The members of Big Brother‘s The Cookout alliance have been living their best lives after the show wrapped and they made history by ensuring the show’s first Black winner.

The six-person alliance, made up of Azah Awasum, Hannah Chaddha, Derek Frazier, Tiffany Mitchell, Xavier Prather and Kyland Young, had a photoshoot while they are all still in LA (sans Frazier who is now back home after spending time in LA with the group and their other castmates).

Derek Xiao, a key ally to Chadda and Mitchell in the game, also took part in the photos.

The photos were taken by Phillip Alan, who photographs Big Brother houseguests each year.

About The Cookout

The group formed early on in the house, tasking themselves with a mission of having the first Black winner being crowned and to put the group ahead of any of their personal games until they make it to final 6. The group was so covert, they actually did not meet in the house as a collective until last week. Finding success early on as the numbers in the house whittled down, they were able to take out additional houseguests every week by each forming a close bond with a non-Black houseguest becoming a duo. To ensure that the duo partner left, each Cookout member would be nominated for eviction with them, but the Cookout member never left because they controlled the numbers in voting.

The Cookout’s social game was so strong this season that they maintained power almost every week in the house — even during the weeks that they did not win Head of Household. They wielded enough influence that their duo partners and other allies would do their bidding.

This season, Season 23, was also the first in the show’s 20-year history that a white male player did not make it to the jury that decides the winner of the show.

The Cookout is actually a result of a mandate CBS made last year amid last year’s BLM protests. The mandate states that 50% of a reality competition series’ cast must be BIPOC.

The mandate resulted in 6 Black houseguests, 1 Asian houseguest and 1 Latinx houseguest — the most minorities that have ever been in the house at once. Usually, only one or two Black houseguests are in a season, and they are usually picked off early and don’t make it to jury. Aside from that, for years, previous Black players have been at the receiving end of microaggressions and outright racism in the house — until now.

The Cookout on making history and 'reverse racism' accusations

Talking to ET Online, the Big Brother players discussed their historic alliance on the show and why they decided they weren’t going to go against each other when fighting for the top spot.

“We all saw each other and knew,” said Mitchell, the mastermind and primary strategist of the group. “I definitely looked at everyone and was like, OK, well I cannot target these people. I’m not gonna be the one to do it.”

Prather ended up winning the season’s $750,000 grand prize by the unanimous votes of the other Cookout members, with fellow member Frazier winning the $75,000 runner-up prize. Mitchell also won $50,000 after winning the title of America’s favorite houseguest. This was all possible through the alliance, that also included Awasum, Young and Hannah Chaddha.

As for people calling their alliance “reverse racism,” Awasum said that reverse racism “does not exist. It’s literally impossible to have [that] happen.”

“If people do feel that, I would like them to ask those questions to the jurors who met with us nothing but love when we all met them the final time [and] in jury.”

Prather said their alliance as “just an alliance,” like other Big Brother alliances in the past.

“Now granted, the reason that we’re all together transcends the game, but when you’re in the alliance in the Big Brother house your goal is to get out every other person who’s not in that alliance. And that was what we did.

Check out some reactions below:

Monique Jones and Brenda Alexander also contributed to this report.

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