On Thursday night, Ubly’s Nicole Franzel failed yet again to find coal in her stocking and moved on to the next round of the CBS reality show, “Big Brother Reindeer Games.”
Instead, it was self-described “Bad Girl” Danielle who came up on the losing side of Santa’s Showdown and was eliminated from the game, though she took home $5,000 as a consolation prize.
As the episode opened, Nicole, Britney and Taylor looked to solidify an alliance between the female players while Xavier expressed concerns to Danielle about his ability to avoid being a target in the game. Britney and Nicole took note and began to have doubts about Danielle’s loyalty.
As the players gathered for the Naughty and Nice challenge, Derek from “Big Brother 23” arrived in the lodge as one of Santa’s ambassadors. The winner of the challenge would gain an advantage in the Jingle Bell Brawl. Taylor emerged the winner of the Naughty and Nice power after the players competed to solve a scrambled word puzzle.
Frankie and Xavier appealed to Taylor — who would get a head start in the Jingle Bell Brawl — not to be given a disadvantage, while Josh told Taylor he was OK with having it. Josh would get his wish
The next challenge consisted of the players competing to assemble a wooden puzzle featuring a gingerbread man. Josh’s clue to help him solve the puzzle was covered for the first five minutes of the challenge.
Nicole celebrated prematurely when she completed her puzzle while mistakenly believing it was correct, then quickly recovered and finished the puzzle correctly to win the Jingle Bell Brawl.
Nicole, now exempt from Santa’s Showdown, was tasked with choosing one player to send to the showdown first. A timed individual challenge, the first player would also benefit from having the most time to complete the puzzle, which involved spinning a maze inside a huge, glass snowflake to free a red disc, referred to Mrs. Claus’s Favorite Ornament. Players who successfully freed the ornament would then choose the next contestant in the challenge. If a player failed, they would be eliminated.
Frankie told Nicole he was willing to go first, so he did. Frankie managed to free the ornament with just over three minutes left. Frankie then chose Xavier.
Completing the challenge without too much effort, Xavier then picked Britney, who also managed to solve the puzzle despite having serious doubts about her ability to complete the task. Britney then chose Danielle, whom Xavier admitted he was protecting. Danielle struggled from the start and failed to complete the puzzle. She was eliminated.
Franzel and the other five remaining contestants will be back at it on Monday, Dec. 18 at 9 p.m. The show can be seen locally on WNEM TV5 and is available for streaming on Paramount+.
According to press materials, Santa invites nine iconic former “Big Brother” players to his magical world where the “Reindeer Games” take place. Over six action-packed holiday-themed episodes, Santa’s elves guide the players through challenging and unpredictable competitions.
Each episode features three competitions culminating in “Santa’s Showdown,” which determines which player goes home at the end of that episode. Only four legends make it to the finale and one player with the festive fortitude walks away with the $100,000 grand prize and, of course, saves the holidays.
This is Franzel’s latest appearance as a contestant on a “Big Brother” show. She was a contestant on 2020’s “Big Brother All-Stars,” finishing in the top three, and she won the show’s 18th season in 2016.
Franzel was also a contestant on “The Amazing Race” with her husband, Michigan State Police Trooper Victor Arroyo. The two, who met as contestants on “Big Brother,” now have one child. They finished fourth on “The Amazing Race.”
Franzel first appeared on Big Brother during its 16th season in 2014, where she was evicted twice on Day 56 and Day 77, finishing in 10th place.
In addition to being a contestant on Big Brother, Franzel also appeared as a competition host in the 19th season in 2017.