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‘Big Brother 18’: Does Julie Chen’s Early Assessment Of Victor Arroyo Still Ring True? [Spoilers]

By Sarah Field
Published on: 15:32 PST, Aug 28, 2016

Victor Arroyo wasn’t supposed to go far on Big Brother 18. While it’s never easy to pick a favorite, given that CBS can change the rules of the game at any time — and often do — in order to keep houseguests scrambling to revise strategy, Arroyo seemed less destined to get to the later stages of the game than most people. His pre-season biography posted by Big Brother Network noted his fondness for women.

“Victor’s motto: ‘Get my money, develop my body, and get women.'”

He also made a comment about not having great Google search skills as one apparent challenge when he was in the house, apparently unaware houseguests have no access to internet or writing materials of any kind. When Victor was the third houseguest evicted, host Julie Chen told Entertainment Weekly he lacked game sense.

“These newbies are just not that sharp! At least not the last two that exited. Victor and Jozea are naïve and too confident. Their confidence was not based on anything but their own healthy sense of self.”

“Yes, Victor is just too naïve to play ‘Big Brother.’ His inability to keep information and his intentions to himself got him evicted this week. He should have stopped blabbing the truth to everyone… especially non-allies! There’s no honesty in ‘Big Brother!'”

But apparently, Victor was underestimated, at least by this year’s rules of the game. This season, Victor became the first Big Brother contestant to get back in the house not once, but twice. First, he was the winner of the Battle Back competition which saw him compete against the other early evictees for a second chance to play.

Once back in the game, he re-affirmed his partnership with Paul, who voted for him to stay in those early weeks, against the wishes of the house. Victor was evicted again last Thursday, only to compete — and win — the competition that saw one juror return to the competition. As Entertainment Weekly‘s recap of Sunday’s episode recalled, Victor was strong enough to outlast the other jurors in an endurance competition, but was far short of the Head of Household title.

But does Victor have it in him to win it all? He’s proved himself to be strong at competitions and his partnership with Paul is solid. However, he’ll have to beat out some strong strategists still left in the game. Having made it to the final seven is probably more than the pre-season Big Brother 18 wager-makers would have guessed, however.

As for the comment about women, after his first eviction, Arroyo offered some conciliatory words by way of an Entertainment Weekly interview. Arroyo was responding to Natalie’s post-eviction “goodbye” message that told him he needed to learn how to speak to her gender.

“If I came off as disrespectful, I really do apologize. That was never my intention. I just hope I can talk to her after the show to get that message across.”

There’s another interesting footnote to the Victor Arroyo story. Big Brother Network noted in its pre-season biography that he shares a last name with another Big Brother contestant: Jenn “City” Arroyo from Big Brother 14. It was not clear whether there was any relationship between the gym manager (Victor) and the rocker (Jenn). Jenn City’s recent tweets would suggest there is none — or if there is, he doesn’t necessarily have her support.

Big Brother 18 airs Sundays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays on CBS.

[Photo by Matthew Eisman/Getty Images]

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