Vinnie Briganti might have just lived through one of the most brutal Big Brother Australia evictions yet, but he’s walking away with a smile, a stack of DMs, ten grand in his pocket and a very specific dream: to open for – and maybe even date – singer Gracie Abrams.
After being blindsided by a midnight Jingle Bells–themed eviction that instantly blew up on social media, the 21-year-old tells WHO he’s feeling “really good” and genuinely grateful for the experience.
“I look back on it with a laugh,” he says. “It was a brutal way to go out, a very iconic way to go out, but how could I be bitter at Big Brother? He let me stay in his house for 23 days.”
“I cried listening to music again”
The first thing Vinnie did after leaving the Big Brother house? Eat, decompress, and cry.
“I went to a hotel room, ordered a margarita pizza, two vanilla ice creams and a rainbow ice cream,” he says. “I put on music, lay on the bed and cried. I’m not joking. I put on ‘Everywhere, Everything’ by Noah Kahan and Gracie Abrams and just cried because I was so grateful to hear music again.”
As a musician, the silence of the house hit him hardest. “My Spotify Wrapped just came out — there’s not a day I go without listening to hours of music. To have that stripped away was hard.”
Scarred by “Jingle Bells”… forever
The eviction twist itself has become instant Big Brother lore — and for Vinnie, a tiny bit traumatic.
“I’m definitely scarred from ‘Jingle Bells’,” he admits. “Christmas won’t be the same if I hear that song again.”
When Big Brother switched the carol lyrics to announce he’d been evicted, his “jaw hit the floor.”
“I’d just woken up from a sleep and realised I wasn’t going back to sleep in that house,” he laughs. “Then I thought, are they going to pack my clippers properly? I actually left my T-shirts there. I need those back.”
Online, fans called it “cruel,” “evil,” “psychological torture,” and “iconic TV.”
“I didn’t think it would spark that much debate,” he says. “I personally didn’t think it was the nicest way to go out, but it’s very funny to watch back.”
Gracie Abrams, if you’re reading this…
When he’s not talking Big Brother, Vinnie’s talking music.
He lights up when he lists more of his favourites: Harry Styles, Irish band Amble, and classics like Bruce Springsteen and Cher – the latter two being regular listening with his mum. But the name he comes back to again and again is Gracie Abrams.
“I have an obsession with Gracie Abrams,” he laughs. “If she ever reads this, I’d love to date her at one point in my life.”
He adds: “I’d love to support her — whether that’s on tour or waking up in the morning and cooking her breakfast.”
He’s also ready to take his music more seriously.
“You know who Joe Keery is?” he grins, referencing the Stranger Things star.
“I want to do what Joe Keery does. I’d love to make music… but then also share stories through the screen. Whether it’s TV or film, I’d love to get into acting… play some roles, get into film and stuff, but also pursue my music.”
“Music has been part of his life since childhood,” he reveals. “I started playing guitar when I was probably like six and then put it away for a couple of years, and I haven’t put it down since I was about 11 years old,” he says.
“I’ve been writing music and making songs for the last couple of years… there’s not a day in my life I go without listening to music and playing my guitar, and my guitar is my ultimate outlet.”
Fans can already find his introspective, self‑reflective – and occasionally heartbreak‑fuelled – songs “anywhere you listen to music”, including Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube, and follow him on TikTok and Instagram under his own name, Vinnie Briganti.
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