Entertainment

Corey & Nicole Have Different Plans After 'BB18'

Contestants can live and die by their showmances on Big Brother. One minute you’re kind of in love in the house (or, as in love as you can be after knowing someone for three weeks), and the next, you’re evicted to the jury house and have to judge your former significant other and help decide whether they should get $500,000. Most of the showmances on Big Brother don’t translate to real life after the cameras are off, for obvious reasons. Corey Brooks seems to know that, and he recently expressed concern over his relationship with Nicole Franzel. So will Corey and Nicole stay together after Big Brother 18 comes to an end, or will their relationship only last as long as the season does?

Corey and Nicole were like magnets at the beginning of the competition — instantly attracted, that is — and they’ve remained side-by-side through plenty of controversy, evictions, and drama. But now that time in the house is winding down, they seem to have opposing ideas of what’s going to happen to their relationship once they get back to the real world. Corey and Victor had a conversation about Corey’s expectations once the game is over, and I don't think Nicole would like what he said.

What Corey’s saying makes total sense, and I wish he was on The Bachelor or something, because he realizes that showmances very rarely work outside of the game. It’s not feasible to form an everlasting relationship when you’re actually competing against each other to win money. Nicole, however, doesn't seem to have the same view.

As Corey mentioned, she had a showmance on Big Brother 16 with Hayden Voss, and they transitioned into a real-life couple after the season. Obviously, it didn’t last, because Nicole is back in the house and in a new snugglefest. Corey said that he would love to have Nicole visit him at home after the show and basically to see what happens, but that doesn't mean they're going to be in a committed relationship right off the bat. The pair has spent every day together, 24/7, as he says, and that’s not what it will be like when they get out. Corey, for all intents and purposes, will be single. In the grand tradition of Twitter users, some feel that he’s not being fair.

I disagree, though. I don’t think Corey is wrong here — he doesn’t want a relationship after the show is over, and he doesn’t need to have one. That being said, he could definitely do better when it comes to managing Nicole’s expectations and being open with her about the future. The further away he pulls, the closer she gets, and a solid discussion about what is going to happen come September could do them both a world of good.

Image: CBS