{"id":2497949,"date":"2026-07-11T15:08:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T15:08:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2497949"},"modified":"2026-07-11T15:08:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T15:08:08","slug":"big-brother-producers-go-inside-casting-of-survivor-players-devens-and-dee-exclusive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/big-brother-producers-go-inside-casting-of-survivor-players-devens-and-dee-exclusive\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cBig Brother\u201d producers go inside casting of \u201cSurvivor\u201d players Devens and Dee (exclusive)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div data-article-body=\"true\" data-body-type=\"bodyblocks\">\n<h3 class=\"mb-4 text-lg font-bold\">Key Points<\/h3>\n<ul class=\"mb-4\">\n<li class=\"ml-4 safari:ml-6 list-disc\">\n<div>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><em>Big Brother<\/em> executive producers go through the process that led them to putting <em>Survivor 50<\/em> players Rick Devens and Dee Valladares in the house.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"ml-4 safari:ml-6 list-disc\">\n<div>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">We ask the EPs who first floated the idea of bringing in two <em>Survivor<\/em> contestants.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"ml-4 safari:ml-6 list-disc\">\n<div>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The producers tease that one of the players could be interested in a showmance\u2026\u00a0and it ain&#8217;t Rick!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">They had an idea so nice they had to do it twice. <em>Big Brother<\/em> executive producers Allison Grodner and Rich Meehan had dipped into <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Survivor;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/survivor\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Survivor<\/em><\/a> waters before, bringing reality TV legend <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Cirie Fields;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/survivor-50-cirie-fields-best-game-ever-last-interview-11974459\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Cirie Fields<\/a> into the house to compete on season 25. But for season 28 (which <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:premiered on July 9;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/big-brother-rachel-reilly-killed-by-dinosaur-season-28-premiere-12015864\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">premiered on July 9<\/a>) they decided to make like a Doublemint gum commercial and bring in not one, but <em>two<\/em> <em>Survivor<\/em> stars.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Those stars were <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Rick Devens;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/survivor-star-rick-devens-to-compete-on-big-brother-exclusive-12013019\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Rick Devens<\/a> and <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Dee Valladares;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/survivor-50-dee-valladares-reveals-major-post-game-cast-drama-interview-11946144\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Dee Valladares<\/a>, who were also on the <em>Survivor 50<\/em> jury with Cirie (and all voted for former <em>Entertainment Weekly Big Brother<\/em> recapper <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Aubry Bracco;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/survivor-50-winner-aubry-bracco-reveals-cameras-turned-off-interview-11978374\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Aubry Bracco<\/a> to win the $2 million).<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Why Devens and Dee? Why cast two <em>Survivor<\/em> players instead of one? And what&#8217;s this about Dee being interested in another showmance? We sat down with Grodner and Meehan to get the casting scoop on these two reality TV legends.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-0 size-full\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-3 right-3 rounded-full bg-primary p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-primary\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" class=\"flex-none size-4 -scale-x-100 text-primary lg:size-6 [&amp;_path]:fill-current\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M3.1 3.1V11h1.8V6.314l5.392 5.393 1.415-1.414L6.313 4.9H11V3.1zm17.8 17.8V13h-1.8v4.686l-5.393-5.393-1.415 1.414 5.393 5.393H13v1.8z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed bottom-0 left-0 right-0 top-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-primary hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p><i>Colby Donaldson, Rick Devens and Dee Valladares on &#8216;Survivor 50&#8217;<br \/>Credit: Robert Voets\/CBS<\/i><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><strong>ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Before we get into the two <\/strong><strong><em>Survivor<\/em><\/strong><strong> players you chose for season 28, where did this idea to cross-pollinate and bring <\/strong><strong><em>Survivor<\/em><\/strong><strong> contestants over come from? Is that from CBS, from you all, or <\/strong><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Jesse Tannenbaum and casting;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/tv\/survivor-45-behind-the-scenes-casting-cover-story\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Jesse Tannenbaum and casting<\/strong><\/a><strong>? Where does the germ of the idea start?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><strong>ALLISON GRODNER:<\/strong> It&#8217;s honestly a group brainstorm. It&#8217;s all of us. We&#8217;ve been working together for so long now that it&#8217;s just sort of these discussions that evolve. Certainly, it&#8217;s amazing to be able to bring people from another huge CBS show and to see how they play the <em>Big Brother<\/em> game from a <em>Survivor<\/em> game.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">We got to see it with Cirie and how hard it was. I think she would tell you it was harder than doing <em>Survivor<\/em>. She could probably never come back to <em>Big Brother,<\/em> and she&#8217;s obviously revisited <em>Survivor<\/em> many times. And so it sort of grew and grew that there&#8217;s an opportunity here now to really branch out and explore what different types of <em>Survivor<\/em> players would do on our show.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><strong>RICH MEEHAN:<\/strong> We knew we were gonna bring back people this season. And then as we were getting in the discussions of who we should bring back and why we should bring them back, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Survivor 50;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/survivor-50-exclusive-all-access-first-look-cover-story-11879057\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Survivor 50<\/em><\/a><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:was airing;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/survivor-50-exclusive-all-access-first-look-cover-story-11879057\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\"> was airing<\/a> as we were simultaneously having those conversations. And it was such a great season. And we&#8217;re like, &#8220;Hey, who would be some <em>Survivor<\/em> people that might be great in the <em>Big Brother<\/em> house?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">And obviously Devens and Dee are two amazing players \u2014\u00a0a little different, but both amazing and fun to watch. And we&#8217;re like, &#8220;They could really mix it up in the <em>Big Brother<\/em> house.&#8221;<em> <\/em>So it was kind of: We know we&#8217;re bringing people back. What is the right mix of people to bring back, simultaneously with <em>Survivor<\/em> airing?&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><img alt=\"Dee Valladares on 'Survivor 50'Credit: Robert Voets\/CBS\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"640\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/lo\/mysterio\/api\/98af973e8312e5f6974fb43add6a8d6e5fd53118e1018deb2e5de8c600407d7d\/lightyear_networkapi\/resizefill_w960;quality_80;format_webp\/https:%2F%2Fmedia.zenfs.com%2Fen%2Fentertainment_weekly_785%2Fdad997caced23b46e34735117ada8a78\"\/><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-0 size-full\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-3 right-3 rounded-full bg-primary p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-primary\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" class=\"flex-none size-4 -scale-x-100 text-primary lg:size-6 [&amp;_path]:fill-current\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M3.1 3.1V11h1.8V6.314l5.392 5.393 1.415-1.414L6.313 4.9H11V3.1zm17.8 17.8V13h-1.8v4.686l-5.393-5.393-1.415 1.414 5.393 5.393H13v1.8z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed bottom-0 left-0 right-0 top-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-primary hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p><i>Dee Valladares on &#8216;Survivor 50&#8217;<br \/>Credit: Robert Voets\/CBS<\/i><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><strong>Why two people? Was there any significance to that as opposed to just one? Usually when you see these kind of things, it&#8217;s only one person you bring over \u2014 like Cirie on season 25 \u2014\u00a0but you guys brought two. Was there any intentionality behind that, or was it just that you wanted to see both of them in the <\/strong><strong><em>Big Brother<\/em><\/strong><strong> house?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><strong>MEEHAN:<\/strong> We just really liked them as players. So as we were kind of looking at, whether it&#8217;s a <em>Big Brother<\/em> player or a <em>Survivor<\/em> player or another player: Who would play the game really well? We just really liked them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">And we thought, not only are they interesting players and really talented players and bring different skill sets to their level of gameplay, but they&#8217;re also really memorable and would be great to try to maybe pull in some new viewers for <em>Big Brother<\/em>. Because they both have great followings and are well thought of as game players.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><strong>So let&#8217;s talk about them individually. I mean, I know why you brought in Rick after seeing everything he did on season 50, but I&#8217;m gonna ask you anyway: Why him specifically? Tell me what you saw in him that you thought would be fun to put through the ringer on <\/strong><strong><em>Big Brother.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><strong>GRODNER: <\/strong>He&#8217;s a good example of that someone who just really pops and stands out and is fun to watch. He&#8217;s a strategist and he&#8217;s creative. And so if we&#8217;re looking for someone to stir things up, do some things unexpected, it felt like he was a really good fit to try him on <em>Big Brother<\/em>. And we were just thrilled when he agreed and wanted to do it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><strong>MEEHAN:<\/strong> Look, he&#8217;s a mischief maker, right? He&#8217;s so fun and he&#8217;s so creative in how he chooses to play games. So we&#8217;re like: <em>That could be really interesting to see what he does within our game and our rules. What can he do that maybe we&#8217;ve never seen before?<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">We&#8217;ve been on the air a lot of years. If we get surprised or there&#8217;s something new that happens, to us, that&#8217;s always a great successful season. Because when you&#8217;re this far down the road, anytime something new and unique happens, we&#8217;re like, &#8220;Yes, that&#8217;s awesome!&#8221; He could be a guy that could do that.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><img alt=\"Rick Devens on 'Big Brother' season 28Credit: Evan Mulling\/cbs\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"640\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/lo\/mysterio\/api\/85442ae280f5354aebe3d35d86ce3d52e726be6ce6ffe2d770018ff6a0210d6a\/lightyear_networkapi\/resizefill_w960;quality_80;format_webp\/https:%2F%2Fmedia.zenfs.com%2Fen%2Fentertainment_weekly_785%2Fdda58d7b156c5e4167445cbe4d0f1da1\"\/><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-0 size-full\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-3 right-3 rounded-full bg-primary p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-primary\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" class=\"flex-none size-4 -scale-x-100 text-primary lg:size-6 [&amp;_path]:fill-current\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M3.1 3.1V11h1.8V6.314l5.392 5.393 1.415-1.414L6.313 4.9H11V3.1zm17.8 17.8V13h-1.8v4.686l-5.393-5.393-1.415 1.414 5.393 5.393H13v1.8z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed bottom-0 left-0 right-0 top-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-primary hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p><i>Rick Devens on &#8216;Big Brother&#8217; season 28<br \/>Credit: Evan Mulling\/cbs<\/i><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><strong>When I spoke to Dee before she went on <\/strong><strong><em>Survivor 50,<\/em><\/strong><strong> she had lots of mischief planned for that season but just didn&#8217;t get a chance to pull it off. She&#8217;s considered by many to be the best new era <\/strong><strong><em>Survivor<\/em><\/strong><strong> player ever, but she&#8217;s now in this mode where she also really wants to have fun and do crazy stuff. Tell me why you all chose to bring Dee in.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><strong>GRODNER: <\/strong>What&#8217;s interesting about the two of them is they&#8217;re two very different players on <em>Survivor<\/em> and different styles, but they compliment each other. And so we thought she was a really good choice in that she&#8217;s clearly an amazing competitor and a strategist. And she brings a level of cutthroatness, which is interesting.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><strong>MEEHAN: <\/strong>She&#8217;s hyper competitive, wants to win at all costs, is obviously great at challenges. But she has this kind of no-nonsense attitude. She&#8217;s in it to win it. And that&#8217;s what we look for when we bring people back.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">A big thing for our show specifically is we want people that wanna come and play the game, and they&#8217;re not here just to be on TV. They&#8217;re coming in to win the game. They&#8217;re coming here to play Big <em>Brother<\/em>. And that&#8217;s their motivation, right? Not every show puts people on with that same motivation, but when we&#8217;re looking who we wanna put on, that&#8217;s first and foremost what we wanna do. You gotta come on and play the game because it&#8217;s a long game, and you can&#8217;t fake stuff for three months.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><strong>GRODNER: <\/strong>And Dee has that, but she also has a terrific personality. She&#8217;s magnetic. People like her. She has the social game that Rick has, which is key when you come into <em>Big Brother.<\/em> I know it&#8217;s key for <em>Survivor<\/em>, but it really is such a big part of <em>Big Brother.<\/em> And she has that. She&#8217;s sort of the complete package in that way.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><img alt=\"Dee Valladares and Austin Li Coon on 'Survivor 45'Credit: CBS\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"640\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/lo\/mysterio\/api\/0c29c94a2f5935449f1bcf327bae15826928273ed603e736e137e27197591847\/lightyear_networkapi\/resizefill_w960;quality_80;format_webp\/https:%2F%2Fmedia.zenfs.com%2Fen%2Fentertainment_weekly_785%2F313ab6a5c9156c45f5c8878fbe8c9f02\"\/><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-0 size-full\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-3 right-3 rounded-full bg-primary p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-primary\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" class=\"flex-none size-4 -scale-x-100 text-primary lg:size-6 [&amp;_path]:fill-current\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M3.1 3.1V11h1.8V6.314l5.392 5.393 1.415-1.414L6.313 4.9H11V3.1zm17.8 17.8V13h-1.8v4.686l-5.393-5.393-1.415 1.414 5.393 5.393H13v1.8z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed bottom-0 left-0 right-0 top-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-primary hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p><i>Dee Valladares and Austin Li Coon on &#8216;Survivor 45&#8217;<br \/>Credit: CBS<\/i><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><strong>She had a bit of a showmance on <\/strong><strong><em>Survivor 45<\/em><\/strong><strong>, but put that aside for her game and always put that first, even if meant <\/strong><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:sucker-punching her partner;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/survivor-45-austin-li-coon-reacts-dee-tribal-council-sucker-punch-interview-8419012\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>sucker-punching her partner<\/strong><\/a><strong> at the final Tribal Council.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><strong>GRODNER: <\/strong>It&#8217;s in the early stages here, and there are certainly a lot of single guys in the house. It will be interesting to see what develops, because she&#8217;s made a big point of saying how single she is.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><strong><em>Want to be kept up with all things Survivor? Dig deep and sign up for Entertainment Weekly&#8217;s <\/em><\/strong><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:free Survivor Weekly newsletter;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/survivor-weekly-newsletter-11805993\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\"><strong><em>free Survivor Weekly newsletter<\/em><\/strong><\/a><strong><em> to have all the latest news, interviews, and commentary sent right to your inbox.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Read the original article on <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Entertainment Weekly;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/big-brother-producers-go-inside-casting-survivor-players-devens-dee-exclusive-12016541\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Entertainment Weekly<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Points Big Brother executive producers go through the process that led them to putting Survivor 50 players Rick Devens and Dee Valladares in the house. We ask the EPs who first floated the idea of bringing in two Survivor contestants. The producers tease that one of the players could be interested in a showmance\u2026\u00a0and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2497950,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[405819,445054,343318,356590,453073,308295,435649],"class_list":["post-2497949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-allison-grodner","tag-cirie-fields","tag-dee","tag-dee-valladares","tag-rick-devens","tag-survivor","tag-survivor-50"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Big-Brother-producers-go-inside-casting-of-Survivor-players-Devens.com2Fen2Fentertainment_weekly_7852F333968a3a6d98dbe0854588a4c1a69e9.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2497949","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2497949"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2497949\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2497951,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2497949\/revisions\/2497951"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2497950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2497949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2497949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2497949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}