Paul Abrahamian was absolutely confident he'd win Big Brother regardless of whether he brought James Huling or Nicole Franzel to the Final 2, but he was shocked to discover in last night's finale he was wrong.
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"I honestly thought I could beat both of them by either a 7-2 or 6-3 vote," Abrahamian told Entertainment Weekly Radio's "Morning Live Podcast" on Thursday. "I was a little bit shocked. I don't know what more I could have done."
Abrahamian, a 23-year-old clothing designer from Tarzana, CA, won the final Head of Household for Season 18 and chose to take Franzel to the end with him instead of Huling during Wednesday night's 90-minute finale broadcast.
Franzel ended up winning $500,000 by a single jury vote, and many fans are saying Abrahamian made a $450,000 mistake in letting the ER nurse from Michigan ride to the Final 2 with him. (The runner-up receives $50,000).
"I don't know," Abrahamian said when asked whether he blew it with that one decision.
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"Honestly, I'm hearing left and right -- jury would have done this, jury would have done that. I honestly think that the jury was a little bit bitter and no matter what I would have done, the outcome would have been the same."
Huling's game was far less admired by the jury because he failed to win competitions or make big moves on his own. Huling attributed his game success solely to his impressive social game.
"Seeing as how it ended with Nicole -- especially with the enemies she had in the house -- I knew James created less enemies in the house and Nicole had a little bit more heat on her, so I thought it would be my best move to take her," Abrahamian explained.
"But clearly seeing how that turned out, I think it would have been the same way with James. I think there was just a slight distaste for how crazy I was."
Abrahamian truly believes he played a better game than Franzel and Huling.
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"The most in-house competition wins of the season, cleaning house towards the end of the game, really winning every single competition, and being up against two people who have played the game before. I thought it was a no-brainer, but clearly the jury was a little bit pissed, let's put it that way," he explained.
In the finale, the jury was shown calling Abrahamian "obnoxious" and "manipulative." While they acknowledged he's a phenomenal player, the girls in the house, especially, were bitter and angry with the player for being argumentative and sometimes mean. He once called Michelle Meyer the "c" word.
When reflecting on the finale results, Abrahamian said he was "really shocked" by Da.Vonne Rogers' vote, as she voted for Franzel to win.
"I didn't really understand why she did that. I know she didn't necessarily like Nicole throughout the game and even though she went out on my HoH, it was discussed that it was what the entire house wanted," Abrahamian told EW Radio.
Franzel also received votes to win from Corey Brooks, Natalie Negrotti, Paulie Calafiore and Zakiyah Everette. Abrahamian earned votes from Meyer, Huling, Victor Arroyo and Bridgette Dunning.
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"I definitely think Nicole worked very hard and had a very good game. Personally, I think I did a little bit more but if that's what the jury decided then that's what the jury decided," Abrahamian noted. "I don't think that should take away form her win. She worked hard this season and congrats to her."
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski