Big Brother 18 Finale Recap – Nicole Wins BB18, Victor AFH: Season 18 Episode 42 “Winner Revealed”

Big Brother 18 Finale Recap - Nicole Wins BB18, Victor AFH: Season 18 Episode 42 "Winner Revealed"

Tonight on CBS Big Brother 18 returns with an all-new Wednesday, September 14 finale and we have your Big Brother 18 recap below!  On tonight’s Big Brother 18 finale, Season 18 ends and the winner is revealed.

Did you miss last week’s episode where the final cat-themed Head of Household competition began?  If you missed it we have a full and detailed Big Brother 18 recap, right here for you!

On tonight’s episode as per the CBS synopsis, “James Huling, Nicole Franzel, and Paul Abrahamian are the remaining houseguests left in the house.  Tonight after the jury questions the finalists and votes for the grand prize winner, Season 18 ends and the winner is revealed”  

The Big Brother 18 recap begins tonight at 8PM – 9PM with an exciting new episode, we will be blogging the show with all the up-to-the-minute details so make sure to bookmark this spot and come back for our Big Brother recap. While you wait for our Big Brother 18 recap make sure to visit CDL for all your Big Brother spoilers, news & more!

Tonight’s episode begins now – Refresh Page often to get the most current updates!

#BigBrother18 starts with a look at part 1 of the three part HoH competition. We see a flashback at some of the fights in the #BB18 house and jury house and some of the romances, tears, and epic challenges. Julie shows us the Final 3 as they sit in the living room.

We start with #HoHPart1 that was cat themed. They chase the laser into the litterbox, up on the wall and into bowls of milk. They have to hang on scratching posts next. It’s painful after 10 minutes but James says endurance comps are his thing and he plans to beast it.

Paul has a final 2 deal with both of them but has to do this on his own. After 30 minutes, the laser pointer comes up and they have to run back to the other wall and climb up on the couch. Then the water starts and it’s cold. The laser is back and they run again.

A third wall comes into play

They are sent into a window and they have to grab a curtain cord and hang onto it as the window shakes. They are left up there more than half an hour. The laser comes back up and they’re off again back to the couch.

James can’t do his squatting thing to help him out since the three walls are built to put you in odd positions. Nicole loses her footing and she’s in the air holding herself up but won’t let go. She regains her footing finally. Paul also swings loose.

He recovers and then James and Nicole both lose their footing and fall and Paul has won HoH. He’s ecstatic and goes to dig in the litter box. He goes to hop in the milk bowl too. Nicole is upset and thinks it’s weird that James fell right after her.

Nicole is confident she can beat James in part 2

James says he wanted to win it and can’t believe he fell. That’s the start of the #BBFinale. Julie says Paul will face the winner live in the third part of the HoH. #HoHPart2 is a BB amusement park. Nicole hopes it’s a mental challenge called Snapshot.

They get a clue and then head up to the top of the rollercoaster where they pick three evicted houseguests they think matches the answer. They snap a photo of it and it’s about timing also. They need three correct photos in the fastest time.

The first is never a Have Not. Nicole knows it since Glenn was sent out first. She knows Bronte left while her team was still in good shape and Frank bragged about never being a Have Not. She snaps the pica nd runs down to check it. She checks her pic and it’s off by a bit.

Nicole runs again

He’s back up there and tries again to snap a good pic. She runs back down. The second pic is good. Now the next clue is won one veto comp. She says Michelle, Victor, and Bridgette. She snaps the pic and runs back down.

Nicole is out of breath and tired. Her picture is good. Now it’s evicted with 5 votes – Bronte, Bridgette, and Paulie. She runs up to snap the pic. She runs back down to check it and it’s good. Nicole is done and is happy she studied.

James is next and gets the first group wrong because he has Jozea instead of Bronte. He didn’t even get the car in the frame and has to run back. He doesn’t change out Jozea and tries again with the pic. The pic is framed right but his answer is wrong. James snaps another pic.

James wears himself out

He finally gets the first one right. Next is the Veto comp and he knows the answer. He gets that one right pretty handily. Now it’s the last with the 5 vote eviction. He knows that one too and hopes he beat Nicole as he lands his last one.

He thinks he made up a lot of ground. Paul announces results. James did 19:06 for his time. Nicole did 7:24. She spanked him – that’s almost a third the time that James took. James was right – he shouldn’t have eaten so many hot dogs this season.

Paul is pleased and thinks Nicole deserves this more and thinks James does nothing and deserves nothing. Nicole says strategically she thinks James is better to take to the end since she can beat him. She’s stressed out and doesn’t know what she’ll do.

Jury talk with Dr. Will

Dr. Will leads the jury talk session as they debate the final 2 merits. First they discuss who’s coming out of the house tonight to join them. Corey comes out and takes his seat as the eighth member of the jury. Michelle is happy she guessed correctly.

Da’Vonne laughs and Natalie is happy that James is still in the house. Corey tells them that Pau won HoH and put him and Nicole up and then he won the PoV too and James voted him out. Natalie talks up and says James played a good game. Meech says she loves James.

Bridgette says James didn’t get blood on his hands and Zakiyah says Paul flew under the radar. Day says James played a safe game and she wants to see risks taken. Victor agrees that James didn’t do that. Corey says James followed Natalie around and didn’t play the game.

James vs Nicole vs Paul

Paulie says Paul has played a much better game and Meech says she wishes she could lie like Paul. Zakiyah says Paul played a great social games and great with the comps. Corey says Paul had Victor as a shield and was like a medium player.

Victor says Paul was on the block six times and wasn’t afraid to speak his mind. Da’Vonne says there is Paul the person and Paul the player. She says Paul the person is awful but Paul the player is phenomenal. They compare him to Evel Dick and call him mean.

Day says at least Paul owns it. Natalie says Paul has said some unforgivable things and she’s bitter to Paul and says they all played a good game. Natalie says she also respects Nicole’s game. Meech says come back to her when asked about Nicole.

Meech starts to cry again

Day says Nicole getting her out was her biggest move and Meech says that’s a sad best move. Paulie says Nicole kept Corey safe and herself and hasn’t been on the block yet except against Corey. Corey says the votes went the way Nicole wanted.

Natalie says Jozea was an easy eviction and Nicole always took out the easy threats. Corey defends her taking out Meech and Michelle says it was an easy move. Victor and Corey defend Nicole. Meech says Nicole didn’t do anything in her opinion.

She tells Corey to stop with the ugly smile at her and starts crying. Meech says they’re laughing at her and she starts her usual loud bawling. Corey rolls his eyes and says it wasn’t personal when she was evicted. Victor is irritated.

More on Nicole

Meech won’t stop crying. Paulie is laughing at her. Bridgette says where Nicole’s game failed is that a lot of girls are bitter at her and she stuck with the guys’ alliance. Day says Nicole was not her cup of tea but that aside, she protected herself and she redeemed herself.

Day says no shame to the men but Nicole used them. Meech says she thinks Paul and James played better than Nicole. Dr. Will tells them they also get to question the final two and those answers will determine the Big Brother 18 winner.

Round 3 HoH comp

This is the big one and it’s Nicole vs Paul in the #FinalHoH. They are on the scales of just us. Julie says they have to show their jury knowledge. The answers are A or B. The most points at the end of eight questions is final HoH.

#1 Da’Vonne said the HG whose behavior shocked her most was Zakiyah for giving up her game for a man or Frank for playing the way he did. Both choose Frank. That’s correct.

#2 Zakiyah said the most shocking moment was when Victor battled back into the house or when Paulie didn’t use the veto to save her. Both choose the veto. Both are wrong.

#3 Bridgette said the moment she’s afraid to have her friends and family see is her crying in DR or her cuddling with Frank, what was I thinking. Both says cuddle. Both are wrong.

#4 Paulie said the strongest competitor was himself or Victor. Nicole says Paulie, Paul says Victor. Paul got it right and moves into the lead.

#5 Michelle said the best thing about the house was the fact that she’s a superfan living her dream or freaking winning OTEV. Both say OTEV. Both are wrong.

#6 Natalie said the most embarrassing moment for her was when Zingbot called her armpits hairy or nothing at all. Nicole chooses armpits. Paul says nothing. Paul got it right and takes the lead 3-1.

#7 Victor said the most annoying thing about the house was how dirty it was or constantly getting stabbed in the back. Paul says stabbed, Nicole says dirty house. Nicole gets it right and it’s 3-2.

#8 Corey said his favorite moment was crushing the slip and slide comp or when he won the double eviction, HoH and veto. Both pick DE and both get it right.

Paul wins final HoH!

Now Paul gets to decide who to evict and who is F2 with him. James comes over to congratulate him. Paul ponders his choice. Nicole and James sit on the Chopping Block. Paul is flipping out and Julie says he has a big decision to make.

Paul is rocking and freaking. Paul takes his place and tells James that he worked for both of them and when he needed James, he made a deal with Nicole so he can’t let him stab him in the back one last time so he’s voting to evict James.

Paul tells him sorry and is crying and James says he deserves it. James jokes about taking his tiny new Pablo then goes out to huge applause from the audience and gives Julie a hug. Nicole thanks Paul then asks why he said that and he says no one in jury heard it.

Nicole thanks Paul

Julie asks if Paul made the smart move and James says he’s not sure and he was being sneaky but Nicole must have told him about the F2 deal. James says he and Nicole had an F2 deal and it must have gotten back to Paul.

Julie says he didn’t win much this season and he laughs. James says he took a lot of advice from some great past players and was told by Vanessa last season that he was a target for winning comps so he tried to play more socially this year than in comps.

Julie asks about the showmance with him and Natalie. James says he said no showmance at the beginning and they got really close and he hopes that she reciprocates and they can go on and have something. James is the ninth member of the jury.

F2 face the jury

Da’Vonne, Zakiyah, Bridgette, Paulie, Michelle, Natalie, Victor, and Corey come to the stage. Julie welcomes them and says moments ago the final eviction happened. Day hopes it’s not Paul. James comes out and they applaud him.

Natalie makes a sad face and then he runs to hug Natalie. Julie tells them Paul was final HoH and took Nicole to final 2. Julie says they will all lock in their final votes but they get one last chance to ask some questions to the F2. There are three questions each.

Paul and Nicole sit in the house on the Chopping Block. Paul makes a silly face. Natalie asks Paul about some of the terrible things he said and why should he get a vote when he didn’t offer respect. Paul says he’s crazy and can’t hide his personality.

Meech grills Paul

Paul says he has nothing but love for them and was just having fun. Michelle asks Nicole what move should earn her the win. Nicole says when it was 5 vs 2 and she convinced Natalie to put up two allies and then Meech got co-HoH and she got her to put up Paul and Victor.

Corey asks Paul about his strategy and says he’s not a great one. Paul says six times on the block and he was always pushing a bigger target forward and that’s why he’s still in the house. Victor asks Nicole if she was riding the guys’ coattails.

Nicole says she did work with a few of the guys but she thinks shew as the brains behind a lot of it and planted seeds they acted on. She says a lot of things went like she wanted so she sat back and let it happen.

Final questions

Zakiyah asks Paul why he deserves to win over Nicole. Paul says it’s his first time playing and he worked his ass off and is not a vet like Nicole. Paul says he was a constant target and he never hid behind the scenes and says he wasn’t scared to be involved and he put his heart into the game.

Paulie asks Nicole why does she deserve to win over Paul. Nicole says she gave 100% all the time and was working day in and day out and negative attention she tried to turn it positive and coming in as a vet, she was a target. She says she had nothing to hide and gave it her all.

James gets to ask one last question. James asks Paul about him jumping ship to Nicole and if he would honor F2 with him. Paul says he tested both to see who was most honest with him and Nicole told him everything James said and James didn’t do the same.

Last words

Paul says he knew they thought he was an easy target and that’s why he was on the block so much and why he was on the block six times. He says he worked hard and relied on his social game and didn’t even get a care package from America.

He says he won his way to the end after Victor was clipped and beat two vets to stand at the end. He says he split up the biggest showmance at the end and says he won the most comps in the house and stayed true to himself. He says he had nothing to hide.

He says there’s one rule he will never break and that’s friendship. Nicole says that was good and then says she’s happy to be here. She says she came in and fought for her life and talks about all the deals she made. She says she came to lay Big Brother not Big Baby.

Nicole does a summary of her own game and says she gave all she had to give. She says she’s bad at speaking and it wasn’t as good as Paul’s speech for sure. Will the girls hold it against Paul for some of his harsh language?

The vote for BB18 winner

Da’VOnne votes first then Zakiyah. Bridgette goes next and says great game. Paulie is next and says it’s a hard decisions and he loves them both. Michelle is up and she congratulates them but clearly doesn’t like either. Natalie is next and says they kicked butt and she’s proud of them.

Victor says hi and says he’s coming back in the house any second and lucky for them he can’t and says he loves them both. Corey is next and he tells Nicole she’s looking good. Paul acts like he’s talking to him. James goes last and says he just saw them.

Glenn, Bronte, Tiffany, Jozea and Frank are now onstage too. Julie says after a 99 day battle, they are ready to crown the winner.

The votes are:

James – Paul

Corey – Nicole

Victor – Paul

Natalie – Nicole

Michelle – Paul

Paulie – Nicole

Bridgette – Paul

Zakiyah – Nicole

Da’Vonne – Nicole

Nicole has won BB18!

Nicole is thrilled. She and Paul come out to lots of applause and Paul gives her a huge hug. Nicole runs to hand out hugs.

Victor, Natalie and James got the most votes for America’s Favorite Houseguests and Victor won it. Victor is thrilled and says being evicted three times wasn’t so bad in that case. Julie congratulates them on an incredible season and offers a reminder for Big Brother Over the Top starting in a week.

THE END!