‘Reality Queen’ Rachel Reilly, Returns to BB28 in a Flash—and Plunges Into a Fake Volcanic Eruption, ‘Death’ Elimination Shock… Who’s the Real Third Guest?

Rachel Reilly, widely regarded as one of the most distinctive characters in the history of American reality TV, made a dazzling return to Season 28 of ‘Big Brother’—only to plunge into a fake volcano within minutes of the broadcast and deliver an all-time wild “death(?) elimination” exit that sent the living-room audience into uproar.

■ Declares a “battle of revenge” after Angela and Rick Devens… A tale that turns into bones in one minute

On Sept. 9 (local time), CBS’s Season 28 premiere of ‘Big Brother’ unfolded under a massive theme called ‘Time Trip.’ In the first game that day, the three houseguests—Rom, Che, and Jason—won and secured safety. With their victories, the show summoned reality icons from the past, sending each of them to specific past dates and places.

First, Season 26 troublemaker Angela Murray and ‘Survivor’ star Rick Devens entered the house. Then the third person to appear was none other than Rachel Reilly, a legend who had been on Seasons 12 and 13 (winner) and returned last season on Season 27. After she had been eliminated in a heartbreaking way during the ‘White Locust’ mission last season, she stepped in confidently, saying she came “to get revenge.”

But her revenge plot didn’t last even long enough to get started. Standing on the ring for the backyard’s first HOH (Head of Household) competition—set in a ‘Jurassic Era’ theme—Reilly let out a scream as a raptor (dinosaur) model charged straight at her, and she began backing away. “Guys! What on earth is happening?!” she shouted as she fell directly into a (fake) volcano hole in the top of the set. The broadcast, cruelly, cut immediately to an advertisement at that exact moment, squeezing the breath out of viewers.

After the commercial break, host Julie Chen Moonves appeared with a very serious face and delivered an absurd official announcement: “We can confirm that Rachel fell into the volcano and has suffered an untimely demise. She is out of the game.” Toward the end of the episode, fans erupted as a fake skeleton model floated above the lava set, still wearing the clothes Rachel had on.

■ A ‘time slip’ to Dec. 20, 2023… Bursting global-community theories

Even though she was eliminated at lightning speed in such an outrageous way, before leaving, Rachel Reilly left the houseguests with her final power: she would personally choose the third alum (past contestant) who would enter the house.

And the spark came from host Julie Chen Moonves’s own direct appearance. Near the end of the episode, Julie Chen Moonves walked directly into the Big Brother house herself, then staged a time slip into the past, into a moment marked ‘Dec. 20, 2023.’

With the production’s dropped hint attached to that date, the current global reality community is about to explode. Fans are trading hot takes while presenting two major scenarios. The first is that this date is the day before the final day of ‘Big Brother: Reindeer Games’—a winter spinoff program—meaning a legend from that spinoff could appear.

But the most widely considered theory right now is that the date is, in fact, the airdate of the final episode of ‘Survivor 45.’ Community users have been spreading expectations at a fever pitch, speculating that Dee Valladares—who had taken the final win with a dramatic narrative at the time—may have finished filming ‘Survivor 50’ and could be entering as the real third hidden card for ‘Big Brother 28.’

■ Identity is revealed in ‘Unlocked,’ turning expectations on their head… Lock in for Sunday’s airing

True to ‘Big Brother,’ which always tells viewers to “Expect the unexpected,” Rachel Reilly’s volcano show proved to be a master stroke that immediately boosted the program’s buzz.

The identity of the real third reality star who will carry Rachel’s torch and completely devastate the house will be revealed in a big way through the spinoff episode ‘Big Brother: Unlocked,’ which airs today (Friday, July 10) in the United States. Whether Dee Valladares will appear in the house and kick off a brutal political battle for the new champion spot together with Angela and Rick Devens has the attention of reality fans around the world locked onto CBS and Paramount+.