look like a cocktail in attempt to land it in a groove at the bottom.
The tricky part was that the players had to move their garnishes, including giant orange and lime wedges, around in order to manipulate and move the cherry in the correct direction.
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Derek X. executed a smart strategy by starting at the bottom of the drink while everyone else was at the top of their drinks. Derek X. planned to just copy the top once somebody figured it out.
In the end, Derek X. won the Power of Veto, and Alyssa was so disappointed she couldn't save herself because she had gotten so close to victory. Kyland also found it "devastating" he couldn't take himself off the chopping block.
Frenchie acknowledged this was "the worst possible outcome" for him since he had been hoping to send Derek X. out the door. Frenchie said he had no option but to go back on his word to Travis and his week as HoH had turned into a disaster.
Derek X. and Frenchie attempted to establish some trust between them, and so in order to get Derek X. to use the Power of Veto on Kyland, Frenchie lied and said his allies want Travis out.
"They said, 'If we don't get Travis this week, we're going after Derek next week," Frenchie said.
Derek X. appeared shocked, but Frenchie said he could keep him safe -- with the numbers -- week after week.
Derek X. realized Frenchie had promised a lot of things to a lot of different people, and so he set out to do what's best for his own game.
Over a game of chess, Alyssa told Derek X. that if he didn't use the Power of Veto, she'd definitely be going home because the house would absolutely vote to keep Kyland.
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Derek X. determined he had too much power in Week 1 because Alyssa's game was in his heads but he could also choose to save Kyland and make the Head of Household happy.
At the Veto Meeting, Derek X. announced he had decided to use the Power of Veto on Kyland. Derek had been thinking about his long-term game and didn't want to make enemies in the house too early.
Frenchie then named Travis the replacement nominee, calling him "a stuck bull" he wouldn't be able to beat at the end of this game. Travis called the situation "nuts."
Travis called Frenchie "a snakey boy" and said Frenchie is definitely not "a man of his word."
Despite all the chaos and broken promises, Frenchie declared his HoH reign "a total success" and was proud of his moves. It seemed he wanted to take Travis, a big threat, out first.
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