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By Nora Lopez | San Antonio Express-News
Rio Grande Valley native and “Big Brother” contestant America Lopez could go home tonight after she and her boyfriend were both nominated for eviction from the CBS reality TV show.
According to fan websites and blogs who follow the show’s live feeds, the nominations blindsided Lopez and her showmance Cory Wurtenberger. So much so that Lopez angrily responded with an F-bomb when head of household Jag Bains tried to explain why he nominated the duo.
The couple had been working with Bains and believed they were in an alliance with him and another contestant, Matt Klotz. According to the website Screen Rant, when Bains offered to speak to her, she told him to “(expletive) off.”
Lopez and Wurtenberger have been in a prominent position on the show, successfully lobbying for the eviction of the players they deem most dangerous to their game. But in the process, they’ve also made themselves a target for eviction by drawing attention to their strong game play and allegiance to each other.
Their nominations were a surprise as they were not originally nominated for eviction. Two other players, Blue Kim and Felicia Cannon, originally were nominated by Bains. But after Kim won the “power of veto,” giving her the ability to take herself off the nomination block, Bains decided it was time to separate Lopez and Wurtenberger, who started a relationship on the show.
The move was possible because the show, famous for changing the rules as the game is played, allowed for two people to win the power of veto this week thanks to the “Power of Multiplicity.” Bains won the second veto. After Kim saved herself, he saw an opportunity to break up the showmance.
He used the second veto to remove Cannon from the block and nominated “Americory” — as the duo is popularly known.
MORE TO READ: ‘Big Brother’ Season 25 debuts tonight with contestant from Rio Grande Valley
While Lopez reacted strongly to the power move, the prevailing theory among “Big Brother” fan blogs is that Wurtenberger will be sent home Thursday as he is seen as the strongest player of the two.
But anything is possible on “Big Brother,” where the motto is “expect the unexpected.”
It remains to be seen if either Lopez or Wurtenberger will lobby against each other ahead of tonight’s vote to evict a player from the house. According to the website Screen Rant, they each want the other to stay, with them “going so far as to say that they care about each other more than the game.”
Lopez’s reaction to the nomination also could work against her. The Edinburg native’s stint on the show has been full of drama, starting with her relationship with the younger Wurtenberger. Lopez is 27 and Wurtenberger is 21, prompting a slew of jokes at the couple’s expense about the age difference.
MORE TO READ: Is Edinburg contestant on CBS’ ‘Big Brother’ going home soon?
Earlier in the show, she was at the center of a controversy when another contestant, Jared Fields, referred to Lopez with an insulting term for people with intellectual or developmental disabilities. The slur was audible on live feeds and prompted a social media backlash by viewers, many of whom called on CBS to remove Fields from the show.
CBS never addressed the controversy and allowed Fields to remain on the show until his eviction Sept. 28.
This is not the first time Lopez and Wurtenberger have been nominated for eviction. But this time, the power of veto competition has been played out and one of them will be evicted tonight.
This story first published in the San Antonio Express-News. Find the story here: https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/big-brother-valley-america-lopez-18434349.php
