'Big Brother's' first Black winner Xavier Prather says hours after his historic win that it's 'something special' The Cookout Alliance worked

• Xavier Prather became the first Black winner of CBS' "Big Brother" on Wednesday.
• Prather will take home a prize of $750,000, the largest prize in the show's history.
• He told Insider in part, "My goal was primarily ... to help Big Brother crown its first Black winner."

Xavier Prather, a 27-year-old attorney who lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was voted on Wednesday the winner of the 23rd season of CBS' "Big Brother," becoming the first Black winner in the show's two-decade history.

Prior to Prather's win on Wednesday, "Big Brother" had just three non-white winners since it premiered in July 2000, none of whom were Black.

"Obviously I wanted to win, but my goal was primarily to do what I could to help Big Brother crown its first Black winner," Prather said in an interview with Insider early Thursday morning.

Prather will take home a prize of $750,000, the largest prize in "Big Brother" history. Previous "Big Brother" winners received a $500,000 grand prize.

Prather said he planned to use the money to support his nephew, pay off student loan debt from law school, help out family and friends, and invest and save.

A historic season

In 2003, when the show was in its fourth season, Jun Song, who was born in South Korea, became the first person of color (POC) to win "Big Brother."

Song was the only non-white winner for another 15 seasons until Josh Martinez, who is Latinx and Cuban, won in season 19. Kaycee Clark, who is of Filipino descent, won the 20th season of the show, bringing the total number of POC winners to three out of 22 total.

Prather brings that total to four. He was part of a six-person alliance called "The Cookout," which featured exclusively Black players. The alliance was formed at the beginning of the season with the goal of getting a Black contestant to win the game for the first time in the show's history.

"Six individuals came into a house as strangers and had the same vision in mind and were able to put aside any personal differences or game differences to work together for a goal that was bigger than the game itself," Prather told Insider. "It's pretty remarkable to see that all kind of work out. It was something special."

All six members of the alliance made it to the final six of the season. Prather was unanimously voted the winner on Wednesday by the "Big Brother" jury, which is comprised of nine contestants who were eliminated earlier this season. Season 23 of "Big Brother" also marked the first time a white male did not appear on the show's jury in its 21 year history.

Prather was up for the top prize with his fellow member of "The Cookout," Derek Frazier, a 29-year-old from Philadelphia, who received zero votes from the jury.

The 23rd season of "Big Brother" was the most diverse in its history, following CBS' pledge last year to feature at least 50% Black and Indigenous people of color on all seasons of its unscripted programs, including "Big Brother" and "Survivor."

"If it wasn't me and it was any other member of 'The Cookout' I would've still felt like a winner," Prather said. "I might not have had as much money, but I still would've felt like a winner."

The long-running CBS show will return in February 2022 for the third iteration of the US edition of "Celebrity Big Brother."