Cody became the second person to win by an unanimous vote.
Cody Calafiore is officially the winner of Big Brother All-Stars! Following Wednesday night's dramatic finale, ET's Lauren Zima spoke to the newly crowned winner about a number of topics, including becoming only the second person ever to win unanimously, what it was like eliminating Nicole Franzel and if he'd ever return to the house.
"I feel like it hasn't really sunk in yet... It's so weird. I feel like I'm still in shock... I haven’t even been able to talk to my family, but it's amazing. I can't complain too much," he said. "... I think it will hit me in a little bit. I still feel like I am still in the game and that and my head is still going... I have not gotten to decompress yet, but I feel like when that sinks in, that is when the emotions will flood in."
Cody's $500,000 win didn't come easily. After coming out victorious in two of the three Head of Household Competitions, Cody chose to take Enzo Palumbo with him to the finale, rather than his frequent ally, Nicole. Following the "horrible" choice, Cody told ET that he plans to try "to mend" his relationship with Nicole "immediately."
"I felt like I was cutting my little sister," he admitted. "It was the hardest thing, one of the hardest things I've had to do in my life, not just this game, take the game out of it. Cutting her was the most painful thing, probably one of the most painful things I've had to do. It was so much more personal, but the personal aspect is what weighed on me."
"I hope it doesn't affect our relationship because we didn't have one on [season] 16 and this season we had an incredible relationship," he continued. "We had a working relationship, we had a friendship, we had an insane bond... We're just incredible as a duo, so I hope that she can forgive me."
While Cody said he does "apologize to her," he stood by his choice because "it's just a game."
"If it happened to me I would be very angry, but I think it takes a little bit of time. I think it's an open wound that I don't know that I'm going to try to make her forgive me because I can't ask forgiveness until she openly wants to forgive me herself," he said. "I'm not going to be like, 'I'm so sorry! Do you forgive me? Are you still mad at me? I'll let her come to grips with it. I think she will. However long it takes it doesn't matter to me because that's not a friendship I want to lose."
With Nicole having won season 18 of the show, Cody simply did not think he would've been able to win the game against her.
"With Enzo it was kind of up in the air," he explained. "... I thought so much about it -- that's part of what I was doing this season, my head never stopped... I was racking through all of these different things. Playing that out I was like, 'OK, I gotta take Enzo.'"
It ended up being a good choice, as Cody won the game unanimously during the jury vote. Even Nicole voted for him after he eliminated her, which she had previously promised to do.
"She had said to me, 'Even if you cut me, I will vote for you still,' so I was not that surprised," Cody said. "It was actually still surprising because [of] the look on her face."
Cody became only the second person ever to win unanimously, joining Dan Gheesling who did so in season 10.
"It's so weird to hear this stuff, because I guess I don't see myself that way. Maybe it hasn't sunk in. I just feel like I came, played the game, and then I come off, and it's amazing that I won," Cody said. "... Dan's the only person that won unanimously, that's a legend of the game. It's so crazy. That aspect hasn't really sunk in for me, I guess."
"... I didn't think it was gonna be unanimous whether I sat next to Nicole... [or] Enzo," he continued. "I was blown away. I thought the first couple was gonna be like Enzo, Cody, Cody, Enzo, Cody, Enzo and then maybe I pulled away, but that's what I was hoping. But I did not think it was gonna be 9-0 at all."
Now that the game's over, Cody said, looking back, he came into the season "arrogant," and underestimated how difficult the experience would be.
"The lack of sleep wasn’t easy. Not being able to sleep through the night was very difficult... I can't say it was easy. It was very tough. It was a lot of work. It was working a lot of different relationships, and the nerves," he said. "... There's a lot of stuff that can go wrong. I think the stress of that is like there's no way that anybody could say that playing this game is easy."
As he reenters the real world, Cody is looking forward to eating sushi, drinking wine, and seeing his girlfriend, who he's thinking about proposing to.
"Her and I are looking to move in together so we'll see after that," he said of a potential engagement. "... I feel horrible about what I put her through with this, so we'll see... I can't even express it. There's like no words for it. I'm dying to do it. I can't wait to see her."
As for if he'd ever return to the house, Cody isn't ruling anything out.
"Probably not in the near future because I think that is one of the biggest benefits that I had, a big gap, but if Big Brother called, how can I say no?" he questioned. "It completely changed my life."
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