It was late September in 2016 when the glitter settled on the CBS stage and Julie Chen announced a result that honestly left half the internet screaming at their monitors. If you were looking for a landslide, you didn't get it. By a razor-thin 5-4 margin, Nicole Franzel became the person who won Big Brother 18, cementing her place in history as the first woman to ever defeat a man in the Final Two.
She beat out Paul Abrahamian, a loud, bearded "newbie" who basically spent the entire summer shouting about "friendship" and surviving more close calls than a cat with nine lives. For a lot of fans, the win felt... weird. Nicole had spent a massive chunk of the 99-day season in bed with her showmance, Corey Brooks. Meanwhile, Paul was winning Vetoes, navigating "the house" with a loud personality, and doing the heavy lifting.
But Big Brother isn't a sport where you win on points for style. It's a social experiment. And in the end, Nicole’s "snake" gameplay—a term her housemates literally used as an insult—turned out to be the exact thing that got her the check.
The Night the Jurors Picked the Snake
The finale was a nail-biter. Going into the night, the Final Three consisted of Nicole, Paul, and James Huling. Paul, having won the final Head of Household (HoH), had the power to choose who to sit next to. He made the choice that still haunts him: he cut James and took Nicole.
Why? Because Paul thought the jury was bitter. He figured they would never vote for a returning player like Nicole who had "played dirty." He was wrong.
The jury vote was a total toss-up. Here is how it actually broke down:
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- For Nicole: Corey, Paulie, Zakiyah, Natalie, and Da’Vonne.
- For Paul: James, Victor, Michelle, and Bridgette.
The shocker there? Da’Vonne Rogers. She and Nicole had a rocky relationship inside the house. Da’Vonne even called her a "snake" on her way out. But as a juror, Day decided to "vote better, not bitter." She respected that Nicole, despite her whiny voice and "cutesy" persona, was actually the one pulling the strings behind the scenes. She saw the game for what it was—a series of calculated betrayals—and decided Nicole did it better.
What Really Happened with the "Laying in Bed" Strategy
The biggest knock against Nicole is that she "did nothing." If you only watched the televised edits, it kinda looked like she just cuddled with Corey for three months. But if you were a live feeder, you saw something different.
Nicole played a game of threat management.
She entered the house as one of four veterans. Usually, vets get picked off early because they’re easy targets. To survive, Nicole used Corey as a human shield. She stayed quiet, stayed out of the line of fire, and let the big personalities like Jozea, Frank, and Paulie Calafiore blow up their own games.
While Paul was out there winning seven competitions and solving the "Paris riddle" to get back in the game, Nicole was quietly ensuring she was never even nominated. In fact, she wasn't nominated for eviction once until the final four. That’s insane. It’s not that she was lazy; she was invisible by choice.
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Paul’s Fatal Flaw: The Natalie Vote
You can't talk about who won Big Brother 18 without talking about why Paul lost. It wasn't just that he took the wrong person to the end; it was his social game.
Natalie Negrotti was the swing vote that really killed Paul. In her post-show interviews, she’s been pretty open about why she didn't give him the money. It wasn't just "girl power." Paul had been incredibly condescending to her in the final weeks. He mocked her, called her names, and basically treated her like she didn't understand the game.
When you get to the Final Two, you have to ask for the votes of the people you just evicted. Paul’s "tell it like it is" attitude worked for TV, but it felt like bullying to the people living with him. Nicole, on the other hand, was always "sweet" to their faces, even while she was plotting their exit. It's a classic Big Brother lesson: being liked is good, but being respected—or at least not hated—is how you get the $500,000.
The Aftermath and Why It Still Matters
Since that win, Nicole has become one of the most polarizing figures in reality TV. She went on to compete in Big Brother: All-Stars (Season 22), where she made the Final Three again, and she eventually won the first-ever Big Brother Reindeer Games in 2023.
Paul? He came back the very next year in Season 19, made it to the Final Two again, and lost again by a 5-4 vote. It turns out, "friendship" is a hard brand to sell when the people you’re selling it to feel betrayed.
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Lessons for Future Players
If you’re a fan of the show or thinking about applying, Big Brother 18 is the ultimate case study in jury management.
- Stop being a "jerk" for the cameras. The jury sees everything (except your private diary rooms). If you’re mean to them on the way out, they won't give you money.
- Shielding works. Aligning with a "comp beast" or a showmance partner who is a bigger target than you is a valid way to get to the end.
- The final speech is garbage. Most jurors have already made up their minds before they sit on that stage. Paul’s speech was technically better, but Nicole had already won over Da’Vonne and Natalie.
Nicole Franzel proved that you don't have to be the loudest person in the room to win. You just have to be the one who knows how to stay in the room the longest. Whether you love her or think Paul was robbed, the history books show one name at the top of the Season 18 list.
Next time you're watching a "boring" player on the live feeds, pay attention. They might just be the one holding the confetti at the end of the summer.
Actionable Insights:
- Review Jury Interviews: To truly understand the 5-4 split, look up the "Jury Roundtable" segments on YouTube. They show the exact moment jurors like Da'Vonne started shifting their perspective on Nicole.
- Analyze Threat Levels: If you play social strategy games (like Among Us or Mafia), try the "Nicole Strategy": stay mid-tier in visibility. Never be the most suspicious, but never be the most helpful.
- Watch Season 19 for Contrast: To see why Paul's loss in Season 18 wasn't a fluke, watch his following season. It highlights the difference between "playing a game" and "managing people."