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Big Brother 28’s LaTrice “Lala” Verrett wanted one of the reality TV icons out of the game — but she’s happy she didn’t attempt to make the move herself.
“Hindsight is 20/20. I’m actually glad that I did not target the icons because they had a power,” Lala, 57, exclusively tells Us following her eviction from the Big Brother house on Thursday, September 3. “So with that power, they could have taken themselves off the block by the time I was Head of Household, and that would have been horrible.”
Lala was referring to Rick Devens’ game-changing Diamond Power of Veto that he won from the BB Time Capsule in the second week of the game. The two-time Survivor player, 42, kept the prize a secret between him and Survivor winner Dee Valladares.
During Yash Patel’s HoH reign, the finance analyst, 24, put Dee, 29, on the block alongside Big Brother alum Angela Murray. Yash thought everything was smooth sailing to get an icon out, however, Devens had other plans. Devens used the Diamond Power of Veto on Dee and chose to nominate Yash’s pal Kamu Kirk instead.
“It would have been like Yash’s head of household, and it would have just been hijacked,” she recalls. “So what I did when I did it was what needed to be done.”
When Lala became HoH the week before Yash, she took a shot at Chuk Anyanwu and Haley Thogmartin who were aligned with the icons during the early stages of the game.
“Breaking up a power couple in the house was very important, and I think that that changed the trajectory of the game for my side,” she explains.
Chuk, 27, went home during Lala’s HoH and Haley, 29, was eliminated from the game during the medieval-themed twist following Big Brother’s 1000th episode.
Neither Angela, Dee or Devens have been up for elimination so far in this game. While Dee was saved by Devens, both he and Angela were able to win a BB Blockbuster and earn safety. If neither one of them had won, there was a very good chance they would have been evicted.
Devens was the target during the eviction that ultimately led to Lala becoming the first member of the jury. Lala was on the block next to her close ally and friend Taylor Brown.
“Taylor and I were like freaking water and and and oil at one point, but we love each other in a sense that like we can argue and we can disagree, but we always loved one another,” Lala tells of her and Taylor’s dynamic. “Her take on the game and how she played the game was completely different than my take on the game and how I played the game, and we kind of brought it together to work, and it worked for us for many a week because we were on that block, baby, and but we got off that block, baby.”
Lala also gushed that Taylor, 27, is “an intelligent young woman” who she enjoyed getting to know.
“I really enjoyed her, and I enjoyed the fact that you know I was her shoulder to cry on. She was my shoulder to cry on, and then we were in battle together,” she says. “It was good. I really love that child. I really do.”
Lala is now the first member of the jury and she will help decide who will be the winner of Big Brother 28. While her time was cut short, she made plenty of long-lasting memories.
“I think my favorite memory in the house would have to be when we had a dance class with Jason in the beginning,” she reflects. “Oh my gosh! We had so much fun, honey. We had a whole choreography done for us, and we all learned the choreography. All the girls, and we were supposed to have a show, and we never got a chance to have this show. But those times with Jason and Rome were really magical for me.”
Big Brother airs on CBS Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays at 8 p.m. ET.
