Forget the money, all he needs is friendship! Big Brother’s Paul Abrahamian — perhaps the loudest, most entertaining contestant on season 18 — opens up exclusively to Us Weekly about his humorous catchphrase, his bromance with fellow contestant Victor Arroyo and more.
The L.A.-based fashion designer, 23, placed second behind Nicole Franzel during last week’s season finale. Needless to say, he wasn’t thrilled with how the 5–4 “emotional” vote went down — especially after his “speech of a goddamn lifetime.”
“[Nicole’s speech was] trash! Take it, put it in the garbage. I won every comp, I was a newbie, I won seven competitions, I solved the stupid Paris riddle. Literally, I could have not done more as a player in Big Brother season 18. I did it all and I still didn’t win so I guess I can take Pablo and shove him right where it counts!” he tells Us. “It was really tough to get along with a lot of the personalities in the house this summer. I am very keen to tell people to go away very fast. There were a lot of adult babies that I don’t know I could handle in my real life.”
One person who he could actually stand was Arroyo, 25. The Louisiana native managed to get back into the house after two evictions and ultimately won $25,000 for being America’s Favorite. “Victor and I were the hardest working workers in that house and there’s no denying that. We had the short end of the stick the entire time. We didn’t even have a stick! We had an imaginary short end of a stick,” Paul says, laughing. “Victor’s got a heart of gold, and that guy was there for me through thick and thin and never turned his back against me.”
Victor is what Paul would call “friendship.” The musician constantly used the term on the CBS series. “It probably annoyed everybody in the house. I never cared though because I thought it was hilarious and that’s all that counts. I would say that I probably said the word friendship at least 2,000 times,” he tells Us. “It’s contagious! People just like the word friendship. It’s an underused word — well, not anymore because I clearly overused it.”
One of Paul’s other BB quirks? He often wore a duck floatie around his waist before housemate Michelle Meyer stole it. He lovingly called the floatie Pablo. “I don’t know where he is! I heard he was in the crowd. Maybe it’s a rumor, perhaps my parents have him,” he says. “He’s probably swimming in a really nice pool somewhere.”
For more with Paul, read the rest of his Q&A below:
US WEEKLY: What were you thinking when Julie Chen was counting the votes?
PAUL ABRAHAMIAN: I wanted to vomit all over myself. It was very nerve-racking because Nicole was always nipping at my tails so it sucked to have her nip at my tail [then]. I mean, I was a little bit shocked because I thought that my accomplishments spoke for themselves, but clearly not.
US: What votes surprised you?
PA: Natalie [Negrotti] and Da’Vonne [Rogers] probably. But Natalie isn’t all that surprising because I did call out her game, I did say she threw her ride or die under the bus, so I let her have it. She was probably pissed. And then Day was a little weird because I knew she had some distaste toward Nicole, and I would have imagined that, as a game player, she would have understood that the house wanted her gone and it just so happened to be on my HOH … I think it was a very emotional vote.
US: Do you think they just wanted to see a girl win?
PA: I can definitely see that. I’ve heard some rumors that a few of them actually dropped that line to some people that, “We just want to see a girl win.” Like, “Sure, that’s good.” Sure, just cut my balls off and throw them in the lake.
US: Did you really think you couldn’t beat James Huling?
PA: I’ll be honest, I thought I could beat both of them. But now knowing what I know on how the jury voted, I think I would have lost to James as well, because those same votes that I needed to win against Nicole would have voted for James. And anybody who says otherwise is wrong … So realistically I was damned if I do and damned if I don’t.
US: What will do you with the $50,000 prize money?
PA: Money doesn’t really bring my happiness. I’m an experience kind of guy. I’m a musician, I own my own clothing brand, so I’m just going to invest in my creations and hopefully people dig them.
US: Do you have any regrets?
PA: No, I never had any regrets because I didn’t do anything wrong. In my head, knowing what I know now, I think I would have lost to either of them, which sucks, but I blame the jury. Because I could have not won or done more. I laid low when I needed to play low, I played high when I needed to play high.
US: Would you do another season?
PA: I definitely need a one-year mental detox. But toss me back into that cage and I’ll start swinging. What sucks is that I have to go in even crazier because if I go in like these vets who all quieted down and hid in a corner, they’re gonna be like, “Oh, this guy is clearly full of it. Because he was insane a season ago.” So I need to maintain my insanity.
US: Would you consider getting into a showmance next time?
PA: Hell, no! No! No, 100 percent no. All of these showmances, quote unquote very loose term, all are garbage … I was the youngest person on the show and I thought everybody was so immature — [and this is] coming from the person with a pelican around his waist and shouting friendship. I can’t even fathom how these people survive in the real world.
Thank You!
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