Entertainment
Frankie & Zach Have a Showmance — No, Really
If this isn't a good reason to be watching the Big Brother live feeds, then nothing is. A lot more happens on Big Brother than just what they show us on television because those cameras are rolling all the time, but there's something pretty big going down that CBS needs to hurry up and show the world. Believe it or not, Frankie Grande a.k.a. the half-brother of Ariana Grande has gotten over his guy crush on Cody Calafiore and transferred those feelings to someone a little more unexpected. In the time between episodes, Frankie Grande and Zach Rance have bonded — does this mean that they ... might hook up soon?
I don't blame you for raising your eyebrows in disbelief. After all, Zach Rance is the designated villain of season 16. He's the one who announced that he wasn't here to make friends, he's a self-described con artist, and his first lengthy conversation with Frankie ended with him passing judgment on Frankie for his neighborhood and Broadway interests. How did they suddenly decide to become friends? It may have had something to do with the fact that Frankie and Victoria Rafaeli ended their fast friendship. Or it may have had something to do with the fact that Zach has been attracted to Frankie since he got there.
This bombshell was revealed in a conversation between Brittany Martinez and Cody Calafiore. It was meant to be private — and Cody spent a lot of time swearing Brittany to secrecy as if unaware that he was constantly surrounded by cameras — but naturally the transcript, the voice recording, and the video itself are making its rounds on Twitter and Tumblr as Zankie fans scream in vindication, "It's really happening, you guys!!"
Listen, I'm prepared to love Zankie as much as the next Big Brother fan, but Zach has been kind of a jerk thus far. A little fun flirtation is great for now and none of us expect showmances to really go anywhere (Maks and Meryl from Dancing with the Stars aside), but there are a couple of things we'd like to see happen if Zach and Frankie are going to develop their way into a relationship that feels believable.
First of all, there should definitely be more hammock cuddling. In fact, if they could just spend all of the time they don't spend doing Big Brother competition things just laying in the hammock and grinning at each other then that would essentially make my entire life complete. Especially if Zach is going to do it while wearing a hat the same color as Frankie's hair was when the show first started.
Second of all, Zach needs to figure out what he actually wants. It's still a discussion point at this stage whether he's truly into Frankie or if he's just trying to manipulate everyone for his own ends so that he can be the one to win Big Brother. That doesn't exactly scream healthy showmance to me. None of us want to see Frankie get used, especially on national television when he can't even call his sister so she can sing "Problem" to him until he feels better.
"There’s no significant other for me. I’m addicted to money and significant others just cost that," said Zach in one of his pre-show interviews. "...I will manipulate anyone if I have to; if it’s a girl or it’s a guy, it doesn’t really matter to me."
That's pretty sociopathic thinking. Frankie, on the other hand, was one of the people who expressed an interest in meeting someone cute at the house and making some new friends, so there's no reason to believe he's not as genuine as one can be in his interactions with his housemates.
Frankie might be referring to Zach as "his guy" and Zach might be calling Frankie "babe", but this is a pretty big turnaround to where they were during Sunday's episode of Big Brother. Some might even say it's too big of a change to be indicative of a true showmance. They've gotten too handsy too fast and their relationship would benefit from being slowed down just a tad so they can both grow and evolve as people. Especially Zach. Especially Zach.
Regardless of where this goes in the end, there's nothing wrong with enjoying all of the Zankie action while it lasts. There's no telling how much of it is going to make it into the show, however, so if you're not watching the live feeds then you should probably start. You're missing half the fun.
