Xavier Prather (born May 12, 1994), is an American lawyer and

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

personality. He is the winner of the twenty-third season of the American reality television series '' Big Brother'', becoming the first

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

to win a regular season in the show's twenty-one-year history. In 2022, he appeared as a contestant on '' The Challenge: USA'' where he was eliminated during Episode 4. Outside reality television, Prather is a practicing attorney and a former college basketball player.

Personal life

Prather was born on May 12, 1994, in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He graduated from

Gull Lake High School Gull Lake High School is part of the Gull Lake Community Schools in Richland, Michigan. The district was consolidated in the early 1960s from the existing Richland, Kellogg, and Bedford secondary schools and serves nearly 1000 students from a th ...

in 2012, where he stood out as a member of the school's varsity

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

team. He attended

Spring Arbor University Spring Arbor University (SAU) is a private Free Methodist university in Spring Arbor, Michigan. Developing from an earlier academy and junior college, in 1963 it began offering bachelor's degrees. Attaining university status in 1994, it is th ...

from 2012 to 2016, earning his

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

criminal justice Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the rehabilitation of offenders, preventing other ...

. While there, he served as a member of the Spring Arbor Cougars men's basketball team. He went on to attend the

Valparaiso University School of Law The Valparaiso University Law School was the law school of Valparaiso University, a private university in Valparaiso, Indiana. Founded in 1879, the school was accredited by the American Bar Association in 1929 and admitted to the Association of Am ...

in 2017, earning his

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice l ...

in 2018. In 2020, he earned his second J.D. from

Marquette University Law School Marquette University Law School is the professional graduate law school of Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is one of two law schools in Wisconsin and the only private law school in the state. Founded in 1892 as the Milwaukee Law ...

. He has been an attorney at Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c. since September 2020. He currently resides in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee i ...

''Big Brother''

CBS announced Prather as a HouseGuest for ''Big Brother 23'' on July 1, 2021. During his time in the house, he became a member of the six-person alliance named "The Cookout." The alliance, consisting of only African-Americans, was created to ensure the crowning of the first black winner of a regular season of ''Big Brother''. During the September 9 double-eviction episode, the last non-Cookout HouseGuest was evicted, leaving the final six composed solely of members of The Cookout. On September 29, 2021, Prather won the final Head of Household competition of the season, evicting HouseGuest Azah Awasum and earning a spot in the final two. He was crowned the winner of the season by a unanimous vote, defeating Derek Frazier and earning the $750,000 prize. He is the third player in the history of the show to win by a unanimous vote in a regular season, following

Dan Gheesling Daniel Robert Gheesling (born September 1, 1983) is an American reality television personality, YouTube personality and Twitch streamer who is best known for his appearances on the American TV series ''Big Brother''. He is often considered to be ...

and

Cody Calafiore Cody Christopher Calafiore (born December 13, 1990) is an American reality television personality. He was the runner up on the reality television series '' Big Brother 16'' in 2014. He was later crowned the winner of '' Big Brother 22: All-Stars ...

''The Challenge: USA''

On June 8, 2022, CBS announced Prather as a contestant on ''The Challenge: USA''. He competed alongside former ''Big Brother'' HouseGuests from his season and past seasons. Attempts for the former HouseGuests to work together ultimately failed and during the July 27, 2022 episode, he and his partner Shan Smith were thrown into elimination against Justine Nbdia and fellow ''Big Brother'' alum David Alexander. Prather and Smith lost the elimination and were eliminated from the competition.

Filmography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prather, Xavier 1994 births African-American lawyers Big Brother (American TV series) winners The Challenge (TV series) contestants People from Kalamazoo, Michigan Lawyers from Milwaukee Living people Marquette University Law School alumni Spring Arbor Cougars men's basketball players Valparaiso University School of Law alumni