Liz Nolan beat expectations when she entered the Big Brother 17 house as part of the Twin Twist and not only survived to have her sister Julia join the season but to also make it to the Final Two where she became the runner-up and won $50,000.
Now outside of the house Liz was excited to discuss her experience, all the fun she had, and what it was like playing as part of a (briefly) hidden twist.
Big Brother Network: You said you didn’t expect Vanessa to take you to F2, butyou were willing to throw round one to her?
Liz: Yes! It’s a double edged sword because we were on those apples for three hours and I’m a very strong competitor but there’s only so much I can take of that. I did give it my all but in the end I just knew that I was not going to outlast Vanessa. She’s a little crazy.
I thought I’d just take my chances in the second round. Usually it’s something really easy like putting in order the HoHs so I definitely thought I had it in the bag over Steve. And yeah, I did take a really big risk, but you know, high risk, high reward.
BBN: If you had stayed up there on the apple, how much longer do you think you could have lasted?
Liz: I absolutely had about 25-30 minutes left in me. Now that I’ve come to terms with it, I definitely know that Vanessa’s bark was much worse than her bite.
BBN: What proved to be the hardest part of being a secret twin in those first five weeks?
Liz: Everything! People were on to us and every little morsel on our bodies. Our fingernail colors, the way we did our make-up, our hair! I was known as the plumper twin. It was so hard!
We only had 15-20 minutes to share days worth of stuff that went on. A lot of times we’d completely forget to mention stuff because we were just trying to memorize stuff and get everything transferred. I would have to say getting all the details in order.
BBN: How confident were you about making it the five weeks?
Liz: I went in to this thing thinking the worse. I was thinking it’d be like Adria and Natalie when “boom, boom” they get out one right after the other. So I’m so surprised that these Houseguests let us get to Day 85! #6 and #2. It really just floored me.
I think both of us played a really amazing social game. I think our social game was underestimated and the one reason we were able to last so long in the game. They didn’t see us as that big of a threat which was all part of the strategy.
BBN: Weeks ago you expressed concerns over Vanessa, but then when you had the chance you didn’t target her. Why did you decide to keep her?
Liz: Oh Vanessa, she was a character, wasn’t she? At that time Vanessa was on our side. I knew that she was never going to go after me. Why am I going to help the other people by taking her out? I know that I’m always safe with her. It’d stupid on my part to take her out.
I think she definitely helped me more in the game than she hurt me. I mean she did take me from 5 to 4 and 4 to 3. Vanessa was definitely not to be trusted, but for my own game I don’t think it was in my own best interests to take her out. If they want to do it then they could have done it and none of them did it.
BBN: Preseason you told me no showmances, but that clearly changed. At the start even it didn’t seem that serious, but what changed for you?
Liz: That is the hot topic. At first Austin was completely friend-zoned. I did not think of him like that at all. Not going to lie, as you probably saw, I was not really attracted to him. I don’t usually go for tattoos, long hair, ponytail beard, all the works. His personality really grew on me. I think he’s very charismatic. He’s hilarious. He knows how to talk. I think he quickly became someone I just wanted to be around in the house.
We’ll see what happens with Liztin, but we’re still going strong.
BBN: You had a really strong alliance with your sister, but then you added a similar bond with Austin as well. How do you think your alliance with Austin impacted your alliance with your sister?
Liz: Ohhh. I think it was cool to see how we made ourselves a little tripod and people were really scared to go against one of us. I think that’s a huge reason why we were able to stay in the house so long because they didn’t want to take one of us out and piss off two people. I think they dynamic with me, Austin, and Julia really benefited me a lot.
I think Julia got a little jealous of me with Austin, so that’s going to be funny to watch, but me and Julia were closer. Julia was my number one, he was my number two.
BBN: What do you feel were your best and worst moves of the Big Brother season?
Liz: Hmm. Best move was taking out the physical threats of the game, Becky and James. I think that James could have won this thing, so I took him out and that was good. Also, I feel like I aligned with really strong competitors and that got me really far too. Teaming up with Austin, Vanessa, then Steve, we won HoHs back to back and that’s how we were able to stay in power so long.
Worst move? Listening to Vanessa! I’m now really kicking myself in the head for falling off the round one competition. So yeah, don’t listen to Vanessa. Moral of the story.
BBN: What’s your biggest mystery coming out of the game that you want answered?
Liz: The mystery votes! I know of two of them. [chuckles] I voted for Jeff. Everyone knows. We all thought Audrey was a huge twist, but I’m hearing she wasn’t. What was America voting on?
BBN: Nothing game wise. There were Feed votes for things like donuts or cinnamon rolls.
Liz: Wow, so you guys weren’t playing a big part in the game? Wow. That answers my question.
I can’t wait to see Vanessa’s Diary Room. I can’t wait to see Johnny Mac’s! Oh my gosh you guys. I feel like he was a completely different person than what he was in his Diary Room sessions. I can’t wait to see how he let loose in the Diary Room. Hearing he is a superfan is crazy! He played it off so well. None of us had any idea, so props to you, Johnny Mac.
BBN: Speaking of the mystery hinky votes, what drove your decision to vote to keep Jeff?
Liz: James had always been my target. I wanted him out of this house. I thought that Jeff was just better for my own game.
I knew that Jeff kinda had a little bit of a crush on me so I knew he wasn’t going after me so I knew that James was more of a threat to me than Jeff. So I was just like, you know what, I’m not going to do what the house wants. I’m going to vote for who I think is better for my own game and I did it.
BBN: Any plans to move to L.A.?
Liz: Yes! I live at home in Miami. I was born and raised there so I’m kinda sick of it. I’d love to move to L.A. and have a breath of new fresh air. So yeah, maybe L.A. Austin lives out here so that’s another reason.
BBN: If there was an All-Stars call, would you come back?
Liz: Absolutely! A million percent. I’d do it with Julia too. Big Brother 18, let’s do it!
Watch our preseason interview with Liz Nolan: