Austin & Liz's "Love" Might Not Last On 'BB17'

To be fair to this showmance, I am incredibly biased against Austin Matelson and Liz Nolan, and I will shout that from the rooftops. The shady way that Austin pursued Liz despite having a girlfriend, and the gross way he continued to aggressively pursue her even though she was the opposite of interested at first, still makes me shudder whenever I think about it. However, at this stage in the game, Austin and Liz are in love on Big Brother 17, and they're already making plans for how to continue their relationship outside of the house. Austin has asked Liz to be his girlfriend (despite not officially breaking up with the girlfriend he came into the house with, mind you), they have the blessing of Liz's twin Julia, and the pair have even dropped the "l-bomb" to one another. But does Austin really love Liz? Yeah, I'm going to go with no.

Judging from how hard and fast Austin fell for Liz in the beginning of the game — despite initially stating that he was disinterested in showmances because he had a longtime girlfriend at home — he seems to be something of a romantic. You know, that whole Romeo type, who thinks they're breathlessly in love for a couple of days until they break into a party, meet some other chick named Juliet, and suddenly can't remember they were ever in a depressive funk over some other chick named Rosaline. Actually, that is the most apt analogy for Liztin I've literally ever made.

Let's all take a moment to remind ourselves that Liz and Austin have only known each other for 82 days aka not even three months. Let's also take a moment to remind ourselves that Austin hasn't broken up with his original girlfriend yet. Finally, let's take a moment to remind ourselves that Liz and Austin spend most of their time lying in bed and making out, or talking game, rather than talking about anything actually important beyond who is moving to where to be with whom. Heck, the pair have even broken up — temporarily — once already when Austin didn't use the Veto to take Liz off the block like she was hoping he would. Because, lest we forget, she originally returned Austin's flirting because she knew he would get her far in the game.

Austin continues to profess that he loves Liz, and that he would love to win the gameand continue to be with her. However, the fact that he's gone from stating in the beginning that he would blow up his entire game for Liz to professing to numerous people that he would put himself above Liz in this game and send her home if he had to tells me that the haze of romance is starting to clear a little here. Add that to the fact that Liz gets upset and dumps him whenever he doesn't make a game move that benefits her rather than himself, and it's clear that this is a relationship that is not built to last. I mean, my genuine hope is that Liz ends up going to Jury House and, after seeing herself on the tapes they have there, and having time to be as far away from Austin as she can possibly get, she decides to break up with him for good. Hopefully on eviction night. Because, seriously, stop it.

At the end of the day, love is not love that hasn't gone through some trials and tribulations, and Big Brother is not exactly a prime example of trials and tribulations. When you're trapped in the same house as someone for three months, of course everything you're feeling seems more intense. But, at the end of the day, Austin is going to do what's best for Austin — as he should — and what's love got to do with it?

For more on this season of Big Brother, check out Bustle's podcast The Diary Room.

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