We realize you're probably just getting started reading all the social media out there about Zankie, not the least of which is the many Zankie blogs. I know it's probably weird, all of the obsession. Crazy shippers, lots of arguing about minutia, all the "gameplay" analysis, some nasty homophobia as well. I'm sure it's overwhelming. "What are these people thinking?" you're probably wondering.
We fell in love with the Zankie showmance for a variety of reasons:
1. A straight man fell in love with a gay man on national television and wasn't ashamed to say so. (As far as I can tell, this is a first. So, you pioneered into an emotional territory that a lot of viewers have never seen before. The cultural significance of this was huge, because it resonated with people big time.)
2. The two of you were so damn cute when you were together. Even now, in post-show interviews, we can see it. Television magic, for sure. If it wasn't/isn't real, the lens sure made it look real. Very real.
3. The drama of the game causing conflict within the Zankie relationship. It was a rollercoaster for you, and it was a rollercoaster for us. When you were crying in the diary room, we were too. When you two were chatting in bed in the HOH room, we felt part of the conversation. When you hugged each other, we felt it. We were invested, big time.
Those were the main reasons. Because these things connected so powerfully to people's emotions, you have a ton of fans that Cody or Hayden or Jacosta just don't have.
Many of us fell in love with Zankie because you're straight. Not because you're in the closet, but because you're a straight man who wasn't afraid to cuddle with and be so close to a gay man, and to admit it. That's part of what made Zankie such a powerful showmance. Like Julie Chen said, when you guys were tight, it was the best showmance BB has ever seen.
So, just know that not every Zankie fan out there wants you to come out. I mean, if you do, no biggie. But if you're straight, which you claim to be, just know that we find that to be SO COOL. We love you the way you are.
Zankie for me will always be about an AMAZING straight guy who fell in love with a gay guy and wasn't ashamed of it. Beautiful. It's an example to the rest of a homophobic world. You advanced the ball down the playing field big time. One of the more significant cultural achievements lately, and you should be proud of that. Who says reality television can't be important?
Well done. Really. You may not have won the 500k, but you did something far more important in my book. Not everyone has the courage to change things for the better in this world. Lots of us gay people (and straight allies) thank you for that.
And thanks for reading.
P.S. Aside from the Zankie stuff, we loved watching you. Please do TAR. Or lots of vids with Frankie. Or your own show. Hell, you could strap on a gocam and I'd subscribe.
Voting has officially closed for this year's Big Brother America's Favorite Houseguest. The competition for the $25,000 prize on the perennial CBS summer hit seems to be a race for second place as one of the houseguests, Frankie Grande, had the support of his Pop superstar sister Ariana Grande tweeting to her millions of minions to vote for her big brother. But an interesting thing happened with nine hours left in the vote. Both Ariana, and her mother, tweeted out last-minute support for 23-year-old recent college grad ZachRance. As voting neared to a close, they joined the hundreds of other fans on Twitter asking for votes for the pink hat wearing houseguest who was evicted over a month ago.
Why all the support for Zach? The Florida Gator alum has been the most galvanizing, most electric, and most watchable houseguest on an otherwise pretty predictable season. As undercover cop Derrick Levasseur marches inexorably to his inevitable win, there has not been much excitement or unpredictability on season 16 of Big Brother. No big moves were made and the outcome each week was as surprising as Julie Chen getting re-signed to host the show her husband's network airs. The one showmance, between houseguests Nicole Franzel and Hayden Voss, earned a G rating for "gosh, they almost seem attracted to one another." On the other end, we had a failed, attempted showmance when Caleb Reynolds became obsessed with Amber Borzotra to the point where it appeared police sergeant Levasseur might have to come out of hiding.
But Zach was part of the only meaningful showmance this season, a playful, flirty "will they or won't they" with Frankie. Zach is straight, Frankie is gay, but together Zankie became something new and indefinable. The two generated more heat than Jeff and Jordan or Rachel and Brendan and their physical attraction and demonstrative affection became the stuff of Big Brother legend. In the midst of the summer, as her career has been skyrocketing, Ariana took time off to comment on the budding showmance and tweet her support for Frankie and Zach. Zankie took over Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, and fan fiction everywhere.
It wasn't just the showmance that caught America's attention, though. Zach had introduced himself to America as this season's villain, a Dr. Will Kirby wannabe who "hated everyone." He promised to be a complete jerk, a "con man" who would care only about himself, running over all his fellow houseguests on his road to taking home the top prize. Pre-season interviews left most viewers lining up to hate the smarmy frat boy. And Zach played up his "I hate everyone" schtick once the Big Brother cameras were pointed at him.
Despite this, it took no time for the viewers to have an epiphany. Zach was not a jerk after all. The most frequent comment throughout social media after the live feeds of the show came on was, "he's growing on me." The guy who wanted to be the villain, the most hated houseguest ever, was actually pretty lovable. Unlike the rest of the houseguests, he worked to learn the names of everyone's friends and family members. He listened to people's life stories and asked questions, showing genuine interest. He developed feelings for people, not wanting to vote out Brittany Martinez, a single mother of three, whom he liked and thought was a good person. He didn't want to throw a competition against Donny Thompson, a 42-year-old North Carolina groundskeeper, because he liked him and thought he was a good person. See a pattern? In what was supposed to be a game for half a million dollars, Zach was developing relationships and feelings - not really something a cad was supposed to do.
In one of the most telling moments of the live feeds, a fan shouted over the wall when Caleb, Frankie and Zach were in the backyard and could be heard clearly saying: "Beast Mode Cowboy [Caleb's nickname] we hate you, Zach we love you, Frankie you're disgusting." Caleb thought he heard the fan shouting something negative about him and neither he nor Frankie heard what was said about Frankie, but all three agreed they heard the "Zach we love you" part. So what did Zach think the fan had shouted about the other two? He heard "Beast Mode we love you" and "Frankie you're the best." Yep, this season's resident villain was convinced that the person shouting over the wall had to be saying nice things about everyone! He couldn't even fathom the possibility that they would have anything negative to say about the other houseguests.
Turned out this year's bad guy was a softie. He worships his ten-year-old brother Peyton and seemed to be more Momma's boy than playa. He opened up about his ADHD and his struggle with being off his meds in the house. He cried when fellow houseguests Derrick and Frankie each separately learned that their grandfathers had passed away. Because he was so unfiltered, we saw the real person. And that person turned out to be the real star of Big Brother 16. Every second he was on the screen, any moment he was on the live feeds, was electric. He had the best speeches, he came up with the most entertaining poems, he had the most memorable catch phrases. His "Zach Attack" dance moves have inspired dozens of YouTube tribute videos.
His unpredictable outbursts, his joie de vivre, his sincerity, his vulnerability made Zach the one you cared to see what he'd do next. He tried to make big moves and play strategically and had initially set himself up well for a deep run. Unfortunately his game play was as bad as the post-Tebow Gators and his loose lips ultimately caused his ship to sink. Still, his excitability, his spontaneity, and his enthusiasm captured the fans' imaginations. If you did a countdown of your favorite moments from the season, almost every one would involve Zach. His energy, enthusiasm and love of life lifted the show when it was bogged down in flat characters and predictable voting. Zach had a desire to shake things up, make something happen, and entertain us when his fellow houseguests forgot they were on a TV show.
The fact is in a game full of lying and deception, Zach Rance turned out to be the most real person in the house. He tried to act the bully, tried to be the bad guy, but couldn't hide the fact that he's just a sweet kid. That was the real twist in an otherwise boring and predictable season where the dullest winner in Big Brother history methodically moves his chess pieces around to guarantee his inevitable win. Without Zach's volatility, unpredictability and showmanship this season would have gone down as the most tedious, uninteresting ever. But we were blessed with the most watchable houseguest the show has ever cast. Funny, lovable, roguish, outrageous, raw, and unfiltered, Zach was the real star of Big Brother 16.
The season will draw to a close Wednesday night and we already know the outcome. Derrick will win the season and Frankie will win America's Favorite Houseguest, not because he was anyone's favorite - not with his talk of euthanizing Zach or having two male houseguests "double team" and "take all her virginities" away from one of the young female houseguests - but because he and his famous sister rallied the votes early. But when we look back on Big Brother 16, we will remember it as the season of the Zach Attack. Zach may not have won the $500,000 first prize and he may not win America's Favorite Houseguest, but he unquestionably will be the most memorable player to come out of Big Brother in a long time. He is the one we want to see more of, whether it's in an upcoming Big Brother All Stars version, on CBS sister show Amazing Race, or on his own You Tube channel. So feel free to congratulate Zach, not on winning America's Favorite Houseguest, but on winning a place in America's hearts.
I have forgotten that there’s still a game being played and that the main purpose of the finale is to crown the winner.
To me, the finale = update on what’s been going on with Zankie and Zach winning AFP. Absolutely nothing more.
Derrick's mind control over the 3 three evicted houseguests
I've been surprised to see Christine, Frankie, and now Caleb all seem to think someone other than Derrick has been running things. When they were asked by Julie right after eviction about who was the biggest threat remaining in the house, none of them identified Derrick. The next day, during their Jeff interviews, they seemed to be warming up to the idea that Derrick *might* be the reason they were evicted, but they weren't quite there. Caleb just identified Cody as the likely winner.
Derrick has been SO successful at making these people think he wasn't responsible for their departures, when he so clearly was, it's been masterful. They still didn't have it figured out walking out the door.
Hats off to him. If it's him and Victoria in the F2, then he pretty much executed his plan PERFECTLY. Wow.
I am not even going to touch how Julie and Jeff were fangirling Frankie and basically staying away from any question that will show him in a bad light. But i want to say.....what i found surprising was Jeff's aproach about Zankie to Zach & Frankie. With Zach he cornered him, made the b/d joke, and really pushed romance angle. With Frankie he was all chilled about it & EVEN SAID lets not put label on it, i was like where was that during Zach interview? the poor kid had to discuss his sexuality
It was bizarre how differently Jeff behaved with Frankie and Zach.
He should have been more relaxed with Zach; who is obviously confused about his sexuality and feelings. And pushier with Frankie; who is obviously very open about his sexuality and feelings.
I don’t know why Jeff did it the opposite way around. It would have been much better if he approached the zankie situation with Zach how he did with Frankie and emphasized that there needn’t be any pressure on labeling their relationship.
But, hopefully, now that Frankie’s in the jury house with Zach, he can help him come to terms with whatever might be worrying him.
I don’t think Zach is that uptight about his sexuality; just look how he handled his Kathy Griffin zing which basically called him gay. He laughed about it and brought it up frequently. So I think he’ll approach their “showmance” talk the same way.
That aside, I was extremely happy with how Frankie spoke about Zach. In prior speculation, I had thought that once Frankie was out of the Big Brother house and was faced with zankie themed questions, he’d then, and only then, show how he really felt about it. And just look how he feels! He said his heart only beats for Zach then emphasized that he loved him and that if Zach came out of the closet, he wouldn’t say no.
And he wasn’t even pressured or led into saying that, he said it of his own volition!
It’s definitely the best thing any of us have heard in WEEKS.
So, if any of us were ever confused about how Frankie genuinely feels; now we know for sure.
I wish them both the best of luck with their relationship from here on out. ~
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