Cody Lee Nickson (born April 13, 1985) is an American reality television personality, best known for competing in '' Big Brother 19'' and winning ''

The Amazing Race 30 ''The Amazing Race 30'' is the thirtieth season of the American reality television show ''The Amazing Race''. It featured eleven teams of two competing in a race around the world. The season premiered on CBS on January 3, 2018, and the two-hour ...

'' with his then fiancée

Jessica Graf Jessica Furtado Nickson ( née Graf; born December 11, 1990) is an American reality television personality, actress, and model. She first came to national prominence after competing in '' Big Brother 19'', where she placed twelfth. After ''Big ...

. Previously, Nickson served in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

and

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

Early life and background

Nickson was born in

Lake Mills, Iowa Lake Mills is a city in Winnebago County, Iowa, Winnebago County, Iowa, United States. The population was 2,143 at the time of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. History Lake Mills was platted in part of the northeast quadrant of Center T ...

and later resided in

Plano, Texas Plano ( ) is a city in Collin County, Texas, Collin County and Denton County, Texas, United States. It had a population of 285,494 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is a principal city of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Hist ...

. His mother is Darcy Nickson and he has a daughter named Paisley Nickson. Before Big Brother he joined the

at the age of 17. He served as a 2M0X2 and 1N0X1 in the

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...

before enlisting in the

Marines Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...

as an 0311 at the age of 23. He has also served combat tours in the

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

wars. Nickson graduated from

Collin College Collin College is a public community college district in Texas. Founded in 1985, the district has grown as the county has grown from around 5,000 students in 1986 to more than 58,000 credit and noncredit students. Formerly known as the Coll ...

with an

associate degree An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree. The fi ...

business management Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...

Military

Nickson initially served in the

, but would later transfer into the

Marine Corps Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...

. After the completion of bootcamp and

infantry school A School of Infantry provides training in weapons and infantry tactics to infantrymen of a nation's military forces. Schools of infantry include: Australia *Australian Army – School of Infantry, Lone Pine Barracks at Singleton, NSW. France ...

, Nickson was assigned to

3rd Battalion, 9th Marines The 3rd Battalion, 9th Marines (3/9) is an infantry battalion of the United States Marine Corps. Formed during World War I it served until the early 1990s when it was redesignated as 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines (3/4) during a realignment and ren ...

where he would serve as a 0311 Rifleman in combat deployments to

and

. Nickson received a commendation for his service. In 2012, Nickson received an Honorable Discharge.

Television

''Big Brother''

''Big Brother 19''

Nickson appeared on 19th season of ''Big Brother''. He began a showmance with fellow contestant Jessica Graf. On Day 1, he won the safety competition after Paul did not choose him as one of the 8 HouseGuests to be awarded immunity. He won Head of Household later that week, becoming the first HOH of the season. He nominated Megan and Jillian for eviction. On Day 9, he had to name a replacement nominee and picked Alex after Megan self-evicted herself from the game. After Alex won POV and took herself off the block he tried to nominate Paul. However, Paul revealed his Pendant of Protection, leaving Nickson to nominate Christmas instead. During week 2

Paul Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

won HOH as well as Power of Veto and chose Nickson as a replacement nominee after saving Josh his previous nominee from the block. He endured the Ve-toad curse temptation after Christmas accepted the Temptation offer voted by America. He was evicted from the house on Day 23. Nickson later returned to the house after winning three rounds of the Battle Back Showdown during week 4. During week 5 Paul nominated Cody for eviction alongside Jessica but she used the Halting Hex saving them both from eviction. He won the second Temptation Competition the next week and became safe. He was named as a replacement nominee by Alex during week 7. He was evicted on day 58 and became the first member of the Jury. He voted for Josh to win Big Brother and won America's Favorite HouseGuest with a prize of $25,000.

''Big Brother 20''

Nickson, alongside Graf appeared on Big Brother 20 to host the second POV competition.

''The Amazing Race''

Nickson and Graf also participated in the 30th season of the U.S. television series ''

The Amazing Race ''The Amazing Race'' is an adventure reality game show franchise in which teams of two people race around the world in competition with other teams. The ''Race'' is split into legs, with teams tasked to deduce clues, navigate themselves in forei ...

''. They later became the winners of the season and took home the $1,000,000 prize along with a $5,000 prize they won earlier during the season, becoming the first former ''Big Brother'' contestants to win the ''Amazing Race.''

Personal life

He became engaged to

on February 13, 2018. He has a daughter from a previous relationship. In September 2018, Nickson and Graf announced that they were expecting their first child together, and confirmed the following month that they'd be having a girl. Nickson and Graf got married on October 13, 2018. Their daughter was born on March 17 2019. In May 2020, Nickson and Graf announced that they were expecting their second child together. Their daughter was born on October 5, 2020.

Filmography

Television

Awards & recognitions

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nickson, Cody 1985 births Big Brother (American TV series) contestants Living people People from Lake Mills, Iowa People from Plano, Texas Reality show winners The Amazing Race (American TV series) contestants United States Air Force airmen United States Marines Television personalities from Iowa Television personalities from Texas