CBS
Nicole Franzel and Victor Arroyo met on season 18 of Big Brother, got engaged on season 20, and are now expecting their first child.
Franzel, 28, announced on Instagram that she’s pregnant and expecting a “lil sidekick” in July 2021. Arroyo also posted about the pregnancy on Instagram, showing off photos of the ultrasound and writing in the caption that Franzel is 11 weeks along.
While Arroyo only participated in one Big Brother season, Franzel is the show’s all-time leader in days spent inside the Big Brother house after three appearances. Franzel finished seventh on season 16, but won in her return two years later for season 18. Most recently, she finished in third place on an all-star season of Big Brother in 2020. After the show ended, she said that she was retired from the franchise because her “heart can’t take any more.”
Additionally, Franzel and Arroyo appeared on season 31 of The Amazing Race and finished in fourth place.
The Pandemic Forced Franzel & Arroyo to Delay Wedding Plans
While the couple got engaged in 2018, there still hasn’t been a wedding. For now, they’re set to get married in May 2021, although they’ve already rescheduled three times due to the COVID-19 pandemic and it’s anyone’s guess if they’ll be able to have their wedding this time either.
“We were supposed to get married in Turks and Caicos on December 9,” Franzel said on the couple’s Coco Caliente podcast in November, not long after she returned from Big Brother 22. “We just found out that the resort’s not opening. We’re postponing to the spring and we’re going to keep everything the same and we’re really excited about it.”
The wedding turned into a hot topic during the latest season of Big Brother after Franzel uninvited fellow contestant Janelle Pierzina during a live episode.
Pierzina shrugged off the snub and said she didn’t plan on going to the wedding anyway, because her daughter had a cheer competition that weekend. Shortly after Pierzina’s eviction, she posted a photo of her invite to the wedding and said she was “glad” she didn’t have to pay $3,000 to attend.
Just received my invite. 3k for hotel so Nicole’s reception and hotel stay can basically be comped. Glad I don’t have to go. I hate cheap ass weddings where the go to song is Cotton Eyed Joe.
On Coco Caliente, Arroyo called that claim “absurd” and said that it was a “stupid and petty” rumor.
Franzel & Arroyo Will Be the 5th ‘Big Brother’ Couple With Children
Earlier in January, Big Brother alumni Elissa Reilly Slater dissed The Bachelor and said her former stomping grounds gives contestants a better shot at love.
@itskathryndunn @RealitySteve You’re looking at the wrong show- Big Brother gives you a much better chance at love than the bachelor – they should do a spin off –
Her sister, Rachel Reilly, is one of those Big Brother alumni who found a long-lasting relationship on the show. She and Brendon Villegas met on season 12 of the show in 2010 and got married in 2012. Reilly gave birth to their second child in November.
Three other couples who met on Big Brother have also had kids.
Jeff Schroeder and Jordan Lloyd, who met on season 11, are married with two children. Daniele Donato and Dominic Briones, who met on season 13, are married with one child. Jessica Graf and Cody Nickson, who met on season 19, are married with two children.
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