‘Big Brother’ Star Xavier Prather Reveals Family Tragedy He Faced Days Before Entering ‘The Challenge: USA’ House
02.08.2022 - 01:37
/ variety.com
Emily Longeretta When Xavier Prather entered the “Big Brother” house in 2021, he wasn’t in a great place. As he shared on the show, his brother had died shortly before he began filming. Still, he used it to fuel his “Big Brother” ambitions — and went on to become the first Black winner on the CBS reality show.When “The Challenge: USA” called, Prather wasn’t sure he should return to reality TV.
While he didn’t like that five other houseguests from his season were also on the show — “It felt like a setup,” he says — that he was able to put aside.“I almost didn’t go on because I was dealing with some very personal things, but ultimately I got support from my family,” he shared on a recent episode of Spotify’s “Reality Rundown” podcast. “No one on ‘The Challenge’ compound, with the exception of one person, actually knew. About two weeks, before we were flying out for filming one, of my cousins was murdered.
And then within a week from that, my grandmother’s body just shut down and she passed away.” He knew that eventually, he wanted to compete on “The Challenge,” but wasn’t sure the time was right. However, after speaking to past contestants, he knew he may never get the call again.“My grandmother’s funeral was two days before I flew to Argentina. I was really torn up,” he said.
“Two of my loved ones are just gone like that, and only one person knew everything. So I was really like, ‘Do I go? Do I stay?’ This is the second time I’m dealing with death right before I go on a show. I was struggling mentally.
I was not doing OK. Even on ‘The Challenge,’ you don’t see me a lot on the cameras. I was sneaking away.”He explained that though he wasn’t sure if he was mentally ready, he knew he needed a distraction from what was
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