Leaning into love! Derek Xiao and Claire Rehfuss have Big Brother to thank for their relationship — but it wasn’t until they were both evicted that their romance took off.
The pair met in July 2021 while living under the same roof on season 23 of the CBS series. Following their respective eliminations from the house in August and September 2021, they got a second chance at love when they were in the jury house together for two weeks.
“I definitely liked Claire in the house. I knew that Claire was just my type,” Xaio exclusively told Us Weekly in October 2021. “I knew that from week one that Claire was my type, but I don’t know. I guess I just never let myself explore that beyond just a friendship.”
Us broke the news of the TV personalities’ off-screen romance in October 2021, shortly after the show crowned a winner in late September. (Xavier Prather was the season’s champion.)
Their showmance was able to flourish because there weren’t cameras documenting their late-night conversations while in the jury house as opposed to when they were competing in the main house.
“Once you’re off camera, that’s when you really, really get to know who a person is and you can really be vulnerable and you can really be open and really talk about a lot of things from your life,” Rehfuss told Us.
Xiao added, “I feel like I know Claire better than I know a lot of my best friends.”
The twosome told Us in October 2021 what they love about each other most after shaping their relationship behind-the-scenes of the CBS’ show.
“I think what I really like about Derek is just genuinely his humor. We do just really make each other laugh,” the University of Michigan alum said. “But then, also, I think Derek has one of the biggest hearts out of anyone that I’ve ever met. He just always sees the good in any situation. He sees the good in every single person. And he’s just so kindhearted. He just has so much love to give and takes love so well.”
Xiao, on the other hand, pointed to Rehfuss’ “fantastic” sense of humor as one of her best qualities.
“She never fails to put a smile on my face. She is one of the most fun-loving people that I’ve ever met. She has this saying, ‘Remember the rule. Have fun.’ And that is one of my favorite sayings I learned in the house,” the University of Maryland alum told Us. “She gave me a bracelet that has it and I wear it every single day. She also has an incredibly kind heart. The love that she showed for everyone in the house was completely genuine. So creative, just all the great things, I feel like Claire embodies.”
Scroll down to relive Xiao and Rehfuss’ whirlwind relationship:
Credit: Erik Johnson for E-Studios
Big Brother’s Derek Xiao and Claire Rehfuss’ Relationship Timeline: From Housemates to Instagram Official and More
Leaning into love! Derek Xiao and Claire Rehfuss have Big Brother to thank for their relationship — but it wasn’t until they were both evicted that their romance took off.
The pair met in July 2021 while living under the same roof on season 23 of the CBS series. Following their respective eliminations from the house in August and September 2021, they got a second chance at love when they were in the jury house together for two weeks.
“I definitely liked Claire in the house. I knew that Claire was just my type,” Xaio exclusively told Us Weekly in October 2021. “I knew that from week one that Claire was my type, but I don’t know. I guess I just never let myself explore that beyond just a friendship.”
Us broke the news of the TV personalities’ off-screen romance in October 2021, shortly after the show crowned a winner in late September. (Xavier Prather was the season’s champion.)
Their showmance was able to flourish because there weren’t cameras documenting their late-night conversations while in the jury house as opposed to when they were competing in the main house.
“Once you’re off camera, that’s when you really, really get to know who a person is and you can really be vulnerable and you can really be open and really talk about a lot of things from your life,” Rehfuss told Us.
Xiao added, “I feel like I know Claire better than I know a lot of my best friends.”
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The twosome told Us in October 2021 what they love about each other most after shaping their relationship behind-the-scenes of the CBS’ show.
“I think what I really like about Derek is just genuinely his humor. We do just really make each other laugh,” the University of Michigan alum said. “But then, also, I think Derek has one of the biggest hearts out of anyone that I’ve ever met. He just always sees the good in any situation. He sees the good in every single person. And he’s just so kindhearted. He just has so much love to give and takes love so well.”
Xiao, on the other hand, pointed to Rehfuss’ “fantastic” sense of humor as one of her best qualities.
“She never fails to put a smile on my face. She is one of the most fun-loving people that I’ve ever met. She has this saying, ‘Remember the rule. Have fun.’ And that is one of my favorite sayings I learned in the house,” the University of Maryland alum told Us. “She gave me a bracelet that has it and I wear it every single day. She also has an incredibly kind heart. The love that she showed for everyone in the house was completely genuine. So creative, just all the great things, I feel like Claire embodies.”
Scroll down to relive Xiao and Rehfuss’ whirlwind relationship:
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Credit: CBS
July 2021
After houseguest Christie Valdiserri tested positive for COVID-19, Rehfuss stepped in as her replacement before the show’s season 23 premiere. According to Xiao, he knew from week one that the Ohio native was his “type,” but didn’t act on it because he was trying to win the game. Rehfuss had a similar reaction to meeting the Baltimore native.
“I think both of us had like a little bit of a crush, or at least saw maybe there’s some potential there, pretty early on in the game,” she exclusively told Us in October 2021. “But then you just get wrapped up in the game and you just don’t think about it anymore. You just are so focused on trying to win the money. And you’re not exploring it. You’re not really thinking, “Oh, what if this?'”
Credit: CBS
August 2021
Xiao was evicted from the Big Brother house during the August 26 episode.
Credit: CBS
September 2021
One week later, Rehfuss was sent packing during the September 9 episode after pal Tiffany Mitchell, who was the Head of Household, nominated her.
Credit: CBS
September 2021
The duo were then reunited in the jury house, which is where they started to realize that there might be something romantic between them. “I remember the first or second night that she was there, we stayed up all night just talking until 5:00 a.m. That happened every single night for the first, like, five days,” the Hell’s Kitchen, New York, resident told Us the following month of his time with Rehfuss in the jury house. “That’s when I started really thinking like, ‘Wait a second, why didn’t this happen in the house? There’s such a strong connection and chemistry between us.’ I think that was the beginning of us thinking about what this could be.”
Credit: Erik Johnson for E-Studios
October 2021
Us broke the news on October 14 that the TV personalities were dating after developing a “bond” in the jury house.
Credit: Erik Johnson for E-Studios
October 2021
The twosome announced their relationship status via social media the same day. “The absolute best thing to come out of the most stressful 3 months of my life,” Rehfuss captioned a steamy photo of the couple on Instagram.
Xiao shared his own snap with his girlfriend, writing, “Expect the unexpected? 😅 Shoutout to all my fellow houseguests for helping us keep one last secret 🙏🏼. Coming out of the Big Brother house has been overwhelming, but I’m so lucky to have had Queen Claire by my side making me smile and laugh everyday ❤️ I’m so excited to see what’s next for us!”
Credit: Courtesy of Derek Xiao/TikTok
October 2021
The start-up founder shared a goofy TikTok video with his love in celebration of their romance. “When you finally go public with your relationship,” he wrote alongside a clip of the pair dancing and hugging while the Bee Gees’ “More Than a Woman” played in the background. “We were way too happy at this take,” he captioned the video.
Credit: Courtesy of Derek Xiao/Instagram
October 2021
The lovebirds shared a sweet Instagram Story video together after returning to NYC, where they both currently live. “Here is her gorgeous New York apartment that isn’t in Queens, because she is a liar,” Xiao joked as his GF joined him in the kitchen. After Rehfuss accidentally disclosed where she lives in the Big Apple, her man explained that they’ll be hanging out in New York for two weeks and would love recommendations of things to do.
Credit: Courtesy of Claire Rehfuss/Instagram
October 2021
The Al engineer gave Xiao a crash course in watching Survivor during one of their first days back in New York. “It’s happening! Here we go. Going to be trying to give him lessons, tell him what’s happening,” she said in a series of Instagram Story videos before teaching her BF how to play the game within a game.
Credit: Courtesy Derek Xiao/Instagram
December 2021
Xiao shared a series of sweet photos from the couple’s romantic hot air balloon ride along with a few goofy selfies from mid-air.
Credit: Courtesy Derek Xiao/Instagram
February 2022
“Happy Valentine’s Day to the only person who could make $750k look like a consolation prize 🥰💕,” Xiao wrote via Instagram on Valentine’s Day 2022. “I was scrolling through my photo album, and I may or may not (may) have gotten a little teary eyed seeing all the memories we’ve had together 🥺 Thank you for being one of the most caring, funny, intelligent, beautiful, and ~mushy~ people I know. Can’t wait to see you soon ❤️.”
Credit: Courtesy Derek Xiao/Instagram
July 2022
“Goes to Miami once and changes his name to Mr. 305,” The Challenge contestant joked via Instagram Rehfuss encouraged her boyfriend’s nickname, commenting, “🔥🔥🔥 dale.”
Credit: Courtesy of Claire Rehfuss/Instagram
August 2022
The couple exclusively told Us that they were relocating from New York City to Los Angeles and were searching for a “long-term lease.”
Derek jokingly added: “You know, those [NYC] rent prices. We couldn’t stay.”
Credit: Sonja Flemming/CBS
August 2022
The news broke that the duo would be competing together on season 34 of The Amazing Race. The latest installment of the reality TV competition premieres in September 2022, with the contestants beginning their travels in Munich, Germany.
Credit: CBS Broadcasting
December 2022
After a series of trials and tribulations, Derek and Claire finished season 34 of The Amazing Race on top, winning the $1 million grand prize together. Derek told Us that the competition strengthened the duo’s bond in ways he’d never imagined.
“I think at the very beginning, I had delusions of grandeur around how good our relationship was because we hadn’t been tested, so I didn’t know. But then we actually got tested, and now I think our relationship actually is where I thought it was,” the Baltimore native said.
Claire added: “We just were really required to talk about like, ‘How do we communicate, how do we wanna solve problems?’ and be very honest and be very real with each other in a way that I think a lot of couples don’t have to be, necessarily, and still be happy. So, that just made it so much stronger, and it’s made it so much more applicable when we get into, like, fights or whatever outside of the race too. I do think it was really a test — which I think is very cliche that people say — but I think that it did make us a lot, lot stronger.”
