Natalie Martinez gets engaged to boyfriend during 'Big Brother' visit

Natalie Martinez got engaged during Sunday night's Big Brother eleventh-season broadcast, however it might have cost her a shot at the eleventh-season grand prize.


The 24-year-old Tae Kwon Do champion from Gilbert, AZ was proposed to by her boyfriend Jason during the eleventh-season's second "Pandora's Box" twist. 

But by opening Pandora's Box and subsequently lying about what she received, Natalie also relinquished her ability to play in the final Power of Veto competition and thus alienated her only ally remaining in the house.

After winning the Head of Household competition at the conclusion of Thursday night's broadcast, the power immediately went to Natalie's head -- as she told her ally Kevin Campbell, a 29-year-old graphic designer from Chula Vista, CA, that she planned to put him on the block as a pawn alongside Michele Noonan, a 27-year-old neuroscientist from Pasadena, CA.

"It's been five minutes and 25 seconds and Natalie is already suffering from HOH-itis," said Kevin in the Diary Room. "The power has gone to her head."


Kevin wanted to make sure that Natalie would at least try in the upcoming PoV competition.

"You're going to try 100% in the veto, right?" he asked her.

"Of course.  I want Michele gone," answered Natalie.  "And if she wins, she is standing in the way of Final 2.  If she goes, it's me and you against [Jordan Lloyd, a 22-year-old waitress from Matthews, NC].  If we win the veto, we will go to Final 2."

After the four remaining houseguests competed in a luxury competition in which they all received a brief shopping spree in the Big Brother house, Natalie returned to the HoH room and was greeted by the season's second Pandora's Box.  She read an envelope that explained the decision she'd have to make.

"Behold the doorway to Pandora's Box, a secret room behind the HoH bedroom.  Opening the Big Brother Pandora's Box could release something good or something bad -- upon the opener or upon the rest of the house.  As HoH this week, here is the decision before you." she began.


"For the first time in Big Brother history, you will have the chance to spend time with a loved one inside the Big Brother house.  Look at the screen to see who is waiting for."

Natalie looked at the screen in her room, which revealed a picture of her boyfriend Jason.

"Oh my goodness!  This is amazing!" she exclaimed.  "I will do anything I have to do."

She then opened the second envelope in her room.

"As with every Pandora's Box decision, the privilege comes at a price.  If you choose to enter Pandora's Box to meet with your loved one, you will not be able to play in the final veto competition.  Please make your decision now."


Natalie quickly thought about the decision, realizing that if she opened the door she would still be safe and be in the Final 3.  However she also knew it meant Kevin would be on his own fighting for the PoV.

"Big Brother, I'm deciding to open Pandora's Box," she said, opening the door and entering the secret room.

She was meant by Jason, who welcomed her with a hug and a rose.  He explained they only had five minutes together and quickly got down on bended knee.

"I came here for a reason," he said.  "Will you marry me?"

"Are you serious?" asked Natalie.


"Absolutely," he replied, handing her a twisty tie to wear as a ring, which he explained was a family tradition.  "Of course the real ring is at home."

"There's no going back on this," said Natalie.

"I'm here," said Jason.

"Alright, hell yeah," said Natalie.  "There's no question."

After a kiss, Natalie showed no regret about her decision.


"I'm glad I opened the box," she said.  "I gave up a lot to open the box."

Natalie and Jason began to talk, and he offered her another envelope, which she read.

"If you would like 15 additional minutes for a sushi dinner with Jason, press the button," read the note.  "However the rest of the house may be a little annoyed."

It apparently wasn't much of a decision at all for Natalie.

"I don't give a damn!" she said, hitting the button.

As she continued to talk with Jason, an adult male dressed in a baby outfit started crying and chasing the houseguests; a little person dressed as a cat began repeating everything they said and did; and a woman dressed as a giant cockroach started squirting them with "bug spray."


Back in the Pandora's Box room, Natalie and Jason conversed and he told her that he asked her father for his daughter's hand in marriage on premiere night in July.  In addition, Natalie revealed that she had no plans of telling Kevin, Michele and Jordan about the second Pandora's Box or the engagement.

"I'm not going to be able to tell anybody.  I'm going to have to take [the twisty tie ring] off," she told Jason.

"No, you've got to leave it on!" he countered.

"No," she said.  "It will hurt me in the game."

"Okay," relented Jason.  "Do what you think is right." 

"I've got to make up something to make it seem like something bad happened to me," she told Jason.  "So that way they want me to stay in the game."


Natalie's time with Jason expired and she left the Pandora's Box room.  At the same time, the three annoyances stopped pestering the other houseguests -- who wanted to know what was up and approached Natalie about it.

"There's Pandora's Box!" excitedly said Kevin upon entering the HoH room.

"No!  It's gone!" said Natalie.

"You know what's going on!" accused Jordan.

"I just got screwed royally basically," said Natalie.  "I don't get to play in tomorrow's veto competition because I decided to open Pandora's Box."

"Are you serious?" asked Kevin.


"There's an envelope that said the choice is yours, look at the screen for a clue," began Natalie in telling her lie about what had happened.

"I look at the screen and all it said was, 'Final 2 reversal.'  I went in and it said Final 2 reversal is I go to Final 2 and let's say I'm up against you Jordan, and I got the votes to win, well it just got reversed.  I lost and I got $50,000 and you got the $500,000."

"What!  No way!" said Kevin in disbelief.  However Natalie's lie wasn't over.

"Then I got tied, earmuffs and blindfolded," she said.

Kevin thought about Natalie's story and immediately felt it seemed suspicious.

"Um, so you cannot win Big Brother," he told her.


"Well, I could get $50,000," said Natalie.

"That rule means you cannot win $500,000," he reiterated.  "You just lost $500,000."

"There's probably something else to it," said Natalie sheepishly.  "Because it didn't even make sense.  I didn't even say that."

Aware that "something good" came out of Natalie's decision to open Pandora's Box, Kevin planned to get to the bottom of it.

"So break it down girl," said Kevin to Natalie after he came to a conclusion with Jordan and Michele that she had to be lying.

"What are you talking about?" coyly asked Natalie.


"I think this is f--ked up," said Kevin.  "Beyond belief."

"I've just got one request," said Natalie.  "Please do not ask me anything more about Pandora's Box."

Kevin walked away angrily and still didn't believe what she had told the other houseguests.  He confronted Natalie about it in the HoH room and explained what he was thinking.

"I don't know what is happening, because now it's like this is mystery power all over again," he said.  "It's not making sense because the scenario you gave basically means you gave up $500,000.  And we all know Natalie.  If Natalie just lost $500,000, she'd be breaking windows.  So it's just not adding up.  I would just take a moment to think about it."

Natalie then realized the jig was up.

"At this point I think, 'Wow, Kevin's making a good point.  I could see how people could think otherwise,'" she said in the Diary Room.  "I need to come clean, but I need to come clean to make it seem like I wasn't trying to pull anything over somebody to make it seem like it was all a fun joke."


She then called all the other houseguests together to tell them what had really happened.

"I just pranked all you guys," she told them.  "Because I know you all believed me, right?"

"No," said Michele.

"I did not believe you," agreed Kevin.

"It's actually some good news, and it's good news for me," continued Natalie. 

"This I swear on my life.  I'm going to tell you the honest-to-god truth.  I went in there, I got 20 minutes with my boyfriend, and he proposed to me when I was in there.  He gave me a twisty and said the ring he has for me is waiting at home, so he gave me a twisty for now."


"Is this a joke?" asked Jordan.

"I swear on my life," reiterated Natalie.  "Where do you think I got this twisty from?"

"Right over here," said Kevin, gesturing to the kitchen counter.

He still wasn't really sure if Natalie was telling the truth.

"Okay, so you just got proposed to and you decided to prank us after getting proposed to?" asked Michele.

"Yeah," replied Natalie.


Natalie hoped she rectified the situation.

"I got myself into hot water with the houseguests," she explained in the Diary Room.  "So I pulled myself out of hot water and I just barely made it this time."

Needless to say, Kevin was "pissed."

"Why would you lie about that?!" he asked in the Diary Room.  "If she would lie about good news about getting engaged, this biz-natch has been lying the entire game.  I bet you her name is not even Natalie!"

Natalie subsequently nominated Michele and Kevin at the conclusion of Sunday night's broadcast.

"I'm frustrated with Natalie because she's shown that she's not only a liar, but she doesn't have my back at all," said Kevin after the nominations were revealed.  "Natalie screwed me over with this Pandora's Box by opting out on the veto competition.  This has really shown her true colors."


Big Brother's next episode will air live on Tuesday, September 8 at 9PM ET/PT on CBS -- and it will include the final PoV and HoH competitions of the eleventh season.






About The Author: Christopher Rocchio