Paul Abrahamian's surprising Big Brother loss this season was definitely not deserved, according to longtime host Julie Chen.
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Josh Martinez was therefore crowned champion and walked away with $500,000 during Wednesday night's finale of Season 19, and the outcome seemingly stemmed from a bitter and emotional jury.
"I think the jury made the wrong choice," Julie told Entertainment Weekly after the show. "Paul was robbed."
Based on footage of the season that played during the finale, almost every single houseguest trusted and aligned with Paul during some point in the game. Most players even relied on him to advance in the game.
The self-declared "puppetmaster" also won nine competitions and never once sat on the chopping block for a live eviction, other than when Josh cast the deciding vote for Christmas Abbott to go home in the Final 3. Paul was smart and manipulative, but the jury didn't appreciate his lies and sneaky betrayals.
"But Josh was no slouch," Julie pointed out. "He won competitions, had a conscience and didn't mislead people in the same slick way that Paul did."
As houseguest Alex Ow put it, she voted for Josh to win because he had "stabbed her in the front," while Paul had stabbed her in the back. Jason Dent, Mark Jansen, Elena Davies, and Cody Nickson also voted for Josh to be crowned champion.
"I thought Alex would bury the hatchet being the gamer she is, and that Cody would also respect and recognize that Paul truly did outplay everyone," Julie revealed.
"But no dice. Not even from Mark, who seemed so level-headed when it comes to being about who played who and who was running the show."
Except for Cody and Jessica Graf, all the houseguests thought they were best friends with Paul and the veteran player's top choice for the Final 2, so most of the jury members apparently took their game departures personally.
"I didn't know what to expect with the jury votes," Julie explained to EW. "Honestly, I thought, 'This will be either a landslide for Paul, or Josh wins by a vote of two.' The only locks I thought Paul had were [Raven Gates] and [Matt Clines]."
RELATED LINK: JOSH MARTINEZ ON 'BIG BROTHER' VICTORY: I THOUGHT I HAD "NO SHOT" TO BEAT PAUL ABRAHAMIAN, IT'S CRAZY!
RELATED LINK: 'BIG BROTHER' SHOWMANCES NOWIn addition to Raven and Matt, Christmas Abbott and Kevin Schlehuber also voted for Paul to win the game.
When Paul learned he had lost the game, he appeared absolutely crushed and devastated onstage, telling Big Brother's host, "I have no idea how I came up short. I did everything I could... If people didn't see that I had to fight my way through to make it to the end, then that's on them."
Julie said she thought Paul was "more than stunned" by the jury's voting results.
"I think Paul was embarrassed and upset. But more embarrassed than anything," Julie shared.
"You could feel his frustration with himself for miscalculating how the jury would ultimately vote. He should have shown more remorse in his final plea to the jury. And he shouldn't have been making faces during Josh's speech to the jury."
Paul focused mainly on his Big Brother resume -- a long list of moves and competition wins -- in his final jury speech rather than apologizing to his fellow houseguests for hurting or blindsiding them. Paul only briefly defended his behavior in the house when slapped with accusations such utilizing "bullying tactics."
Paul won $50,000 for finishing Big Brother's nineteenth season in second place. And Cody won $25,000 for being voted as "America's Favorite Houseguest" in the finale.
RELATED LINK: CHRISTMAS ABBOTT: I'D HAVE WON 'BIG BROTHER' IF I'D MADE THE FINAL 2 AGAINST PAUL ABRAHAMIAN OR JOSH MARTINEZ
"Cody not only won America's Favorite Houseguest, but he won by a lot! Wow. I guess people responded to him suddenly being the underdog and being persona non grata in the house," Julie said of the stone-cold, Battle-Back competition winner and twice evictee.
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
