Grandfather of Ariana Grande Died – Frankie Learns of his Death, Will Stay in the Competition (DETAILS)

Christine Brecht

UPDATED: According to people watching the feeds, Frankie received a letter from his family informing him of his grandfather’s death. He shared it with the rest of the house. At his family’s urging, He has decided not to leave the competition.

When Frankie said goodbye to his grandfather before he left to enter the house, he thought in the back of his mind that he might not see him again. But although he’d been ill for awhile, Frankie wasn’t expecting his grandfather to pass while he was competing on Big Brother.

After Frankie revealed the news to the houseguests, he shared stories with them about his grandfather, who had served in WWII and led a long and colorful life. He was “Brooklyn Italian” and had worked in communications up until his death in his 90s. He had beat cancer several times. He was also the first in the family to totally accept Frankie when he came out as gay. There was a lot of hugs and tears in the house, including from Zach who was crying alone in one of the bedrooms.

Frankie will have the opportunity to make a video that will be sent to his family for the memorial service. He says that if he were at home, he’d be the one everyone would be leaning on.  Sister, Ariana, tweeted about watching Frankie this afternoon on the live feeds:

To watch Frankie sharing the news about his grandfather on the live feeds, set the stream for July 23 at around 5 pm PST. It goes on for about 25 minutes (including the bit where Zach is in tears.)

Singer, Ariana Grande tweeted the sad news that her grandfather died after a long battle with cancer. Making the families grieving process even more difficult?  Brother, Frankie Grande is currently a house guest on Big Brother, completely cut off from the real world. To tell Frankie or not?  The family may decide to keep the news from him until the competition is over. Ariana tweeted:

Aw. Grandpa was afraid Frankie would quit to come home and be with his family, and that’s the last thing he wanted him to do. Big Brother producers WILL tell a houseguest about a death in the family, and then leaves it up to the contestant weather to continue playing the game, or quit and go home.  Ariana herself kept a commitment to appear on GMA to help Ryan Seacrest announce the iHeartRadio music festival lineup.

It’s a tough decision–whether to tell Frankie or not. I think I’d tell him, but stress that grandpa REALLY wanted him to stay, and that nobody would hold it against him if he didn’t quit.  There’s nothing Frankie can do for his grandfather now, except carry on with his life. Ariana and Grandpa

About mj santilli 34830 Articles
Founder and editor of mjsbigblog.com, home of the awesomest fan community on the net. I love cheesy singing shows of all kinds, whether reality or scripted. I adore American Idol, but also love The Voice, Glee, X Factor and more!