- - - “Big Brother”'s Zae Frederich apologizes for using offensive term: 'I regretted it as soon as I said it'

Kristen BaldwinJuly 19, 2025 at 12:31 AM

Sonja Flemming/CBS

Isaiah "Zae" Frederich on 'Big Brother'

Sorry, Burger Boy, but your Big Brother game just got smashed.

Isaiah "Zae" Frederich, the 23-year-old salesman from Provo, Utah — and a member of the Burger Boys alliance — is officially the first houseguest evicted from Big Brother season 27. The beefy and brainy player, who bonded early on with fellow iron-pumping houseguests Zach and Keanu, clashed with returning BB player Rachel Reilly, which only made her more determined to save her nominated ally, Amy, from the block this week.

When he wasn't able to save himself during the inaugural BB Block Buster competition, Zae — both a physical threat and a chess whiz — found himself to be an easy target for the other houseguests, and he was evicted by a vote of 9 to 5. The morning after his ouster, Entertainment Weekly chatted with Zae about game regrets, his public beef with Rachel, and his headline-making use of an offensive term which was caught on the live feeds earlier this week.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: So Zae, how are you doing this morning?

ZAE FREDERICH: Obviously I wasn't planning on being here this morning. I wanted to make a run, be in the house still, but it is what it is. I'm here and I'm making the most of it.

If you had a time machine and could go back and do it over again, what would you do differently?

I think I would try and start talking a little bit game a little bit earlier. I think that there's a perfect balance. I think if you talk game too early, people think you're trying to play it too hard and they view you as a threat. If you talk game too late, then you don't have that trust built early enough. And so I think just a little bit earlier, just even a day earlier could have saved my life in this game this week. I think that that was probably the biggest mistake that I made.

In retrospect, do you think it was a mistake to tell Rachel that you were going to target her if she didn't vote to keep you in the house?

No. Honestly, if anything, I think that our encounter, everyone seeing it, was more on my side than her side, I think it made her more of a target. It was really weird interaction. It was completely out of line on her end, and everyone was kind of surprised and they could tell I didn't want to argue. If anything, I think it made me look better. But I think that if you're somebody that they view as a threat on week one and you're sitting on the block, you're probably going to go home. And so I don't think it really would've changed the votes too much. But I do think that if anything, Rachel will get out earlier because of our interaction.

Keanu, Zae, and Rachel on 'Big Brother'

True. That public confrontation might remind people she's a threat.

And we caught her in a lie, and that's how it all started. She was, well, expanding the truth a little bit with me and Keanu, trying to pit us against each other, and spreading stuff that wasn't fully true. It kind of painted a target on our back because we called her out for it and we told the whole house that she was lying. Hopefully [the houseguests] recognize that and are able to make moves on her. A lot of the houseguests are kind of scared of her for whatever reason, so they might be scared to take that shot.

Wait, remind me — what was the lie?

She told Keanu that I was gunning for him and I wanted him to be up as a nominee, which wasn't true. That broke my trust a little bit, and I was up front with Rachel about it. I didn't want to tell lies, especially this early on in the game. She asked if I trusted [Keanu] and I said, "Not fully." And she was like, "Well, would you want to put him up?" And I was like, "I mean, at some point if I don't rebuild his trust, then yeah, probably." Obviously we smoothed things over the next day, me and Keanu, but she was still using that multiple days later, even though Keanu and I had smoothed it over. This is what Keanu told me. I haven't seen the [episode], so I don't know exactly how the conversation went, but that's my understanding of it from what Keanu told me.

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Zach, Keanu, and Zae pump iron on 'Big Brother'

In last night's episode, Rachel mentioned that it was clear that you, Zach, and Keanu were all working together since you were always hanging out and pumping iron. Do you think you guys should have been less obvious?

It's kind of funny because I was very, very aligned with Zach, but there were times where I wasn't as aligned with Keanu. Like, Keanu straight up told me that if I was on the block with Kelley, he'd probably keep Kelley over me. And so I think people thought that because we would work out together, but in reality, we're working out together because liked each other's presence in a personal sense rather than a game sense. I think that [Rachel] pinned it to look that way for everyone else that way. I was an easy target so she could keep her biggest ally in the game. But in reality, I don't necessarily see it like that. Even though I do love the guy a lot.

Who do you think is playing the smartest game right now?

I think the biggest threats that people aren't realizing it would be Morgan and Vinny. They're not looked at as big physical threats, but they're both very, very smart. They're both very, very calculated. They know when to make moves. Those are the players that I think are going to make really long runs in this game. I know it's very early in the game, but if I had to make a wager [on] who I think was going to win, I would put my money on one of those two.

Morgan on 'Big Brother'

I am basically twice your age, and so I don't know what's hip — are frosted tips making a comeback?

So it's kind of funny. I actually buzzed and bleached my hair in February, so this is the grown out version of that. But honestly, I kind of like it. I think I might keep 'em, the frosted tips. I don't think they're making a comeback, but maybe I'll be like the one that brings the movement back. Who knows? Or maybe people just think I look dumb. I don't know. But I like the blonde hair, the contrast.

Earlier in the week, you made headlines for using an offensive term while playing chess. I wanted to give you a chance to address that.

Obviously, I apologize for anyone offended by my words. I did not mean it like that. I regretted it as soon as I said it, and hopefully people don't look at me less because of it... I was so involved in that game of chess that I just didn't think, and it kind of just slipped out and I was like, "Whoa, I did not expect myself to say that," and I tried to correct it and move on the best I could.

Zae (right) plays chess with Adrian on 'Big Brother'

Who is the best chess player in the house besides you?

I would say Zach. Zach's really good... Zach's a really smart guy and he's really athletic. He's handsome too, so he's got the triple threat. People should be scared of Zach. That's why I don't necessarily think he will make a crazy far run. I hope he does because I love the guy, but I think that if he's on the block, people are going to view him as a target and he's probably going to go home.

What is the thing you'll miss most about being in the Big Brother house?

I think I'll miss just the house guests. It was just so cool, especially week one before all the drama was going on. Everyone has very strong personalities and we all just meshed so well, even though we were all so different. I hope that I have lifelong friends from that house.

And what will you miss the least?

I mean, 17 people and essentially one bathroom is not the best. Honestly, it wasn't a big of a deal though. I never really had to wait for the bathroom that often, but it would've been nice to have a couple other places to go potty.

How often is that bathroom cleaned?

Couldn't tell you if it was cleaned. I wasn't the one to do it. I did wipe off the seat a few times. I did my part, hopefully.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

on Entertainment Weekly

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