Xavier Prather on His 'The Anonymous' Exit and His "Biggest Threat" on the Show (EXCLUSIVE)

It's never safe to assume you already know the answers to anything, and it's certainly not wise to do so in The Anonymous. Season 1, Ep. 7 of the USA reality competition proved no one is safe in this game, not even those who have won a game that's been around since the beginning of the new millennium. Season 1 of The Anonymous includes some familiar faces, including Big Brother Season 23 winner Xavier Prather.

Xavier was the one to beat during The Anonymous, and his reputation and impressive gameplay seemed to carry him through the competition. Sadly, his win on the popular show didn't make him the game's first champion, as he was eliminated in this week's episode.

In an exclusive interview with Distractify, Xavier discussed the plot twist no one saw coming and why The Anonymous differs from his groundbreaking Big Brother win.

While many reality TV fans know Xavier from his history-making Big Brother win as its first Black champion, he was ready to take on another challenge on The Anonymous. The Michigan-based lawyer excelled in competitive sports at a young age and used what he learned to thrive in his law career and, later, reality competitions.

On The Anonymous, Xavier used his time with his Big Brother alliance, The Cookout to create one in The Anonymous house.

In the earlier episodes, he allied with Robbie Jade Lew, Nina Twine, two-time Survivor contestant and Sandra Diaz-Twine's daughter, Chris Shulstad, and Jack Usher to eliminate the weaker players.

Their plan was almost foolproof until three new contestants — Wayne Nichols, Victoria Vesce, and Bismah Ahmed, came in and shook up the competition. Soon after their arrival, Victoria eliminated Robbie to save both herself and her new Anonymous boo, Chris.

Despite Robbie's elimination, Xavier was still safe. However, her exit caused the women in the competition — Nina, Victoria, Bismah, and Lilly Jenkins, to band together and form a girl's alliance. Victoria noted the game had become a "sausage fest." Xavier also grew suspicious of Jack, feeling he was playing The Anonymous too well.

By Episode 6, he felt he would be on the chopping block next and voted himself to be eliminated in Anonymous mode.

While his suspicions were correct, Jack didn't eliminate him; Lilly did. She said she had "revenge in my eyes," and Xavier going home was the best way to divide his and Jack's alliance. During the elimination round, Xavier told the group he was scissors in Anonymous mode and was fish before the group received their new handles.

He also advised the Anonymous player who voted him out (Lilly) to make the shocking move count.

"Honestly, if y'all hadn't gotten rid of me, I think I probably could've won," Xavier declared. "And to the person who took me out; you better win."

Distractify caught up with Xavier and asked him about his elimination in Season 1, Ep. 7 of The Anonymous. Keep reading for our full Q&A!

​​(Editor's note: This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.)

Q: How did your alliance on 'The Anonymous' compare to The Cookout on 'Big Brother?'

A: There is no comparison to The Cookout. When paranoia and fear creep in, it's easy for alliances to crumble in these games (as you can see). The loyalty and trust that Cookout members displayed are strict to duplicate. I don't think I'll ever have an alliance as successful as the Cookout.

Q: Did you see Nina (Twine) as your biggest threat, and were you surprised she saw you that way?

A: I viewed Nina as my biggest threat to winning the game, with Jack as a close second. How Nina navigated the game reminded me of how I won Big Brother (minus the dominant alliance; plus, she's way better at orchestrating drama to her advantage). She's getting along socially with everyone and building genuine connections. She's not given people evidence of her competitive prowess, even though she's likely the strongest competitor remaining (especially considering her Survivor background).

People sometimes see a person who's winning power the most as the person who's playing the best game. In a game of social strategy, you need to be the person who makes the least amount of mistakes. The more power you get, the easier it is to slip up and get caught up (which is why I genuinely think it's best to get power in the endgame if you can successfully navigate the game socially without needing to get power earlier).

Nina is playing a mistake-free, winning-caliber game on a show like this. I wasn't surprised she saw me as her most significant threat. I think we clocked each other when we were the last two competitors to be put "At Risk." I don't think people appreciated that insight as a significant indicator of which players knew how to navigate the game effectively long-term (or if they did, they only did it for me because of my history/resume).

Q: Why were you suspicious of Jack leading up to your elimination?

A: As I previously said, the more power you get, the easier it is to slip up. I had no idea Jack was winning the Anonymous as much as he was, but it was very evident he was the most active gameplayer there. With him being so active, I felt he could be plotting to get rid of me, but I needed further information before jumping to that conclusion.

I was giving my allies the benefit of the doubt that the handles putting me "At Risk" could've been the new players because we all agreed we should not be putting each other "At Risk" at that point in the game; it was too risky. However, I also recognized that the handle switch allowed the OG players to take a shot at me while disguising it as a new player.

Wayne's elimination (mainly the handle reveal) connected many dots for me. Lightbulb never put me "at risk," and with Robbi's handle being one of the four, it told me the other strategic gamers of the alliance (Jack and Nina) were more than likely putting me "at risk," with Andy potentially doing so as well if instructed by one of the other two (although I wasn't convinced it was Andy because I felt Bismah was Eagle).

Then, during the Math challenge, Jack and I's discussion showed all his cards. We had been going back and forth about why I wanted to go for safety and why he wanted to go for $1,999. All of his reasoning wasn't making any sense based on other conversations we had regarding who he wanted to target (Lilly, Bismah, Dillian) and the weather conditions (it was super windy, thus super improbable that we'd be able to stack a tall tower of foam blocks).

After about 20 minutes, DANI informed us we were out of time and forced us to come to a decision (which, based on my experience, if partners don't make a decision, they are disqualified from competing in the competition, which isn't ideal for me, who wanted to go for safety). After that, I started planting seeds of my own with the remaining people I trusted the most in the game as a sort of contingency plan in the event my suspicions were correct, and I was eliminated.

Q: Before your elimination, Dillian (Popsicle) led the avatars to predict your elimination. Did you always feel there was a target on your back because of your reputation? Have you talked to Dillian since?

A: There would always be a reason to get rid of me because of my reputation. Additionally, people would always suspect that I was devious or mischievous because of my reputation (namely, winning Big Brother and being a lawyer). People would also come back to their preconceived notion of what type of game player they assumed I'd be. This was funny because I was playing a pretty straight-up game.

You'll notice that I never voted to put anyone I was actively working with "At Risk." However, my reputation was always going to elicit paranoia. I can only do so much to control that in a game like this. What I could do to control that narrative I did, which was working effectively until DANI's twist completely changed the game's ecosystem. I just knew when people could watch the show back, they would see I'm smart, but I'm not the devious player they thought me to be.

As far as Dillian and I, I'll just say, it's all good in the hood!

Q: Do you think your decision to vote for yourself to be eliminated backfired? Why or why not?

A: It didn't backfire; it just wasn't successful enough. As you saw in the episode, I finished with a high test score that day (I believe the top 3 based on how the test scores were revealed), just behind Lilly and Victoria.

I had been telling people throughout my time on the show that voting for yourself is a dumb move (which it is if you aren't going to get any votes, but if you know you're going to get votes, it can be an excellent smokescreen) primarily to set up a hail-mary opportunity to vote for myself in the event I needed a last-ditch effort to become the Anonymous when my back was against the wall.

Q: How do you juggle working with clients in your day job as a lawyer and reality TV fame? Have you gotten recognized since 'The Anonymous' aired?

A: I always maintain a high level of professionalism in my legal career and take great pride in my work as a lawyer. A lot of my clientele for my legal service provider, LawyerLike, are in the entertainment industry (reality TV personalities, content creators, athletes, models, musicians, etc.). I think they like getting guidance from someone who has been in their shoes before and who they know has their best interests at heart when dealing with these big organizations who want to use their talents.

It's funny that you mentioned getting recognized because I was out to brunch with my lady this past weekend, and someone recognized me. I assumed it was from Big Brother because that's usually what people stop me for, but they actually recognized me from The Anonymous. It's cool to hear people's thoughts on the show.

Q: Overall, how would you rate the way you played on The Anonymous and would you have done anything differently?

A: Personally, I think I played well, given the circumstances. I'm sure some people will disagree because I didn't last longer, but winning would be a long shot if I couldn't lie about who I was. Dillian, Lilly, Kacie, Nina, and Wayne all either knew who I was or were familiar with Big Brother before I even said hello.

That's a third of the entire cast who already could've known everything about me and how I play. Nina had met some Cookout members prior to The Anonymous (I guess we just missed each other). Dillian told me on the first night that he knew who I was, which is why I told people the following morning who I was. From that point on I knew I was playing on borrowed time.

I wasn't going to be able to play a game like Jack or Nina because my reputation was always going to cast doubt/paranoia on me. I'm the only previous reality competition series winner in the cast. Despite this, I was one of the last two people to be put "At Risk." I'm the only player, up to this point, who has won The Anonymous power without having to throw an ally under the bus or jeopardize the game of one of my allies to do so, which I would say was my most impressive feat or what I was most proud of in this game.

DANI is designed to incentivize people to throw their closest allies under the bus (which we see is a strategy effectively used repeatedly). I wasn't willing to do that. I'd rather find another way, which forced me to elevate my game and figure out a way to get power for me and/or my allies without allowing the game's structure to dictate how I wanted to play.

To try and game the structure of a competition that's never existed before is hard to do. It's not like I had previous seasons to study from. I devised a strategy for something the world hasn't seen before. That's honestly one of my proudest reality TV game moments.

Q: What have you been up to since your elimination? Can you discuss any wedding plansfor you and your fiance, Kenzie Hansen?

A: I'm working and exploring some other potentially really cool opportunities in television. My lady and I are pretty private about our relationship, so we are keeping our wedding plans pretty close to the chest.

Q: What are your thoughts about the gameplay of 'Big Brother 26'?

A: Keeping up with Big Brother is a full-time job, so I have yet to keep up that much with it this season. I've heard the names Angela, Tucker, T'Kor, Chelsie, and Leah through the grapevine, so I'm assuming they're either playing well or made their presence felt on TV. May the best remaining player win!