Sarah Beth Steagall went from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows on “Big Brother 23,” going from HOH last week — and taking out fan favorite Derek X. — to out the door on Thursday after she was nominated not once but twice, first by the initial HOH, Tiffany, and then by the anonymous HOH, Claire, via the Coin of Destiny, to eventually get evicted 5-1.
Once Sarah Beth lost the Veto to Hannah, her fate was sealed as Hannah took third nominee Xavier off the block and the Cookout had the numbers to keep Kyland over her and continue its master plan of taking out each member’s pawn one by one. Kyland confessed to being in a “secret alliance” in his goodbye message to his No. 1 non-Cookout ally, who was shocked to hear of the existence of one Thursday night. So what does she think of it now as she heads to jury? Find out below.
Gold Derby: Before you backdoored Derek X. last week, you initially wanted to continue the Jackpot with Tiffany and Claire. They were very close to Derek X. How much of an impact do you think you targeting him had on them targeting you this week?
Sarah Beth: I think that Kyland and I were already on Tiffany’s and Claire’s radars at that point. I definitely think if I hadn’t won HOH when I did and one of them had won, I would’ve been on the block next to Kyland anyways. I think the biggest difference is if Derek X. had been in the house, he definitely would’ve been fighting for Kyland. Of course, I didn’t know about the secret alliance at this point. It really seemed like Derek X. was really strongly connected with people in the game. When I even looked at backdooring him, there were so few people that I thought could sit beside him that would actually send him home. It really felt like he had to sit beside Claire or Tiffany for me to even have the votes, and that was really scary and definitely led to my decision of wanting to go ahead and get him out. And as far as, do I think if it was a mistake because Tiffany and Claire did target me, no, I don’t because I do believe they were already going to target me and Kyland. And I do think that even if I hadn’t backdoored Derek X. and they didn’t have that on their mind, they still would’ve put me up with probably the intention of getting Kyland out. And at that point, if Derek X. had still been in the game, I think that he would’ve worked really hard to keep Kyland over me because that made more sense for his game. And I felt like I didn’t want to be put in that position where I didn’t have a fighting chance. Obviously I was still put in that position anyways because of the secret alliance, but I didn’t have that information at that time.
SEE ‘Big Brother 23’s’ Derek X.: ‘There might be an alliance that I’m missing’
Gold Derby: Why don’t you regret going after Derek X.?
Sarah Beth: I don’t regret going after Derek X. because I really did not see at the time a way for me to beat Derek X. if he stayed in the game longer. I do agree that he wasn’t himself coming after Kyland or [me] so it is possible that I could’ve lasted a little bit longer in the game if he had been there. But at some point, somebody was gonna put Kyland and me on the block, and if Derek X. was there, he was gonna fight for Kyland to stay, not for me. And if I was on the block next to Derek X., I was completely confident that I was gonna be the one going home because he did have such strong connections with other houseguests and he was a better competitor than me and would’ve beaten me in competitions. So I felt the longer I kept him in the game, the more dangerous he was to my personal game.
Gold Derby: Are you hurt that Kyland wasn’t as loyal to you as you were to him since he prioritized this secret alliance over you? Why or why not?
Sarah Beth: It is hurtful. I can’t lie and say that it’s not. I definitely thought that he was more loyal to me than that. But looking at it, being outside of the house now and with information from Azah and Kyland, I’m pretty sure I know what’s going on. And I know he mentioned to me that what he wants to do in this game is for his career and for his image. When I take all of that into consideration, I understand why he did what he did. I also know that he knew me as a competitor and if he had told me about the secret alliance when I was on the block, I would’ve outed it. I wanted to stay in the game, I would’ve done whatever it took, so he wasn’t even in a position where at the end of the game he could’ve been honest with me. He knew I would’ve blown it up, so I respect his decisions.
Gold Derby: Now that you know there’s a secret alliance, do a lot of the houseguests’ actions and what they’ve said to you make more sense?
Sarah Beth: Yes, absolutely! Especially a lot of the things Kyland has said, but then a lot of the things Kyland has said make less sense to me. I do think maybe he took lying to me a little bit further than was necessary to hide his secret alliance. But definitely, like Azah has been shut down to me since the Veto meeting, which I definitely picked up on and suspected something was going on but didn’t know what because she’s usually very friendly with me. I could tell she was struggling with something, so that makes a lot more sense now. And in general, little things that happened have started to add up for me.
Gold Derby: Do you regret telling America it can wipe its butt with the BB Bucks?
Sarah Beth: You know, no, I don’t. Because even if I hadn’t, you guys still wouldn’t have voted for me and I still wouldn’t have been able to play, so, you know, I don’t regret it.
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