Entertainment

A Timeline of the Zankie Showmance

by Kadeen Griffiths

Zach Rance and Frankie Grande are Big Brother's best kept secret. It's no secret to Internet fans that Zach and Frankie aka Zankie have the bromance to end all bromances, but you don't get to see a lot of it on the CBS channel. For one reason or another, everyone has to rely on the live feeds and whatever clips and gifs that Tumblr has to offer in order to keep track of the incredibly romantic friendship between those two house guests. Even Julie Chen has expressed love for Zankie, but I still doubt we can expect to see it on television any time soon.

So, how did the Zankie craze get started? If you've only seen the Big Brother episodes on television and are confused by how much the Internet seems to love Zankie, how are you supposed to catch up and figure out where this love is coming from? After all, they haven't visibly spent time with one another on the show, at least nowhere near enough to justify calling them a showmance. For anyone who's ever been confused about Zankie or who just wants to reflect on an overview of some of their greatest moments, here's an easy timeline of all things Zankie.

June 26: Zach and Frankie make a Final Two Deal

The very first day that the live feeds went up, Zach and Frankie sought each other out to make a Final Two deal. That was apparently all it took to launch the bromance that no one ever saw coming. As early as one week into their stint in the Big Brother house, Frankie and Zach were hugging each other like they'd been friends for years.

June 27: Zach becomes the biggest Frankie fanboy

Zach and Frankie solidified their Final Two alliance and continued to go to one another to talk game. Throughout their interactions, Zach is incredibly complimentary of Frankie's personality and game strategies. He said that Frankie is in his own class when it comes to a social game and that he trusts Frankie with his life. He also said that he wanted to find one person he could trust when he came into the Big Brother house and that he had found that person in Frankie.

July 1: Cody and Brittany talk about Zach's crush

While lounging around, Brittany told Cody that she suspected that Zach and Frankie were going to have the first showmance of the season. Cody then reveals that Zach came up to him and said that he wanted to have sex with Frankie. He also swears that he saw Frankie and Zach cuddling in bed and thought they were about to kiss.

July 4: Frankie and Zach betray each other

While talking game with Frankie, Christine admitted that Zach was one of the people in the house that she didn't trust. Frankie responded by calling Zach an idiot who tells him everything. He then revealed to Christine that Zach kept trying to start a Final Two alliance with him. Meanwhile, after being drawn into a semi-alliance with Cody and Derrick, Zach agreed to watch what he said to Frankie because they were losing trust in him.

July 5: Zach has a breakdown

Devin tells Zach point-blank that he doesn't trust him, sending Zach into a panicked spiral to get back in Devin's good graces. After begging Frankie not to screw him over, Zach then blows up members of the Bomb Squad when Devin nominates him for eviction. Frankie is furious with Zach for jeopardizing his game like that, and actively helps to sway the house to evict Zach, but the two of them eventually make up.

July 6: Zach and Frankie are actually shown on television

After being a solely live-feeds only bonus for Big Brother fans, Zach and Frankie's relationship received spotlight on CBS. In addition to including Cody's talk with Brittany and several other Zankie cuddling moments, the show included a diary room interview from Zach in which he said, "The bond that Frankie and I have is so genuine and sincere that I truly feel like he is my boyfriend."

July 11: Frankie uses Zach for Team America

When the latest Team America task comes up and asks that Derrick, Donny, and Frankie spread a rumor that another member of the house is related to a former Big Brother guest, Frankie selects Zach as the person who should be the target of the rumor. While this could have been a major betrayal considering the target it had the potential to put on Zach's back, Zach loved the idea and ran with it.

July 16: Zach admits he's attracted to Frankie

Frankie admits to Zach that he would have sex with him. Zach admits that if he ever questioned his sexuality, then Frankie would be the person he would experiment with. They both accept these as simple facts and head to bed. This wouldn't be the last time they had a conversation like that.

July 23: Frankie's grandfather passes away

Frankie receives the news that his grandfather passed away and relays it to the other house guests in tears. They do their best to comfort Frankie and, later, Zach takes a private moment away by himself to mourn Frankie's loss on a more personal level. He then spends most of the rest of the night by Frankie's side keeping his spirits up.

July 24: Zach and Frankie become HoH together

After winning the competition to become Head of Household, Zach and Frankie enjoy their power couple status with their usual amount of affection. Zach later got dethroned as HoH, much to Frankie's relief because Zach had started to go a little mad with power.

July 29: This happened

Welcome to the Zankie side, everyone. We have late-night cuddling.

Image: CBS; Big Brother Daily; zankierance/Tumblr