'Big Brother 18' Winner: Who Does Julie Chen Think Will Win $500,000? [VIDEO]
Big Brother host Julie Chen has weighed in on who she thinks will win season 18.
Big Brother 18 is down to just three houseguests left: James Huling, Nicole Franzel and Paul Abrahamian. Nicole and James entered the house as returning players, having finished seventh in both of their original seasons, 16 and 17, respectively. Paul is the only new houseguest in this Final 3, and yet, Chen believes he might have the best shot of winning.
"Paul, I think, is in the best spot to win," Chen said in a new interview with Entertainment Weekly. "He is good at comps, especially mental ones and memory ones. And by my calculations he wins against either Nicole or James if he makes it to the final two."
So what does Chen think of James and Nicole's chances? The host admitted that while Nicole had a better shot of winning the final HOH of the season, neither would have a good chance against Paul.
"James has not shown himself to be good at comps this year. He's been only good at endurance comps this year and it will take more than that to be the final HOH," Chen explained. "Nicole has proven to be able to win comps this year, and if she wins final HOH, I don't think she would beat Paul in a final two situation. And again, if she were to choose James as her final two, she is not a shoe-in to win. All the way around, I think Paul stands the best chance to win it all."
***Spoilers through Part 1 of the final HOH competition ahead***
James, Nicole and Paul played in the first part of the final HOH comp Wednesday night and while it was blocked out from the feeds, it was clear after the feeds returned that Paul had won. That means he will automatically advance to Part 3 of the HOH competition while James and Nicole will battle it out in Part 2. Whoever wins this part will face off against Paul in Part 3, with the winner deciding who will sit next to them in the Final 2.
Big Brother 18 returns for another new episode Friday at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.