Dee Valladares confirmed she would have cut Rick Devens at the final two if she had won the last Head of Household competition.
The “Big Brother 28” star, 29, made the admission in an exclusive post-eviction interview, laying bare the strategic calculus that defined her alliance with the 42-year-old “Survivor” alum. Valladares and Devens, who both competed on “Survivor 50” earlier this year, formed the backbone of a dominant coalition that also included Angela Murray and Drew Campbell.
“If I won the final HOH, I would have cut Devens because as much as my heart wants to stay loyal to Devens, he could absolutely beat me,” Valladares said.
She explained that loyalty only extended so far when $750,000 was on the line. The Florida native said she “would never want to bring” Devens to the final two and risk him siphoning jury votes that could have been hers.
“I also feel like he would have done that, because we need each other for jury votes,” she said.
“So I would have stayed loyal to him up until the final two, because I need his vote, just like he needs my vote,” Valladares added.
That mutual need for jury support kept their partnership intact through most of the game. The duo leveraged their “Survivor” pedigree into “Big Brother” dominance, controlling nominations and steering votes for weeks. Their alliance with Murray and Campbell created a formidable block that picked off competitors one by one.
The alliance fractured at the final four when Taylor Brown claimed Head of Household and Campbell secured the Power of Veto. That combination guaranteed one of the “Survivor” crossovers would exit before finale night. Valladares delivered a pointed eviction speech aimed at Campbell, trying to fracture the remaining trio.
“Drew, I’ll say this: do you wanna play for second place, or do you wanna play to win? You will lose sitting next to Devens,” she said.
Campbell, 22, a surgical dental assistant, rejected the pitch. He cast the deciding vote to evict Valladares and preserve his own path forward.
The young player framed his choice with reverence and regret. He called the pair “‘Survivor’ legends who have become ‘Big Brother’ icons,” then admitted his decision “hurts him” because they “both deserve to win this game.”
“But in the words of Jeff Probst: ‘The tribe has spoken,”‘ Campbell said as he evicted Valladares, hugged the final three and left the house.
During her exit interview with host Julie Chen Moonves, Valladares confirmed an alternate timeline where Campbell would have been her target instead. She said she would have evicted Campbell at the final four because her “heart couldn’t allow me to evict Devens.”
As for Campbell’s actual choice, Valladares offered measured assessment rather than bitterness.
“I think he lost the grand prize. But that doesn’t mean I don’t respect it,” she said.
Valladares’s eviction speech to Devens struck a warmer note than her appeal to Campbell. She told him it was “an honor of a lifetime to play this game with a legend,” before pivoting to beg Campbell for survival. The contrast underscored the tightrope she walked between genuine affection and cutthroat strategy.
The “Survivor” veterans entered “Big Brother 28” with built-in targets and built-in bonds. Their shared history on “Survivor 50” gave them immediate trust that other houseguests lacked, but also made them conspicuous threats. They survived repeated attempts to break them apart, only to face inevitable separation when the numbers dwindled.
The “Big Brother 28” finale will air Thursday at 8 p.m. ET on CBS and stream on Paramount+.