Da'Vonne Rogers
First and foremost, sorry to Lily, I know this isn't what you wanted. I went back and forth between 3 people the last 24 hours. I told you who I wanted to cut, and I wasn't able to. I like everyone left in the 25 remaining, so its not just about liking or loving someone more at this point. There are a couple reasons why I decided to go with Da'Vonne. One of those reasons was not because you cut Olivia (who I was the one I was referring to getting cut, I can respect that decision). These reasons were: I wasn't going to cut a guy, as this is the best shot a male has had at doing well since Jordan Fisher. I feel like she hasn't been a target all game. I don't know if she's ever even been nominated. I feel like there would be a strong recency bias (because everyone else was so bad in Season 22), that would propel her to a deep placing in the final ranking. She also had a high placement in the challenge rankdown (and from what I understand didn't place great).
Da'Vonne originally participated in Big Brother 17. She sat out during week 1 and was immune from being eligible for elimination that week. She was nominated in Week 2 and swiftly eliminated from the game. During her two week stint she fished out the Liz/Julia twin situation and made allies with Jason Roy. Did she also join an all ladies alliance night 1? That detail is foggy.
Da'Vonne was gifted an opportunity to return the following season alongside Nicole, James and Frank. While I felt Day was a memorable early boot in Season 17, she really shined in season 18. She was in the Fatale 5 or whatever the ladies alliance was called, she had close allegiances to Zakiyah, James and later Michelle. She had unwarranted beef with Tiffany, and rightfully put Frank in his place. She was ultimately snaked by Nicole at the Top 11. This sent her to the jury house where she would eventually have a blow out with Paulie. We all dislike Paulie, so it was good seeing her cuss him out. At the end of the day, she lasted 6 weeks and voted for Nicole to win.
4 years later, Da'Vonne returned a second time in the most recent All-Stars season. I was excited to see what she would bring to the table. Early on she had people in her ear and was against Jaysar, which is unfortunate as I really wanted them to work together, as we the audience knew that once Jaysar was gone, Day was on borrowed time. She was, she lasted 4 more weeks and survived nomination in Week 5 when her ride or die Bayleigh went home. She won veto the following week securing her safety and she was able to pull Kevin down. She ultimately went home in Week 7, by Nicoles hands again. What was so impactful anout Da'Vonnes run the third time, is she was doing it to spread knowledge of the black lives matter movement, and I was moved by it. Her placement and her skills as a player are probably the weakest of everyone left in this final round, but her message is by far the most important. At the end of the day, she rose to my second favorite in the cast, and I appreciate what she brought to the show this time. She brought character, a message and integrity, which is a lot more then many people have on reality television. After her third outting, I feel like she has earned her legend status (one I didn't feel like she had qualified for back when playing in the CBS rankdown).
That said, I have to make a choice and was very close between her and 2 others. This won't be a popular cut, but I can live with that. Sorry!
