Rick Devens, best known to television audiences for his appearances on “Survivor 38” and “Survivor 50,” has won “Big Brother 28,” taking home the $750,000 grand prize in the show’s finale.
Devens defeated fellow finalist Taylor Brown in the jury vote, six to one. Jury members Angela Murray, Barrett Pfeiffer, Yash Patel, Melody Morris, Dee Valladares and Drew Campbell all cast their votes for Devens, while LaTrice Verrett was the lone vote for Brown. Brown takes home the $75,000 runner-up prize.
Devens’ winnings didn’t stop there. He also collected $50,000 for being named America’s Favorite Player and an additional $10,000 for triggering the “Pharaoh’s Curse” twist during the season, bringing his total earnings to $810,000.
Devens earned his spot in the finale by beating Brown in the third and final part of the season’s last Head of Household competition. As the winner of that competition, he had the power to choose who would join him in the final two — and he picked Brown over Drew Campbell, sending Campbell to the jury instead.
That choice surprised many viewers, since Devens and Campbell had been close allies throughout the season and frequently referred to each other as “father” and “son” in the house. Host Julie Chen Moonves told viewers ahead of the vote that Brown had made a persuasive case for Devens to bring her to the end rather than Campbell — a pitch that evidently worked.
Devens, Dee Valladares and Angela Murray entered the season as returning reality competitors dubbed “Icons,” playing alongside a cast of first-time houseguests. Murray previously competed on “Big Brother 26,” while Valladares won “Survivor 45” and competed against Devens on “Survivor 50.”
Jury members reflect on the game
Several houseguests said they felt most betrayed by Campbell’s gameplay. Mallory Aurichio, who was evicted before the jury phase, said she had assumed Campbell had her interests at heart but came to feel otherwise.
“I always knew he was tight with the ‘Icons’ and I knew he talked too much, but I had been kind of assuming he had my best interests and he didn’t,” Aurichio said, accusing Campbell of playing both sides of the house and relaying information to the Icons.
Yash Patel said he also had hard feelings toward Campbell over gameplay but doesn’t intend to carry that outside the house.
“In terms of the game, you best believe I have hard feelings towards him,” Patel said. “Everything that happened in that house stays in that house. Game is game. So I’m not gonna bring that into the real world.”
Melody Morris, who had a “flirtmance” with Campbell during the season, said she values his friendship but wouldn’t pursue a relationship with him outside the game.
“I love Drew and I think he’s awesome,” Morris said. “I wanna continue to be his friend, but there is a lot of traits that Drew has that I would never want to date.”
Valladares, reflecting after her own eviction, said that had she won the final Head of Household competition, she would have cut Devens despite their shared “Survivor” history.
“As much as my heart wants to stay loyal to Devens, he could absolutely beat me,” she said, adding that she “would never want to bring” him to the final two but “would have stayed loyal to him up until the final two, because I need his vote, just like he needs my vote.”
Earlier in the season, “Big Brother 13” winner Rachel Reilly said she hoped the show’s “Survivor” transplants would dominate the competition.
“I feel like if Dee and Devens can outwit, outplay, outlast these people, and if they can win competitions and use their powers at the right time, I’m hoping that for future seasons… we have more of an outright battle from the beginning,” Reilly said. “So I think the fact that they’re able to outplay these people so easily… I give them props. You have to give it to the gamer.”
