Entertainment

Natalie & James May Not Survive After 'BB18'

Showmances live on Big Brother, and showmances die on Big Brother, as are the days of our lives. The going got tough in the Big Brother 18 house as the numbers dropped, and every “couple” in the house was split by eviction. After all, a Big Brother winner is like the Highlander — there can only be one. But, will James and Natalie date after Big Brother 18 is over?

I feel like James and Natalie have had mismatched goals for their relationship since day one. They clearly cared about each other — they had an alliance (TBD, but more on that later), they cuddled, they had prank wars together, they talked about everything, etc. — but I have a feeling that it crumbled in a bad way. In my mind, it started long before Natalie's eviction week, back when Natalie and James had a talk in which they said they had a “best friend alliance.” James has always seemed more into Natalie than Natalie is into James — he has been protecting her from the other Big Brother 18 cast members from the beginning — and that conversation, to me, landed him squarely in the friend zone. Not every relationship in the Big Brother house has to be romantic, but it always sucks when you like someone and they don’t like you back.

During the week they were both on the block, James and Natalie campaigned for each other while simultaneously trying to get themselves to stay in the house. This is why showmances never work — self-interest always rears its ugly head. Towards the end of the week, James started to think Natalie played him, and he wasn't really wrong. Fans ended up split on either side. Some were Team Natalie...

…while others thought Natalie walked all over James, and she needed him to survive.

If you ask me, thanks to all the drama, James and Natalie won’t be dating after Big Brother 18 wraps. But, that’s the nature of the game — only one can stay, and you can’t let your heart get in the way of the money.

Image: Bill Inoshita/CBS