‘Big Brother 18’: Da’Vonne Rogers On What Zakiyah Everette Needs To Do To Win The Game

In the end, Da’Vonne Rogers’ second shot at Big Brother was not the grand success she probably hoped. While she was the second person to go home on Big Brother 17, she made it to the jury on Big Brother 18, but still several spots short of the $500,000 grand prize. It’s a loss for viewers who appreciated Da’Vonne’s entertaining game commentary in the diary room and her rivalries with Frank Eudy and Tiffany Rousso — both of whom went out the door before her.

In her post-eviction interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the California-based poker dealer revealed the steps her closest friend in the game, Zakiyah Everette, must take in order to avoid joining her in the jury house. Those include removing herself from her showmance with Paulie Calafiore, which Zakiyah is already starting to do.

“Zakiyah has to detach herself from Paulie in order to win this game. When she first entered the house she had a fire and a passion to win. When she became consumed with Paulie that fire died out. If she wants to win this game, she is going to have to make a move, a big move. I don’t think she is a move maker and that is why it was hard to leave her in the house.”

Rogers’ assessment of her ally’s game play is apparently shared by host Julie Chen, who told Entertainment Weekly after Da’Vonne’s ouster that Everette is one of the players least likely to make it to the end.

“The least likely to win is kind of a dead heat between Zakiyah, Natalie, and Michelle. They have not won anything or played very hard. They are just existing in the house.”

When THR asked Da’Vonne whom she’d like to “hair flip” as she did to Rousso, she answered Paulie. The magazine gave her the chance to come up with some original Zingbot zingers, as she failed to witness the Big Brother classic character’s appearance two years in a row. Among the targets of her zings was, of course, Paulie, making reference to the man who beat his second-place brother Cody in Big Brother 16 and Paulie’s own namesake within the house.

“Hey Paulie, Derrick and Paul called, they said they want their identities back. Zing!”

Despite her jabs at Paulie, Da’Vonne told Big Brother Network he is playing the best game, winning competitions and keeping up a strong social game. The other players, according to Rogers, are scared to target Paulie, and her own lack of fear is what got her evicted.

“I wasn’t afraid and wanted to get him out. If no one decides to take a swing at him he can definitely win this game with his eyes closed.”

Chen also predicted that Paulie Calafiore was going to win it all, as the Inquisitr previously reported. Despite their occasional head-butting during Big Brother 18, Da’Vonne told THR she was proud of Nicole’s game play, calling it an improvement over her Big Brother 16 performance.

During Season 16, Cody Calafiore was very close to Derrick Levasseur, the ultimate winner, so much so that he was willing to take Derrick to the final two instead of Victoria, whom he probably could have beaten in a jury vote. On Big Brother 18, Paul and Paulie have developed a particularly tight twosome that is an essential subset of their alliance called “The Executives” with Victor, James, and Corey.

Da’Vonne Rogers is the first of what will eventually become a nine-member jury. She will be sequestered until season’s end, when she may be awarding several hundred thousand dollars to the player who orchestrated a short second stay for her in the Big Brother house.

Big Brother 18 airs three times a week on CBS.

[Image via CBS]