'Big Brother' Showmance Couples Now: Where are they now? Who's still together? (PHOTOS)
PHOTO GALLERY
Derek Xiao and Claire Rehfuss
Big Brother Season 23 in 2021.
Current Status: Dating
CBS Broadcasting, Inc.
Derek Xiao and Claire Rehfuss were attracted to each other -- and maybe had a little bit of a mutual crush -- while playing Big Brother in Summer 2021, but they had been focused on the game and a spark didn't ignite until after they were both evicted.
Derek and Claire announced in October 2021 that they were dating after falling for each other and realizing they had major "chemistry" in the Season 23 jury house.
The pair had even stayed up all night talking for several days while in jury.
Derek, a start-up founder from Baltimore, MD, told Us Weekly at the time, "I definitely liked Claire in the [BB} house. I knew from Week 1 that Claire was my type. I guess I just never let myself explore that beyond just a friendship... I knew that if I let myself, I would just fall for Claire."
Claire, an artificial intelligence engineer from Chagrin Falls, OH, confirmed, "There wasn't any secret backroom kisses or anything like that. It just naturally occurred in the jury house."
As for the future, Claire and Derek had high hopes in Fall 2021 considering they were both living in New York City at the time and their lives "mesh really, really well."
They said they love each other's sense of humor, creativity, fun-loving attitude, intelligence and big heart.
"I'm fortunate that I can travel with my work [and] just figure things out week by week of where we should be," Claire said.
And Claire told Us at the time that her parents were "excited" about her new relationship, and Derek proceeded to meet her family -- including her sisters -- in November.
Derek and Claire have since been traveling with each other and appear to be in love.
In December 2021, Derek documented a trip on social media he and Claire had taken to Mexico, where they stayed in the penthouse of a 5-star hotel together and said they had an amazing experience.
In February 2022, Claire posted a gallery of photos celebrating her relationship with Derek for Valentine's Day.
"Corny v-day photo dump of pics that make me smile because they're of the person that makes me the happiest. Swipe to the end to see where it all began," she captioned the Instagram post.
In 2022, Derek and Claire competed on Season 34 of The Amazing Race -- and ended up winning it!
Derek and Claire moved from New York to Los Angeles, CA in July 2022.
