The final houseguest on “Big Brother 28” has moved in. And she’s not new to reality TV.
CBS confirmed on Friday’s episode of “Big Brother: Unlocked” that “Survivor 45” winner Dee Valladares will compete on “Big Brother 28.” This announcement confirms the many recent rumors of a second former castaway joining “Survivor: Edge of Extinction” star Rick Devens on “Big Brother: 28,” many of which had Valladares’ name in them.
Valladares is now the third houseguest on the current season of “Big Brother” with prior experience on a CBS show, alongside Devens and “Big Brother 26” star Angela Murray. She is also the only current houseguest to have won a reality TV competition before moving in.
Who is Dee Valladares?
Valladares made her reality TV debut on “Survivor 45” in 2023. Her dominant social game, multiple individual immunity wins and her powerful alliance with Julie Alley, Austin Li Coon and Drew Basile made her the first Cuban-born castaway to ever win “Survivor” that season. Many fans consider that victory to be the most dominant winning game of the show’s “New Era.” (Seasons 41-50).
The entrepreneur from Miami returned to Fiji for “Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans” in 2026. On that season, Valladares competed alongside Devens and became the only former winner to reach the merge.
Valladares earned the ire of eventual runner-up Jonathan Young just before the merge, when she voted to eliminate ally Charlie Davis. That decision, in addition to her leaking information about ally Rizo Velovic’s hidden immunity idol, made her the first member of that season’s jury when she was voted out on Day 15.
In addition to “Survivor,” Valladares also finished in 10th place on MTV’s “The Challenge: Vets & New Threats” in 2025.
Did ‘Big Brother’ Tease Valladares’ Arrival?
This news will be a surprise Valladares’ fellow houseguests, but “Big Brother” hid clues to its fans in plain sight.
Near the end of Thursday’s premiere, a dinosaur pushed “Big Brother 13” winner Rachel Reilly into a volcano, presumably ending her time as a contestant on “Big Brother 28.” The show needed a replacement for Reilly, so host Julie Chen Moonves entered a time machine and travelled back in time to find one.
The date Chen Moonves traveled to was Dec. 20, 2023, the same date Valladares won “Survivor 45.” The premiere ended before Valladares arrived, leaving fans to speculate whether that date was more than a mere coincidence.
The History of Castaways Turned Houseguests
CBS’s two flagship reality TV shows have a surprisingly scant list of players who have competed on both shows. Though that list lacks in quantity, it makes up for it in quality.
Now that Valladares has officially arrived, she becomes the third-ever castaway to later become a houseguest. That list consists of herself, Devens and Cirie Fields, all of whom were recently seen on “Survivor 50.”
Fields is a five-time veteran of U.S. Survivor, and the 159 total days she’s spent on the island trails only Parvati Shallow (165). She’s finished as high as third place on “Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains.” Many fans consider Fields to be the best “Survivor” player to never have won the game.
Fields would later compete on “Big Brother 25” alongside her son, Jared in 2023, the same year Valladares won “Survivor 45.” She finished that season in sixth place.
Two former “Big Brother” contestants would later become castaways: Hayden Moss and Caleb Reynolds. Moss won “Big Brother 12” before competing on “Survivor: Blood vs. Water,” and Reynolds would appear on “Survivor: Kaôh Rōng” and “Survivor: Game Changers” after finishing fourth on “Big Brother 16.”
