With the finale of Big Brother 28 in sight after a long summer full of love, lies, and tears, the big question is: who will win it all? If you’re a recurring Big Brother viewer, you know that the house structure can change in the blink of an eye, making winner predictions a shot in the dark. With this in mind, some players stick out more than others as potential recipients of the $750,000 grand prize.
1. Yash
The “comp beast” of the season himself, Yash Patel has proven himself to be one of the strongest players in the house, both physically and strategically. The financial analyst from New Jersey began the game sitting on the block facing eviction. Since escaping the block on the first week and multiple times since, his win potential continues to rise with every week he stays in the game. The only person currently set on targeting Yash is Drew, but Yash has significantly better social connections than him, making Drew’s vendetta towards him relatively trivial. There is no doubt that Yash could coast through the entire game purely with his competition abilities if not targeted soon.
The only roadblock thus far in Yash’s game: Dee’s BB Bribe. The power was initially underestimated by fans and even the Survivor legend herself, but Dee masterminded a way to abuse her power. During Dee’s second Head of Household (HOH) reign, she threatened to nominate Yash for eviction if he did not accept her $5,000 bribe to keep all three icons— Angela, Devens, and herself— completely safe during his next HOH, practically forcing Yash to accept by directly putting his game at stake. Yash winning this week’s HOH after Angela’s eviction is a huge success for him, ensuring that he is not obligated to take an icon into the final two with him. Plus, one icon down, a Melody or Barrett eviction would still be beneficial for Yash. Along with being the biggest competitive threat in the house, Yash’s biggest asset is that little to no houseguests would win against him in the final two chairs. Almost every other player has stated that Yash would, allegedly, have their jury vote to win the game because of his social game and superiority in competitions. Although the state of the house is always subject to change, if Yash manages to stick around for the upcoming double eviction, the comp beast could have it in the bag.
2. dee
Survivor winner and entrepreneur, Dee Valladares narrowly escaped eviction this past Thursday, skyrocketing her chances of winning it all. At the beginning of Barrett’s HOH last week, the houseguest were unanimous in their intent on voting either Dee or Devens out, but Dee had other plans. Being the master of persuasion that she is, Dee convinced Yash and Taylor to vote out Angela, arguing that in order for Drew and Barrett to be taken down, Dee needs to stay in the game, her being one of the better competitors in the house. Dee’s impressive vote flip and guaranteed safety this week solidify her as a strong candidate for the winner title.
Yash and Taylor are now fully aligned with Dee and Devens in targeting Barrett, making the fight for the final two most likely to be between the two pairs. In the case of a final two between Dee and Devens, she has a strong shot of taking the win. Two players with strong game resumes, the vote could fall either way, but with Dee being notorious for swaying votes, a win in her name would be favored. Dee has a strong chance of winning power during the upcoming double eviction, arguably the strongest competitor in the house other than Yash, who can’t compete. Targeting Yash in the double would be ideal for any houseguest, including Dee. If the winner, will she stick with their allegiance or continue to target who is left of the FAP alliance, consisting of Barrett, Drew, and Melody? If Yash is taken out on Thursday or if the more difficult approach to victory will have to be taken, Dee has strong winning potential.
3. devens
Next on the list is the two-time Survivor legend and communications director, Rick Devens. Known for his tricks and pranks on Survivor, Devens has had a completely different experience on Big Brother. The man who is used to being on the bottom of the social pyramid quickly rose to the top this summer. The last houseguest to have been nominated, Devens’ power has fallen slightly after a few slip-ups in his game these past few weeks. During Drew’s HOH, Devens made the biggest mistake you can make in Big Brother: volunteering for the block. Unbeknownst to him and Drew, Devens immediately became the target and barely made it through the week after saving himself during the BB Blockbuster. The next week, during Barrett’s HOH, the house was still out to get him as he once more became the primary target, but yet again saved himself during the Blockbuster.
Now that Angela is gone from the house, Devens’ chances of winning the game have increased exponentially. The icons being a duo instead of a trio makes them seem less threatening to other players, even though Dee and Devens were the brains behind the trio. Devens has proven himself in competitions thus far, and if he is able to keep this going and win power during the double eviction, he and Dee could have an easy ride to the final two. But, Devens faces the same dilemma as Dee: should he target Yash in the case of double eviction power? From a viewer standpoint, the easy answer is yes, obviously. Once Yash is evicted from the house, the Survivor duo are the main candidates to win. In a final two against Dee, the votes would seemingly be fairly split. Dee knows how to get what she wants, but if Devens fights even harder, he could certainly win this season.
4. drew
The house baby at 22 years-old, nobody in the game fully trusts surgical dental assistant Drew Campbell, but for fairly good reason. His loyalty has been completely with the icons, Drew spilling his closest friends secrets to them time and time again. Despite most of the house wanting him evicted, there are currently bigger threats that are shields for him. After Drew’s impressive veto win this week, he is a front-runner to make it to the finale. Because Barrett or Melody are practically confirmed to be going home this week, that takes a target off of his back, being weaker in ally numbers.
If Drew and either Barrett or Melody stay this Thursday after the double eviction, he has a decent chance in a final two against one of them. The icons, who would have almost half of the votes in either of these theoretical final twos, see Drew as a secret mastermind, this being the reason for their suspicion towards him; in reality, he hasn’t been scheming against them at all. They have also previously stated that, in a final two, they would not vote for Barrett because of his betrayal towards them or for Melody due to her lack of a game resume. If Yash or a Survivor is taken out at the double eviction, his chances of making it to the end exponentially rise. While he has a lot of work to do if he intends on taking the grand prize, Drew is definitely still in the running.
5. taylor
Working hard or hardly working? The queen of the pod has played much of the game from her bed. Other houseguests often talk about Taylor Brown as a non-threatening player because of her unremarkable competition history and early bedtime. But is this a strategy itself? The elementary school counselor from Florida has faced the block four times, more than anybody else this season, but has continued to remain in the house due to her harmless perception. Taylor’s most likely path to the final two is through Yash, her closest ally currently in the house. Yash winning this week’s HOH is ideal for Taylor, even though he is forced to renominate her after Drew’s veto win this week. The chances of her going home are highly unlikely, but not impossible considering the Survivor players tendency to flip votes and the impending double eviction. This HOH outcome is less risky than the alternative of Yash not winning HOH until the final three and being forced to take an icon into the final two, potentially over Taylor, because the bribe would still be eligible.
Taylor has a high likelihood of sliding her way into the finale, but in the end, if she is seated next to Yash at the final two, the comp beast has proven himself to be deserving of jury votes, meaning Taylor would be the runner-up. The only other likely path to winning that Taylor has is if a single member of FAP – including Barrett, Drew, and Melody – are in the final two with her. If Taylor or a theoretical FAP member were to win the final HOH, they may choose to take Taylor over Yash or an icon because their chances of winning may be higher. If against Barrett, Drew, or Melody, Taylor stands a relatively good chance. The least-threatening player in the eyes of the houseguests, and therefore most likely to make it through this week’s double eviction, who knows what the next few weeks may have in store for Taylor.
6. barrett
Fulfilling the superfan stereotype of the season, Barrett Pfeiffer earned his stripes as a dominant player last week. Winning HOH, the Jumbotron engineer from Texas faced a complicated decision. Because he has social connections to almost everybody in the house, everybody felt comfortable with his HOH result. The icons should have fought harder for themselves, because all three of them were put on the block together as revenge for voting out Barrett’s best friend and now confirmed crush in the house, Mallory, two weeks prior. The obvious threats in the house with three powerful and experienced players, this was bound to be the fate of the icons, with Angela ultimately being the one to take the bullet.
Risky as it is, this move is not game-ending considering that if Barrett were to go to the final five with “The Crossovers” alliance—consisting of himself, the icons, and Drew—he and Drew would likely be the first to go due to the bond the icons inherently have. While these nominations completely shifted the house dynamic and strengthened the newbies’ trust towards him, was it worth the risk? Because of the bribe bound to Yash that says he cannot nominate any icon for eviction, the answer is: probably, yes. Yash being the strongest competitor in the house and being forbidden from nominating the icons practically makes the trio untouchable. The 6’6” superfan also has Drew and Melody, who would both be willing to take him to the final two. In the case of him versus Melody in the final two, Barrett would be in favor of the win, though the vote between him and Drew could fall either way. Although himself or Melody are almost definitely going home this week, there is still a chance of victory for him. Unfortunately, he is the biggest target of the week, but if Barrett manages to win BB Blockbuster and survive the impending double eviction, he could slide his way into the finale depending on who future power falls to.
7. melody
The “Lady of the Latrine” has mastered the art of flirting, but does she have what it takes to win? Melody Morris, a gameshow host from Arizona, has completely turned her game around in the second half of the summer. Starting the season constantly swapping her position on the block with now evicted close ally, Mallory, Melody has impressively managed to keep herself safe for the past few weeks, until now. Obviously, Melody being on the block this week is not ideal, but Barrett is the main target, meaning that the only possible outcome for Melody to be evicted, considering he stays the target, would be Barrett winning the Blockbuster. Based on Melody and Taylor’s competition history versus Barrett’s, he is the most likely winner, putting Melody at high risk for eviction this week.
At the week seven eviction night, Melody learned that Drew had been in an alliance with the icons and Barrett since the start of the game after he casted his vote to evict Mallory. Drew has shown that he still intends to keep her safe, but being the “icon’s pet” the majority of the season, Melody can never be totally confident. Her distrust for him aside, Drew and Barrett are Melody’s closest allies as well as the two best shots she has to make it to the finale, meaning that her and Barrett on the block together is not great for her winning potential. With Drew already earning his safety, if herself and Barrett somehow remain in the house this week, both are decent final two options for her, though the shot at Yash must be taken sooner rather than later if any of the three plan on making it to the end. Melody is known for her passionate DRs and hatred towards the icons and now disbanded alliance, “The Red Corner”, but has somehow remained in a relatively smooth position despite her dislike for much of the house. This in mind, as well as the icon’s newfound grudge against Barrett after the chaos of last week and the entire house’s constant suspicion of Drew, Melody has a shot at taking the prize money in both of these final two scenarios. However, it is unlikely due to the fact that she doesn’t have any fierce game moves on her resume. Yet, if she has made it this far into the game without winning a single competition, who’s to say Melody can’t continue her lucky streak?
Predicting a winner is nearly impossible considering the twists and turns Big Brother 28 has taken. A win from any player left in the game is completely possible, a rare occurrence in the Big Brother house. Tune in to the season finale on October 1st at 8:00 pm ET! Until then, time will only tell who takes the win.