Reality star Nicole Franzel is pregnant. The Big Brother 18 winner is expecting her first child with fiancé Victor Arroyo, who she competed against on the reality series in 2016.
She confirmed the news on Instagram, writing, "Nic + Vic = our lil' side kick. We are SO excited to announce that we are PREGNANT! We feel so blessed & grateful."
Nicole and Victor got engaged in 2018, and planned to have a wedding in Turks and Caicos in December 2021 before pushing it back to this May due to the coronavirus pandemic.
While they're very much in love now, the soon-to-be parents actually weren't a couple at all on Big Brother. In fact, romance sparked between the two only after the competition ended.
"We talked a lot as friends and, you know, through her life and my life, we were just an open book. She's friggin' awesome," he told Entertainment Tonight in 2018. "A lot of people don't know her beyond Big Brother, but she's a sweetheart in real life and I love her to death."
"Everything came together for the premiere of Big Brother 19, where we were in New York and we just clicked," he continued. "From then on, it was, I guess it was a love story, and now she's my girlfriend."
Nicole came under fire last year while filming Big Brother: All Stars after she was accused accused by fans watching the show's 24-hour feed of mocking fellow houseguest Ian Terry's autism, along with contestants Dani Briones, Memphis Garrett and Christmas Abbott. Nicole lost her sponsorship with Olay over the situation.
Following the incident, she told Entertainment Tonight Canada that she had spoken to Ian one-on-one about the situation, saying, "I think I was really taken aback by a lot of it and so I'm doing what I need to do mentally to move forward and apologize to people that I need to apologize to and have conversations with people I need to have conversations with."
"I apologize to anyone who that that has hurt and I'm still trying to navigate, understand the whole situation," she continued. "As far as what I'm worried about, I'm worried about my and Ian's relationship and making sure that he understands the whole thing."