Rick Devens credits Taylor Brown with making the move that changed his “Big Brother 28” Final 2 plans.
Devens won the final Head of Household competition and ultimately evicted Drew Campbell, despite previously promising to take his close ally to the end. He instead faced Taylor before the jury and won the season.
In an interview with Parade’s Mike Bloom, Devens revealed that Taylor’s pitch the night before the finale forced him to reconsider a decision he previously believed was settled.
“It’s good gameplay on her part,” Devens said of Taylor’s approach.
Taylor Brown Made Rick Devens Reconsider Drew Campbell
According to Devens, Taylor told him that she would not vote for him if he took Drew to the Final 2 and said she would work to keep Lala Verrett’s vote away from him as well.
That immediately changed how Devens calculated his chances against Drew.
Devens believed Drew could already receive votes from Melody Morris and Barrett Pfeiffer. Losing Taylor and potentially Lala on top of those votes made him question whether he could defeat Drew before the jury.
Taylor added another incentive by offering Devens a Final 2 deal. She agreed that if she won the final HOH, she would take him, provided he made the same commitment to her.
Devens did not immediately accept the proposal. He told Taylor that he needed to sleep on the decision before they spoke again the following morning.
By finale night, however, he had changed his mind.
Devens said he ultimately viewed his chances against Drew as significantly worse than his chances against Taylor, making the difficult decision to abandon his previous promise.
Rick Devens Says He Had to Remove Emotion From the Decision
The choice carried additional weight because Devens and Drew developed an especially close relationship throughout the season.
Devens described Drew as a friend and confidant and credited him with helping make his eventual victory possible. Their connection made cutting him particularly difficult.
However, Devens said his previous experience on “Survivor: Edge of Extinction” influenced how he approached the decision.
He recalled allowing emotion to influence his decision to return half of an idol to Chris Underwood during that season. Devens told Parade he still regrets the move because he believes keeping the advantage could have changed his result.
Facing another decision between a personal relationship and his chances of winning, Devens did not want to repeat what he viewed as an earlier mistake.
“My family is my closest alliance,” Devens said while explaining his thinking.
The decision ultimately gave Devens the opportunity he wanted. He faced Taylor before the jury and secured the “Big Brother 28” victory.
For Taylor, the result also demonstrated the impact of her final strategic pitch. She could not guarantee that Devens would accept her offer, but her argument convinced him to reconsider a Final 2 plan he had previously intended to honor.
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‘Big Brother 28’ Rick Devens Reveals How Taylor Brown Changed His Final 2 Decision