Reality stars turned parents! Nicole Franzel and Victor Arroyo welcomed their son, Arrow, in July 2021 after meeting on Big Brother five years prior.
“[After] Big Brother, me and Nicole stayed friends,” Arroyo told Entertainment Tonight in September 2017, revealing that the pair started dating after seeing each other at the Big Brother 19 premiere earlier that year. “We talked a lot as friends and, you know, through her life and my life, we were just an open book.”
The lovebirds didn’t have a showmance while they were both houseguests during season 18 of the CBS reality competition, which aired in 2016. In fact, Franzel had a fling with houseguest Corey Brooks, which fizzled out after the season ended.
Arroyo and the Michigan native got married in March 2021 after having to postpone the ceremony twice due to COVID-19 concerns. “We’ve been waiting for this moment for so long and it’s finally happened,” the newlyweds, who were expecting their first child at the time, exclusively told Us Weekly of their nuptials. “All the stress of having a wedding is lifted off our shoulders. Now all our attention is focused on having a healthy and happy baby.”
Four months later, the new dad announced baby Arrow’s arrival. “We are taking our skin to skin time super seriously and we haven’t put him down, we are fighting over him actually 😂,” the police officer captioned a July 2021 Instagram update via his wife’s account.
Weeks before their son was born, the duo revealed that they were naming him Victor Arroyo IV, with the nickname “Arrow.” Franzel explained the decision via Instagram. “Thank you to the Coco Caliente Listener on our podcast Facebook page who accidentally typed Arrow instead of Arroyo — you are the reason we found this name!! 😂🥰,” she wrote, referring to her and Arroyo’s podcast.
The reality TV alum added that she “insisted” on giving the infant a nickname, explaining, “I don’t want people to call him baby Vic/little Vic his whole life. I know people who are 60 years old and they’re still ‘little Johnny’ & they don’t like it.😅”
The first-time mom gushed about the tiniest member of her family in a July 2022 Instagram post commemorating Arrow’s first birthday. “My world revolves around you. They say not to do that, but I don’t want to do anything else. I’m happiest when I’m with you and taking care of you,” she wrote, thanking her son for “the best year of my life.”
Keep scrolling to see the Big Brother stars’ sweetest moments with their son: