Expect the unexpected is such a cliche intro to this story, but really, what else is there to say? When it comes to Big Brother it’s like you know everything and nothing at the exact same time. After being on stand-by to join the BB23 house, Claire Rehfuss entered as one of the 16 houseguests. She was eventually evicted and sent to the jury house by her BEST FRIEND, Tiffany Mitchell. I was sure Claire wasn’t in a showmance…but here we are!
Yes! Derek Xiao and Claire announced to Us Weekly that they have become a couple! I was SHOCKED. Apparently if you were watching the lives, the chemistry was there. I was obviously too busy watching main character Hannah Chaddah crush on Derek out in the open! Now we know the sparks some saw between Derek and Claire early turned into something more off camera.
“I think that we both really felt the chemistry once we got to jury house and could really connect with each other,” Claire said. “We would stay up late talking every single night and we just really developed a bond.”
Derek said he felt the same way about Claire. “I remember the first or second night that she was there, we stayed up all night just talking until 5:00 a.m. That happened every single night for the first, like, five days. That’s when I started really thinking like, ‘Wait a second, why didn’t this happen in the house? There’s such a strong connection and chemistry between us.’ I think that was the beginning of us thinking about what this could be.”
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Claire and Derek didn’t hide their attraction from each other in the jury house either, though, they were still semi-covert. Apparently the house managers in Jury House are quite strict. “They were the ones that we had to sneak around,” Derek explained.
“They don’t like when you hang out in private by yourself, because you might be having game talks. So, me and Claire would have to find different hiding spots. We weren’t even trying to talk game. We literally wanted to talk to each other.” Derek added that the houseguests were actually helpful in getting he and Claire private time.
And if you’re wondering how Hannah feels about the whole thing, Derek shared, “Me and Claire actually didn’t get together until Hannah came and we were able to talk to her about this.” So thoughtful this cast. Derek added, “We were just on the same page that our relationship was better off as just friends. She is someone that I want to keep in my life and I’m someone that she wants to keep in her life, just purely at a friendship level. It was just very platonic between us.”
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TELL US – DID YOU SEE THIS COMING? IS THIS CONSIDERED A SHOWMANCE OR A ROMANCE?
[Photo Credit: Cliff Lipson/CBS via Getty Image]
