Big Brother Season 16 is regarded as one of the CBS series' best seasons, thanks in part to some truly incredible moments. Diehard fans likely remember Frankie Grande's unbelievable Battle of the Block win, which he had to do solo when teammate Caleb Reynolds deliberately sat out to punish him. Frankie had to take on Zach Rance and Donny Thompson by his lonesome, though recent comments from fellow Season 16 contestant Christine Varner indicated that Frankie might have had an unfair advantage that the audience didn't know about.
Christine Varner was recently asked (and not for the first time) about the allegation that Frankie Grande was actually helped by the producers in his most memorable win on Big Brother, and she had some interesting things to say on the matter on her Tik Tok. There, Christine broke down what allegedly happened before the event and how she believed the plans subtly changed ahead of the competition.
So, when they start building a competition, we can hear them outside and it's always the same time every Friday or Thursday. Whenever the competition is. But when we decided that Caleb was going to throw the competition, we heard them almost like a half-hour later, rebuilding the competition it sounded like. And then we didn't do it until dark, which usually, we did it in the middle of the day. So we had our suspicions that they rebuilt whatever the challenge was to make it easier for Frankie to win. Once Caleb was like 'I don't want to play,' and then Frankie was doing well, Caleb was like, 'Ok I'm going to play again,' because we were like, 'Sabotage him, you idiot. Don't just sit out!' But then production wouldn't let Caleb join in again. I think that they rigged it to be easier with one person. Who can say? That's our theory, and yes, Frankie actually won it.
Christine Varner's claims are interesting and they could possibly make re-watching the competition a whole different experience. Though Frankie Grande struggled at the beginning to figure out what he had to do to make things work, once he got his groove, he moved faster than Donny Thompson and Zach Rance did. The challenge itself, which included moving a ball on a beam through a maze into specific slots, certainly required less communication on Frankie's end than Zach and Donny.
If those allegations are true, this wouldn't be the first time Big Brother was accused of "fixing" a competition, or some specific circumstance, to aid certain players. That said, it's not too common fans hear those allegations from players who were actually inside the house. But really, though winning the challenge saved him that week, Frankie was ultimately eliminated and came out in 5th place, with "teammate" Caleb Reynolds sent home the following week. It's hard to say whether or not the production team actually intervened in that competition or not, but we can say either way, it ultimately didn't help Frankie that much in the long term.
Christine Varner's Big Brother gossip is perfect water cooler talk for fans, with Season 23 set to kick off in July. The series has committed to some big changes this season and pledged to have a more diverse cast by bringing in a new casting director. That's not to say the new season will be complete absent of contestants that viewers still find shady, though it could go a long way in reducing the number of controversies the show has dealt with in past seasons.
Big Brother Season 23 is set to premiere on CBS Wednesday, July 7 at 8:00 p.m. ET. Stick around for any and all clues about the upcoming season, such as what the meaning could be behind this season's "BB Beach Club."
