Rachel Reilly has revealed she wants “Survivor” players Dee Valladares and Rick Devens to “steamroll” the “Big Brother 28” house.
Reilly, 40, the winner of “Big Brother 13,” made the surprising admission while speaking to the outlet alongside fellow alums Britney Haynes and Danielle Reyes to celebrate the show’s 1,000th episode airing Thursday. The trio weighed in on the ongoing season’s central tension: whether reality TV veterans from competing CBS franchises can outlast the fresh faces.
“I kind of want them to steamroll it, because 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 if we do see another ‘Survivor’ player or if we see any more returnees, that we have more of an outright battle from the beginning,” Reilly shared.
The “Survivor” duo, Valladares, 29, and Devens, 42, have found themselves in a dominant position alongside “Big Brother 26” alum Angela Murray. Reilly credited some of the rookie players for inadvertently helping the veterans consolidate power.
“We see Drew [Campbell] and Barrett [Pfeiffer] this season going and reporting information to the ‘Icons’ — like what is that all about?” she 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.”
Danielle Reyes, the Season 3 runner-up, took the opposite stance. “If you’re ‘Big Brother’ alumni, we do not want them to win,” she told the outlet. “We want to see them play the game, but we don’t want them to win because that’s our kingdom.”
Reyes, 52, elaborated on the territorial instinct driving her rooting interest: “We don’t want them to come into our ‘Big Brother’ house and win, when we have this inner struggle of what’s the harder show, ‘Big Brother’ or ‘Survivor?’ So that’s where I stand in watching these two play this game.”
Haynes, who competed on Seasons 12 and 14, agreed she’s rooting against Valladares and Devens because of the unspoken “rivalry” between “Big Brother” and “Survivor” players.
“Winning both shows, which Dee the potential to do, that is something that has never been done,” Haynes told the outlet. “So of course, there’s that piece of you that wants the ‘Big Brother’ person to be the first one to do it.”
The dynamic of mixing veterans with newcomers has precedent on “Big Brother,” including in Season 14, which saw Season 10 winner Dan Gheesling lose to newbie Ian Terry in a controversial jury vote that fans still debate today. Haynes, who voted for Terry to win despite being a returner that season, doesn’t think there will be as much resentment against the Season 28 vets.
“The difference was that sentiment was spread through the house the very first week,” Haynes explained. “I haven’t really seen the same type of communal uprising on ‘Big Brother 28.'”
Looking toward the future, all three alums believe CBS should keep bringing players back in some capacity.
“I would love to see some of the more recent players come back and play against other people from other seasons, even sprinkling in some like really old-school players,” Reilly said. “I think that would be so much fun.”
Reilly added, “I think they could do a legends season for like three weeks or something like that. I mean, I would go for that. But for a whole summer, I would absolutely love to see a full All-Star season.”
Echoing Reilly’s opinion, Reyes name-dropped Season 2’s Monica Bailey and Season 3’s Lisa Donahue — who beat her in the final jury vote — as deserving returners.
“I would love to see Lisa play again. I think people don’t give her flowers for what she did,” Reyes explained.
“And I know people are like, ‘Oh, Dani, you should have won the game.’ But I would love to see Lisa come in and cement her legacy in ‘Big Brother.’ I would love for them to give her a chance and to play the game again.”
“Big Brother 28” airs every Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday at 8 p.m. ET on CBS and is available to stream the next day on Paramount+.