‘Big Brother’ Alums Claire Rehfuss and Derek Xiao Split After 4 Years

Big Brother alumni and The Amazing Race champions Claire Rehfuss and Derek Xiao have split after four years together.

Rehfuss and Xiao, who met in the Big Brother house in 2021 before winning The Amazing Race together the following year, announced the news on their Instagram Stories via a joint statement on Saturday, Sept. 20.

“After 4 wonderful years together, Derek and I have decided to end our relationship,” the statement read. “Nothing dramatic happened, just the realization that we’re different people who want different things. We still care deeply about each other, are grateful for the time we shared, and will remain friends.”

“Thank you for all the love and support, it truly means so much. We hope that by sharing we can be given the space and grace to move forward without any speculation or drama,” they added, before signing it off with their first names.

The announcement, which has since expired, was initially shared widely by TMZ and Parade.

Rehfuss, 29, and Xiao, 28, first crossed paths as houseguests on Big Brother 23, finishing the season in eighth and 10th place, respectively. The show aired from July to September 2021. They later announced their romance that October, with Xiao sharing the caption “expect the unexpected,” as a nod to Big Brother‘s popular catchphrase.

“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 ❤️,” he wrote at the time. “I’m so excited to see what’s next for us!”

For her part, Rehfuss called it “the absolute best thing to come out of the most stressful 3 months of my life.” She told Us Weekly in a joint interview with Xiao that they began “officially dating” by the time they left Los Angeles for New York after the show. “I am really glad that it started outside of the house,” she said.

Rehfuss and Xiao were later crowned winners of The Amazing Race 34, which aired between September and December of 2022. The season included stops in Austria, Italy, France, Spain, Iceland and Jordan, and the duo left with a $1 million prize.

Xiao explained after their win how their stint on Big Brother prepared them for The Amazing Race in “a lot of ways.”

“Definitely understanding social strategy, but also being able to hold your wits in a high-pressure scenario,” he told Gold Derby of the carryover. “I think that’s not something you encounter in everyday life, but being able to keep calm, keep cool and collected when you’re doing a challenge and everyone’s already gone, you’re in last place — can you finish this up and recover? In those scenarios, doing Big Brother taught me how to stay calm under pressure.”

“Big Brother taught me how to handle a high amount of stress and pressure and just keep living and keep doing it,” Rehfuss added. “And wake up and tackle it and let’s get it done. I think I did better on challenges in The Amazing Race than Big Brother, but I think that’s because I was with him.”