Love is strange, and apparently, it’s even stranger on Big Brother 18 . Zakiyah and Paulie were my showmance OTP in the beginning of the season, but as things have gotten considerably messier and messier, I’m beginning to rethink my stance on these two. This pair is up and down and then back up again — are Paulie and Zakiyah even still together? They've been fighting so much, sometimes, I can't tell.
Zaulie (as the ‘shippers refer to them) keeps having these tumultuous moments, but what is interesting is the basis for their respective anger. Zakiyah gets mad at Paulie because of the way he acts around the other women in the Big Brother 18 house. For instance, she had a big flare-up with Paulie last week because Paulie put his leg on Nicole and let her play with his hair. Zakiyah vowed to get revenge on him for this by sleeping in Victor’s bed, but that all blew up fast and Zaulie was Snuggletown, population: 2 in no time flat. Lately, Zakiyah has been talking about how Paulie doesn’t like her and doesn’t want to really get to know her, and I want to sit her down and gently tell her that this is still a game show, and in all honesty, Paulie is probably thinking about the $500,000 prize more than a potential future with her.
With that in mind, it should come as no surprise that Paulie usually gets mad at Zakiyah when he feels like she’s doing something to jeopardize his place in the Big Brother house. Da’Vonne is earmarked for eviction this week, and Zaulie had a fight because Zakiyah and Da’Vonne are tight and Paulie felt like Zakiyah was hiding secrets from him. During this fight, Paulie made even Zakiyah cry, and then bragged about it to Paul. Um, what? According to the live feeds, Paulie also told Nicole that Zakiyah is trying to play everyone in the house. Again, what?
If you’re confused, join the club — many of the reactions on Twitter show fans who want Zaulie to just break up and avoid more of this infighting. Interestingly, most people seem to be taking Zakiyah's side in all of this.
It takes two to tango, but I can see why Zakiyah has more supporters. Sure, she's been acting jealous, but Paulie seems like he's playing her hot and cold and trying to sell her out to the other houseguests, which is much more hurtful. Unless this is some elaborate long con that the microphones and cameras didn't pick up, Paulie looks like the jerk here. At this point, the two need to either breakup and focus on their individual games, or find a way to treat each other with respect as both romantic partners and allies.
Images: CBS; Giphy
