Franzen: There’s life after Pinoy Big Brother

Franzen Fajardo was an early favorite when ABS-CBN’s Pinoy Big Brother was still in its infancy stage. The poor boy from Valenzuela City was the underdog, and televiewers felt like wanting to reach out to this well-meaning guy who only wanted to give his family a good life.

But several days later, things took a 180-degree turn. Suddenly, Franzen was breaking Big Brother’s house rules, not once, but many times over. The straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back was when Franzen mouthed secret messages and scribbled them on the tabletop. Endemol International, owner of the Big Brother rights, decided to force evict Franzen.

His friend, Cass, volunteered to leave and therefore save Franzen from eviction. But no way. Endemol has decided. So out Franzen went that eventful Saturday night.

Today, Franzen has mixed feelings about his recently-acquired ‘freedom.’ He admitted before a small group of press people, that yes, he’s happy to see his wife Love Joy and little son Franzen Juan again. But he knows he also nixed his chance to win the big cache waiting for the housemate who will survive all evictions on Dec. 10.

Franzen knows many people were rooting for him from the start. And he has apologized for letting them down.

But he says he can’t help but break the rules out of sheer loneliness. He couldn’t sleep a wink just thinking of his family. So breaking the rules, for him, provided relief — however temporary — from the humdrum of everyday.

He knows it was wrong. And for this, Franzen says he is sorry again. But he swears the mistake was a learning experience. Big Brother, he says, has taught him lessons on self-control, tact and other values that would make a better man out of him.

Besides, he didn’t leave the yellow and blue house across ABS-CBN empty-handed. After spending 90 days in the house, Franzen went home with a brand-new entertainment showcase. Better than this though, is a crack at showbiz, care of ABS-CBN.

Unlike other fellow evictees though, Franzen wants to try comedy. His idols in this department are Dolphy and Long Mejia. Drama, Franzen adds, is a challenge. But comedy is more his cup of tea.

The showbiz factor is totally new to Franzen, whose list of odd jobs includes stints at Bench, Human and other companies where he worked as salesman. Poverty drove Franzen to take on a job when he was still in high school. His parents, Franzen explained, needed the money to pay for their mounting debts.

Now that he has a foot in showbiz, Franzen hopes he need not take odd jobs anymore to give his family a decent life. Besides, with all the lessons on getting along he learned on Pinoy Big Brother, Franzen has no reason to feel left out in the game of life anymore.