Big Brother favorites Derek Xiao and Claire Rehfuss are officially dating. Love blossomed when both contestants from Season 23 of the hit reality show were at the jury house this summer. 25-year-old Rehfuss confessed:
“I think that we both really felt the chemistry once we got to jury house and could really connect with each other. We would stay up late talking every single night, and we just really developed a bond."
Derek Xiao, 24, holds the late night conversations really close to his heart too! He said:
“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.”
While the pair were competing on the show, their relationship seemed platonic. In fact, the audience thought he shared good chemistry with contestant Hannah Chaddha. Fans were rooting for the pair until the unexpected news broke!
Fans confused about Derek Xiao's girlfriend
Derek Xiao and Claire Rehfuss posted pictures on Instagram on Thursday, announcing their relationship. While the show was still running, Xiao and Chaddha were close allies. Hannah had admitted to having a "crush" on him and also said that she “thinks the world of him.”
While many friends and fans share the new couple's happiness, quite a few are extremely confused as they didn't see this coming at all!
A handful of comments on their post confirmed the hesitency.
About Derek Xiao and Claire Rehfuss
Xiao admits that he knew Rehfuss was his type since the very first week of the show. He just never explored that beyond a friendship. Rehfuss said:
“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.”
The two stars consider their beautiful new relationship the reward of the stressful three months at the Big Brother house.