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Nicole Franzel Gets Support From Some ‘Big Brother’ Alums, Criticism From Others

By Victoria Miller
Published on: 05:54 PST, Sep 19, 2016

Nicole Franzel has made it to the Final 3 in the Big Brother 18 house, and her gameplay has some alums of the CBS reality show loving her and others, well, not so much. With a $500,000 grand prize on the line, Nicole not only has to win competitions, but she also has to win the votes of the ousted contestants in the jury, some of whom don’t like her.

Note: Spoilers for the Big Brother 18 finale are included in this article.

According to live feed spoilers posted by Cinema Blend, Paul Abrahamian won the first part of the three-part Head of Household competition and Nicole Franzel won the second part, which means James Huling is at their mercy to get any shot to make it to the Final 2. Paul and Nicole will face off during the live Big Brother finale, and the winner of that comp will decide who to bring to the Final 2, guaranteeing their pick at least a $50,000 prize.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BJtN4Wqh7dS/?taken-by=cbs_bigbrother&hl=en

Nicole is said to have smoked James in the second leg of the HOH comp, which was some sort of timed picture puzzle competition. While she has been on the fence about who to take to the end should she win Part 3 of the battle, Cinema Blend reports that Nicole sat in the Safari room by herself over the weekend to work on her finale night speech, and she practiced several scenarios, including at least one that seemingly included taking James to the Final 2.

At one point, Franzel reportedly admitted, “I honestly didn’t want to take him to the final 2.”

Nicole and Paul have been talking about the fact that James was more of a floater this season than a serious player.

Big Brother host Julie Chen has already said that James should have voted out Nicole instead of her showmance, Corey Brooks, last week because he would have had a better chance at getting to the Final 2 with him.

“If he sits next to Nicole, then Da’Vonne is the swing vote who ultimately I think would vote for Nicole,” Chen told Entertainment Weekly. “She likes James, but she gave Nicole props for playing a heck of a game.”

Still, Chen thinks Nicole Franzel would have trouble beating Paul Abrahamian.

“Nicole has proven to be able to win comps this year, [but] if she wins final HOH, I don’t think she would beat Paul in a final two situation. And again, if she were to choose James as her final two, she is not a shoe-in to win.”

Indeed, Nicole Franzel already knows he has her work cut out for her regarding the Big Brother jury. Updates from the live feeds show Nicole saying that jury member Michelle Meyer has something against her, so she thinks it would be hard to get her vote. In fact, Franzel wonders if she’d be able to get a vote from any of the women in the jury house.

As Nicole Franzel tries to size up her status in the Big Brother house, her Season 16 co-star and that year’s ultimate winner, Derrick Levasseur, told Julie Chen he thought she played a great game this season. During a sit-down during last week’s live show, Derrick commended Nicole for laying low for most of the summer and then stepping up her game towards the end. Derrick thinks Nicole has a good shot at winning the $500,000 BB18 grand prize, and he said he would like to see a female finally win the CBS competition after four years in a row of male winners.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BJeHCryBo14/?taken-by=cbs_bigbrother&hl=en

But Chen disagrees. Julie told Entertainment Weekly that Nicole will have a hard time convincing the jury to vote for her, even if she is more deserving of the win than James.

“Nicole probably has the toughest road the victory,” Chen told EW. “Even if she makes it to the final two, she doesn’t have a lot of supporters/friends on the jury.”

Julie faulted Nicole for her loyalty to only one person this season: Her showmance, Corey.

“Nicole disappointed me this year,” Chen admitted to the Hollywood Reporter. “I guess she’s playing the game, but I didn’t like how she wasn’t loyal to anyone but Corey. I didn’t like her being a snake, as Michelle would say.”

Julie did defend Franzel, who also had a showmance with her housemate Hayden Voss in Season 16, on one point, though.

“With Nicole, I don’t think it’s been fair that online viewers have been slut-shaming her. That’s a little bit unfair. But the criticism of her being a snake and a backstabber, I felt the same way. I didn’t like that. We like Nicole to be kind of naive and innocent, but she’s played the game and she knows the game.”

Several Big Brother alums have been vocal about their support for Nicole Franzel. Nicole has received words of support from show alums Andy Herren, Amanda Zuckerman, and Caleb Reynolds. And as a bonus, a former Bachelorette star has come to Franzel’s defense for how she has been criticized during her time on the show.

https://twitter.com/AMANDAZUCKERMAN/status/776580949752422400

https://twitter.com/CalebReynolds/status/755936588891353088

Meanwhile, Big Brother alum Danielle Reyes has pointed out that Nicole’s showmance consumed most of her summer, while Season 8 winner Evel Dick Donato has been downright critical of Franzel, slamming her looks and shaming her for her showmance.

https://twitter.com/daniellebb3/status/777302731841081344

Do you think Nicole Franzel has what it takes to win Big Brother 18?

Take a look at the video below to see Nicole Franzel missing her man.

[Featured Image by CBS/Facebook]

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