CBS Nicole Franzel during the Big Brother 22 finale
The final three of Big Brother 22 came down to Nicole Franzel, Cody Calafiore, and Enzo Palumbo. Franzel and Calafiore had had a final two deal since the beginning, but he also had a final two deal with Palumbo and in the end, he chose Palumbo over Franzel.
When Franzel was evicted by Calafiore, she was visibly devastated, barely controlling her emotions throughout the rest of the finale. In her latest “Coco Caliente” podcast, she and fiance Victor Arroyo broke down the season and Franzel talked about her relationship with Calafiore.
Franzel Is Still Really Hurt
Franzel admitted that she is still really hurting from Calafiore’s betrayal because she was so sure he was going to take her to the final two.
“I want to frickin’ cry about it still. I have nightmares about it,” she said, adding that she was stressed out all summer until she won the first round of the final Head of Household competition. Once she won that, she thought she was 100 percent going to be in the final two.
“In that house, your body goes into survival mode, so one thing I like to say is until you spend a season in that house, I think you should be really careful judging people. My body… I don’t have my menstrual cycle in the house because I have so much stress … I’m so focused, it’s survival mode. My body can’t even do that,” said Franzel, adding, “Finally, 80-some days I get my period and that tells you how deep down I believed [that I would be final two].”
So when Calafiore cut her, she was completely unprepared for the betrayal.
“Never did I think that I would be going out in third place, so I just didn’t prepare for it,” said Franzel.
Franzel Was Also Upset That Calafiore Said He Would Have Voted for Palumbo to Win
In post-show interviews at the finale, Franzel overheard Calafiore say that if he had been cut at final two by Franzel, he would have voted for Palumbo to win. Franzel was incredibly hurt and angry to overhear that because she “always knew” she would vote for Calafiore to win.
“That’s what he said initially in the first interviews afterward … and I was so pissed,” said Franzel, adding, “I always knew I’d vote for him.”
She also said that in hindsight, she now wishes she would have cut him when she won Head of Household and the Power of Veto in week 10.
“I could have gotten rid of him when I won the HOH and the veto and I should have,” said Franzel, adding, “I think that’s why I felt so frustrated … I saved his ass a week [before the finale], two weeks [before], whatever, and I felt like I deserved to be sitting next to him because of that. I still thought he would beat me if he took me.”
Big Brother 23 will return in the summer of 2021. Until then, we might get a new season of Big Brother Canada this winter/spring and there is talk of a winter edition of Celebrity Big Brother.
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