‘Big Brother’: Nicole Anthony and Philip Bracco Broke up After a Couple of Months
In February 2020, Big Brother 21 finalist and America’s Favorite Houseguest winner Nicole Anthony began dating Philip, the younger brother of her co-star, Tommy Bracco. However, the adorable couple split up after only a couple of months.
Nicole Anthony and Philip Bracco met each other after ‘Big Brother 21
During Big Brother 21, then 28-year-old New York-based Broadway dancer Tommy Bracco frequently told then 24-year-old preschool aide Nicole Anthony, who’s also from the same area, that she and his little brother, Philip, would make a great couple because of their similarities.
Philip faithfully watched every episode and wore a Unicorn School shirt to show his support for Nicole. He even admitted he would vote the preschool aide for America’s Favorite Houseguest over his brother, to which his cousin joked it “doesn’t matter because they’ll be splitting that money down that road once they’re married.”
Nicole created an Instagram account after leaving the house and promptly followed several of her Big Brother co-stars as well as Philip. The two talked for a couple of months, and later met up for the first time in January 2020 to complete an escape room.
A few weeks later, they participated in a scavenger hunt alongside Tommy and a couple of other friends.
Nicole Anthony and Philip Bracco began dating a few months later
After hanging out for Valentine’s Day, where they completed another escape room, the two announced they were more than friends a couple of weeks later.
Philip let his followers know Nicole was “his girl” in the caption of a series of pictures of them dressed up and participating in bumper cars on ice. In a now-deleted post, the Big Brother star uploaded the same seven photos and revealed she and Philip are “officially dating.”
Many of her former co-stars commented their approval with Tommy calling himself “Wingman of the Year.” Christie Murphy wrote, “this makes my heart feel so happy,” and Nick Maccarone noted he “never loved anything more.”
Runner-up Holly Allen added she loves seeing them happy together, and Ovi Kabir declared their anniversary, February 24th, as a national holiday. However, Philip corrected him in the comments and explained they began dating on the 23rd.
Other former housemates, such as Jack Matthews and her closest allies, Cliff Hogg III and Kemi Fakunle, also congratulated the new couple.
Nicole Anthony and Philip Bracco broke up
The two continued hanging out after their announcement. They completed a paint-themed escape room a couple of weeks later and attended a live taping of Netflix’s NASCAR-based comedy series, The Crew, in early March 2020.
Soon after the event, coronavirus (COVID-19) was declared a pandemic, and the state of New York enforced strict stay-at-home orders, preventing the couple from seeing each other.
In April, Philip posted a picture of himself and Nicole, captioning it, “I really miss this one’s face.” Nicole commented, “I promise I miss yours more” and admitted she hopes absence makes the heart grow fonder “because right now my heart is just sad.”
Someone else noted Philip “scored huge brownie points with this post” and Nicole responded, “he’s honestly the best.” Unfortunately, the two split shortly after that due to the distance and stress associated with the ongoing pandemic.
In late June, Nicole had a BBBBQ (Big Brother barbeque) with Christie and Tommy, so the breakup didn’t seem to affect her friendship with the Broadway dancer.
