'Big Brother 18': Who was evicted — Paulie or Corey?
The tears have been flowing for a week, and they certainly didn't stop Thursday night.
(Editor's note: Spoilers ahead for Thursday's episode of Big Brother.)
When we left the Big Brother houseguests, Paulie and Corey were nominated for eviction and the house had ganged up on Paulie. Before the episode even started, fans of the show started to celebrate Paulie's potential eviction with the hashtag "#PaulieEvictionParty."
Paulie is well aware that the house is out to get him. "There's really nothing I can do," he says. "This is a really tough situation."
Paulie's breakdown
The former frontrunner hasn't been handling the stress of his potential eviction well.
First, Paulie bursts into tears when he sees a butterfly in the yard. "I hate seeing butterflies," Paulie says, crying. "It's like a spirit. That thing better not come near me and try and land on me."
As a punishment from the previous Veto competition, Paulie has to bake an apple pie every time Zingbot sings a song. But he ignores Zingbot's call to bake pies, going on a run instead. After a heart-to-heart with his friend Corey, he eventually decides to follow the rules and bake a pie.
A Big Brother baby
Host Julie Chen diverts from drama in the house to introduce fans to the first Big Brother baby, born of former contestants Brendon Villegas and Rachel Reilly, also known as "Brenchel."
Their daughter, Adora Borealis, was born last April. Reilly says she's hoping that their daughter will grow up to compete on Big Brother herself. Reilly also tells the show's female contestants they need to step it up, since she was the last woman to win. That was five years ago, when she won season 13.
The jury house
The action then shifts to the jury house, where Da'Vonne tearfully greets Zakiyah. The two were close friends and allies during the game, so Da'Vonne was upset to see Zakiyah eliminated. Zakiyah shows Da'Vonne video of the competitions and eviction.
Da'Vonne is shocked to see Paulie win the Power of Veto and not use it to save Zakiyah, with whom he had a showmance. "Wait a damn minute," Da'Vonne says. "He won the Veto and you're sitting next to me?" Clearly Paulie had a hand in Zakiyah's eviction.
"For the first time, Da'Vonne might actually be speechless," Da'Vonne said of herself.
Then Bridgette arrives, telling the women that she blew up Paulie's game. "I hope he's here next week," Zakiyah says. Bridgette chants his name.
The eviction
Paulie gives a speech saying how much he loves each of his fellow housemates. He then says Michelle didn't get the chance to have a showmance, grabs her, dips her and kisses her.
Unsurprisingly, the house unanimously votes to evict Paulie. Chen reveals that Paulie was not carrying the elusive round-trip ticket. If he had it, he would have returned to the competition, but alas, it was not to be. Additionally, this was the last time the tickets will be opened, as that particular twist is over. (For what it's worth, Paul had the round-trip ticket.)
"Who do you feel betrayed you the most?" Chen asks Paulie.
"I think it was a team effort," he says.
He says that much of his emotional antics were an effort to get sympathy from his fellow contestants. It didn't work. "Crying doesn't work for men as much as it works for women," he says.
Chen reveals yet another twist to the audience: The first five members of the jury will compete for one of them to get back in the game. So in a week's time, Da'Vonne, Zakiyah, Bridgette, Paulie and next week's evictee will do battle.
Big Brother returns for a special episode Friday at 8 p.m. Eastern on CBS.