An all-Black alliance called 'The Cookout' got 'Big Brother' its first Black winner. 8 houseguests tell us why it worked.

Xavier Prather said "it feels great" to be named the first Black winner of "Big Brother"

Xavier Prather, a 27-year-old lawyer living in Minneapolis, was unanimously voted the winner of "Big Brother" on Wednesday, becoming the first Black player to take home the grand prize in the two-decade history of the CBS show.

"It feels great," Prather told Insider. "You know, six individuals came into a house of strangers and had the same vision in mind and were able to put aside any personal differences or game differences to work together for a goal that was bigger than the game itself."

"It's pretty remarkable to see that all kind of work out. It was something special," he said. 

Prather said "The Cookout" was formed on the basis of naming a Black winner — not on putting down other players in the game. The alliance on "BB23" functioned just like alliances on previous seasons, he said. 

"We never were specifically targeting the members of another race," Prather said. "We were just simply targeting people who were outside of our alliance. That's the game of 'Big Brother.' You form an alliance; you have to get rid of the people who are not in your alliance." 

Runner-up Derek Frazier said "The Cookout" was successful because all of its members had the same "mission"

"It feels amazing," said Frazier, a 29-year-old from Philadelphia. "You know, when we were on the inside, we didn't know what everyone was thinking on the outside. But we knew we had each other." 

Frazier, who won a prize of $75,000 for placing second behind Prather, told Insider the members of the alliance may have had rough patches, but said they worked through those to reach their shared goal of making "Big Brother" history. 

"We all had that same mission to make sure if I can't win someone who looks like me wins because it's time — 23 seasons — come on," Frazier said. "It's definitely time for that." 

Azah Awasum, who finished in third place, said being a part of "The Cookout" was a "humbling" experience

"I'm a fan of the show," Awasum told Insider, adding that she'd seen some of the biggest alliances on previous seasons of "Big Brother" fall apart before reaching the end.

Awasum, a 30-year-old from Baltimore, said "The Cookout" was able to stay together until the end because every member had something to contribute. 

"We all had different pieces, and we all not only worked for our personal game but put our personal games aside for the betterment of all of us. And in this game, where it's all about being selfish and working for yourself, it's easy to see why alliances crumble, but ours didn't because we had a mission in mind for the greater good." 

On claims from some fans of the show that "The Cookout" was an instance of "reverse racism" against white players, Awasum said such a thing didn't exist.

"That being said, there were some extremely hard decisions that had to be made," she added. "And you could see through the season fights that people had to make between genuine friendships they made with people in the house and what was better for the alliance." 

Tiffany Mitchell, who was voted 'America's Favorite Player,' was key in orchestrating the strategy of "The Cookout"

"It is an honor to have such a contribution to something that has been so overwhelmingly received and that will be historic," Mitchell told Insider. "I am just privileged to be a part of this season and that I was able to make the contribution so great in that it worked."

Mitchell, a 40-year-old from Detroit who was awarded $50,000 on Wednesday, said critics of "The Cookout" were missing what the alliance was all about — coming together. 

"It is unfortunate that they don't see the bigger picture. Unity is welcomed in all other communities and cultures when people come together except for in the African-American culture. 

"And we are no different than any other alliance. We just did have a mission," she added.

"It is not my job, nor my role, nor my obligation to explain racism or reverse racism to anyone," Mitchell told Insider. "I am not the educator in this situation. Those people will have to get educated on racism and reverse racism. If there even is such a thing." 

Kyland Young said he went into the house intending to "make history"

Like his fellow members of "The Cookout," Young said the alliance was able to make it all the way to the end of the game because it was unified. 

"We brought together a team, we worked in unity, and then we just trusted each other in a way that was kind of relentless," Young, a 29-year-old living in San Bernardino Countywide, California, told Insider.

Young said he supported CBS' pledge to cast 50% BIPOC on future seasons of its unscripted programming, which started this year on "Big Brother." 

"I think in general, representation has always been huge," Young said. "I am half Black and half Mexican. To grow up and to experience being otherized in so many different ways, you start to realize that representing yourself, someone that looks like you, or even close to you, can have this huge, positive impact." 

Hannah Chaddha said houseguests on the previous season of "Big Brother" paved the way for "The Cookout"

"I didn't know how we would make it happen but coming into the game — because of the template that Da'Vonne, Bayleigh, and David set up for last season, I knew that I didn't want to target any other Black houseguests," Chaddha, a 21-year-old from Chicago, told Insider.

"I wasn't going to target them," she added. "I wasn't going to put them on the block. I wasn't going to vote against them or send them home because I really wanted to see us all of us make it as far as possible." 

Chaddha said members of the alliance were so committed to their goal even in cases where they were put in a situation where they had to send their closest friends outside the alliance out the door.

She voted to evict her closest friend and ally in the game, Derek Xiao, eight weeks into the competition. The decision was difficult but necessary, she said.

"I had not cried in a year and a half," she told Insider. "I'm not a very emotional person because I would consider myself a very logical and rational person. So the fact that I cried and got so emotional really shocked me."

Claire Rehfuss said she supported "The Cookout" even though her closest ally in the game sent her packing

"I think that this was just a season of fantastic gameplay. And even though I didn't win, I think that it was an honor to be on this season," Rehfuss, a 25-year-old who lives in New York, told Insider.

Rehfuss was closely aligned in the game with Mitchell, "The Cookout" member who nominated her for eviction during week 9 of "BB23." In an emotional moment captured on the "Big Brother" live feeds, which allow near 24/7 access to the house to paying subscribers, Rehfuss told Mitchell she understood why she was being nominated.

"She kept explaining to me what the reasoning was," she said. "And as you know, I was shocked, but my emotions really turned to respect and admiration for Tiffany. And I knew that what Tiffany was doing was so, so hard."

She added: "But Tiffany came in here with a mission with a purpose and she stuck to it."

Rehfuss dismissed those fans of the show who would criticize the alliance's strategy. 

"Listen to the Black players," she said. "Listen to their stories. Listen to what their reasoning was. They will be able to speak upon it. I would also say to realize that this wasn't about targeting, you know, the white players, this is about building up the other Black players."

"This was about unity and coming together and looking out for each other in a game where that doesn't happen that often," she added.

Derek Xiao said he didn't catch on to "The Cookout" until after he was evicted from the show

Xiao, a 24-year-old from Baltimore who "Big Brother" host Julie Chen Moonves revealed Wednesday was the runner-up for the "America's Favorite Player" title, said the representation "The Cookout" brought to the show was important. 

"Of course I think going on a show, everyone wants to win the prize," he said. "But at the same time, I think being a minority, I can only imagine how it feels being a person of color growing up in America and seeing six other people that look like yourselves working together to accomplish this shared mission."

"I can only speak for myself," he added. "If I saw six Asian-Americans do what they did with 'The Cookout,' that would be incredibly inspiring for me, especially given how limited of a role Asian-Americans have especially in the entertainment industry."