CBS Brandon 'Frenchie' French on 'Big Brother 23
Brandon “Frenchie” French has opened up on the “Big Brother” 23 live feeds about the son he lost five years ago. He has several things in the house to honor his son Westin’s memory. Here’s what Frenchie has said about the tragic loss so far in the “Big Brother” house.
Frenchie Wanted to Win Head of Household To Get Photos of His Kids
Frenchie’s son passed away due to medical reasons on April 12, 2016. He only got to hold him for a short while before he took his last breath in his arms. This impacted their family deeply & what motivates him to be the best version of himself everyday. #bb23 #farmerfrenchie
Frenchie has said multiple times on the live feeds that he was gunning so hard for Head of Household mainly because he wanted to get photos of his children. He also wrote on his CBS bio as an answer to what he would take into the house and why, “A picture of my son who passed away
because it motivates me like no other.”
Based on his Twitter account, it looks like Frenchie has three other living children, two girls and a boy.
The family 😁👨🌾😊 we are a his, hers and ours family. Who do you think the kids look like? 😂🤷🏼♂️
Before the show began, whoever is manning Frenchie’s Twitter posted a little information about Westin’s death along with a photo of Frenchie holding his son in the hospital. It sounds like the baby boy died shortly after birth.
“Frenchie’s son passed away due to medical reasons on April 12, 2016. He only got to hold him for a short while before he took his last breath in his arms. This impacted their family deeply & what motivates him to be the best version of himself everyday,” wrote the Twitter account.
It’s hard to believe my son would have been starting kindergarten this year😔 HAPPY BIRTHDAY baby boy we think about you every day. Your daddy misses you SO much. I’ll be sending a balloon with a kiss to you up in heaven. My heart always cuts wide open today 😭
On April 12, 2021, Frenchie wrote on Twitter, “It’s hard to believe my son would have been starting kindergarten this year. HAPPY BIRTHDAY baby boy we think about you every day. Your daddy misses you SO much. I’ll be sending a balloon with a kiss to you up in heaven. My heart always cuts wide open today.”
Frenchie Said ‘It Still Hurts’ 5 Years Later
On April 23, 2020, Frenchie remembered Westin on Instagram, writing, “Today is my sons birthday who passed away. Westin you will always be missed and loved. Happy birthday! Your dad loves you. I know you are watching over us today.”
It looks like the familiy put a rock in their front flower bed with a poem on it to remember their son.
In the “Big Brother” house, shortly after Frenchie got the keys to his HOH room, he told the houseguests a little bit about what happened.
“I don’t ever get like emotional, I just don’t … but when I start talking about my son, that’s a totally different thing,” said Frenchie. “At the end of the day, all somebody has to do is say ‘tell me about your son’ and I’m instantly a baby, tears start pouring down. Even though it’s been five years, it still hurts. No parent should ever have to bury their child.”
But he added, “It made me a better person because I wasn’t always the best person in the world and I’m still not, but it taught me that life is too damn short.”
Later that same day, Thursday, July 8, he was talking to Brent about it and opened up about how painful the loss was and why he wears a necklace as a token of remembrance.
“Everybody is like ‘why do you wear that necklace, why do you talk about your son so much?’ And it’s just because when you do hold your child in your hand, it’s a love that you can’t even really put into words and then when you lose that, it’s like a whole different — there’s pain and then there’s feeling like your heart has literally been ripped out of your chest. And I’ve felt that pain, so I know that no matter what I go through in this house, it’ll never even come close to comparing how down I was,” said Frenchie.
“Big Brother” season 23 airs Sundays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.
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‘Big Brother’s’ Frenchie Lost a Son in 2016