Nicole Franzel beat Paul Abrahamian during the Big Brother 18 finale by a 5-4 jury vote. Get to know her game moves and how she was able to win BB18.

Nicole Franzel beat Paul Abrahamian during the Big Brother 18 finale by a 5-4 jury vote. The fans first met Nicole on BB16, when she was just a 21-year-old nursing student from Ubly, Michigan. She was commended by her fellow houseguests and by the BB fans as a very smart player who could've gone all the way. However, that season was mostly dominated by an all-male alliance led by Derrick Levasseur and Cody Calafiore, and Nicole never had the chance to make actual moves despite her best efforts. Two years later, the producers decided to bring her back for another try.

Four veteran players were brought back for Big Brother 18, and that included Nicole Franzel. This time, Nicole made sure that she was part of the dominant alliance in the house, carefully avoiding making the same mistake from last time. It was during that season that Nicole met Paul Abrahamian, who was one of the more charismatic players introduced to the fans on BB18. Toward the end of the season, Nicole and Paul formed the Final Four alliance with Corey Brooks and Victor Arroyo. However, it was James Huling who got to the Final 3 with Nicole and Paul. In the end, Paul won the final Head of Household competition and decided to take Nicole to the finale.

The path for Nicole to win Big Brother 18 wasn't a straight line. At the start of the season, the rookie players weren't keen on trusting Nicole Franzel, James Huling, Da'Vonne Rogers, and Frank Eudy, who were the returning players. After all, they certainly had more knowledge of the game and would probably try to protect each other against the newcomers. Over the course of the game, all four veterans found their own allies, but Nicole managed to stay on good terms with almost all of the players. That is, until Michelle "Big Meech" Meyer blew up Nicole's game and called her a snake, putting a bigger target on her back than before. During the last third of the season, Nicole had to play a much more active game and win more competitions. When Paul Abrahamian took Nicole to the finale, the jury members felt that they had both played the game pretty well, but that Nicole had done a better job at jury management.

It was a tight battle between Nicole and Paul at the BB18 finale. In the end, the jury split their votes 5 against 4. On one hand, Nicole Franzel got her five votes from jury members Da'Vonne Rogers, Zakiyah Everette, Paulie Calafiore, Natalie Negrotti, and Corey Brooks. On the other hand, Paul Abrahamian got their four votes from jury members Bridgette Dunning, Michelle Meyer, Victor Arroyo, and James Huling. At the time, host Julie Chen credited Nicole for being the first female player in history to win the jury vote over a male player at a Big Brother finale. However, it must be noted that Paul updated their preferred pronouns to they/them in 2020.

Nicole Franzel has done a great job on Big Brother 22: All-Stars as well, making it all the way to the end. All in all, the fans must recognize her as a formidable BB player.

More: Big Brother 22: When Is The Finale Night For All-Stars

Big Brother 22: All-Stars airs Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at 8pm EST on CBS.