Xavier Eugene Prather (born May 12, 1994)[2] is an American lawyer and reality television personality. He is the winner of the 23rd season of the American reality television series Big Brother, becoming the first African American to win a regular season in the show's 21-year history.[3] In 2022, he appeared as a contestant on The Challenge: USA where he was eliminated in episode 4.
Outside reality television, Prather is a lawyer and a former college basketball player.
CBS announced Prather as a HouseGuest for Big Brother 23 on July 1, 2021.[8] During his time in the house, he became a member of the six-person alliance named "The Cookout". The alliance, consisting of only African Americans, was created to ensure the crowning of the first black winner of a regular season of Big Brother.[9] During the September 9 double-eviction episode, the last non-Cookout HouseGuest was evicted, leaving the final six composed solely of members of The Cookout.[10]
On September 29, 2021, Prather won the final Head of Household competition of the season, evicting HouseGuest Azah Awasum and earning a spot in the final two. He was crowned the winner of the season by a unanimous vote, defeating Derek Frazier and earning the $750,000 prize.[11] He is the third player in the history of the show to win by a unanimous vote in a regular season, following Dan Gheesling and Cody Calafiore.
Reindeer Games
In 2023, CBS announced that Prather would be returning to Big Brother to compete in the holiday spin-off season, Big Brother Reindeer Games.[12] He made it to the finale and finished tied for 3rd place alongside Frankie Grande.
The Challenge: USA
On June 8, 2022, CBS announced Prather as a contestant on The Challenge: USA.[13] He competed alongside former Big Brother HouseGuests from his season and past seasons. Attempts for the former HouseGuests to work together ultimately failed and during the July 27 episode, Prather and his partner Shan Smith were thrown into elimination against Justine Nbdia and fellow Big Brother alum David Alexander. Prather and Smith lost the elimination and were eliminated from the competition.[14][15]