Big Brother: The Final Six

I didn’t see Mohamed’s eviction. I didn’t see anything from about Lisa’s ‘escape’ to the Final, and I haven’t been following the series on Digital Spy either. So I had no idea who the popular housemates were. But if you’d given me the list of the last six housemates and asked me to put them in order of eviction, I might easily have given you the opposite to what actually happened.

So KAT, or so I thought, was the favourite to win. I knew that she was slipping a bit in the ratings, and that Luke (until his eviction), Darnell and Rex were gaining on her, and I wouldn’t have been surprised if one of the latter two had won it. (Or even Luke wouldn’t have been that much of a surprise, as I wouldn’t have put it past Big Brother to throw their Golden Boy back in.)

But as far as I knew, Kat still had a good chance of winning it, and the public were desperate for a girl winner. Kat was funny; usually happy; upsets hit her hard, but she got over them quickly; she always had kind words for others – and she wasn’t the thinnest or the prettiest girl in the house, which is very often an advantage. But something must have happened when I wasn’t looking because Kat only got 4.9% of the vote to win, and finished 6th. Poor girl. Finishing an undeserved 6th really hurts.

DARNELL, of course, was gaining on Kat. Okay, so he was a miserable git sometimes, but even then he could make you smile. Darnell is clever and lots of fun, and he comes out with the most wonderful one-liners. His main fault is insecurity, but that’s usually something so rare as to be applauded in a Big Brother housemate. He’s not afraid to stand up for what he believes is right, and willingly took on most of the house, including Dale, one of his best friends, in order to support Mohamed. He was also the first housemate who saw Luke’s game of going round to each housemate and telling them something different. It’s such a shame Rex was to busy thinking about his restaurants to listen. Darnell talked so much sense.

And any guy who loves horses gets my vote (although not literally because I didn’t vote: bring back the text votes!). The horse he brought out of the house with him is gorgeous. Best-looking guy in the show. I can imagine my little horse Angel looking just like Darnell’s horse when he grows up. (Why Darnell was wearing a skirt was a bit of a mystery, but that was just one more example of the quirkiness in Darnell that I think I’ve always appreciated.)

Given that I was convinced unpopular Mikey had no chance at winning, my support was with Darnell, and I’d have been shocked to see him finishing below 2nd. But he was 5th.

REX won fans early in the series for having the courage to stand up to Alexandra, and his intelligence and humour were also very much appreciated. However, the first came into question when claimed that a year had 366 days (this year does, Rex, yes - but not every year), and, as time went on, Rex seemed not to much witty as childishly winding people up. The fact that Rex would not shut up about all the restaurants he owned (at times, it seemed like Rex had more restaurants than Mario had fans) didn’t help. Especially when the website for one of his restaurants was discovered to have several spelling errors.

Until Kat’s early exit (after which ANYTHING was possible), I didn’t really think Rex could win it, but it’s not unknown for a series villain to find themselves in the top three. Villains are entertaining. Jason (BB5) finished second; Makosi - who, for many fans, was BB6 - managed third, and Richard (BB7) was really quite unlucky to finish fourth considering how much he brought to the series. (If Glyn had been able to cook, Richard’s finishing place could have been higher still.) Rex was in the house with Rachel and Sara, who were boring, and Mikey, whom I thought was disliked. So anything below 3rd would have shocked me. As Rex finished 4th, I was shocked.

I might not really have put SARA fourth if you’d asked me to rate the final six in a likely finishing order, but then she did survive eviction against Lisa – whom I’d initially expected to be fighting it out with Kat, Darnell and Rex for a position in the top three. I never had anything against Sara, and I felt she could be fun on occasion. But I barely saw anything of her. The only thing I read about her doing was teasing Darnell – and given that I quite wanted Darnell to win (I was so sure my other favourite, Mikey, had no chance), this behaviour from Sara didn’t exactly thrill me.

But Sara’s eviction interview showed I had been missing a great housemate. It’s difficult to know quite how to describe her: it wasn’t long before Davina’s exclamation that she’s ‘just so Sara’ made perfect sense. The things Sara says are very sweet and a bit ditzy, but at the same time, she seems like a very strong and intelligent person. There are probably a lot more contradictions in Sara than in the housemates who have been described as fake – like Rachel and Jennifer. But there is something very real about Sara. No-one could make her up. And she’s a housemate I really regret not getting to know this series.

Finishing third is an amazing achievement for any latecomer. Yes. Eugene came second in BB6 and Brian won BB9, but Sara probably had more competition. In Eugene’s year, the only really strong character was villain Makosi. He lost to good-looking (???) Anthony, but only just. Brian was up against the twins (who could barely speak); Liam, Ziggy and Carole (who were far from popular) and Jonty (who was absolutely adorable, but probably a bit too old and odd - not to mention he'd only just arrived – to be a possible winner). Sara was up against Kat, Darnell and Rex. The fact it was Mikey and Rachel who finished ahead of her is just one of the mysteries of Big Brother.

So Sara was chosen to finish in 3rd place, and now, I can’t help but feel it was the very least she deserved.

It was an amazing achievement for MIKEY too. Not just that he was able to live and cope in the Big Brother house, although that really is incredible. But, when Mikey went into the Big Brother house, his disability put him at a huge disadvantage. Having seen Touretter Pete win Big Brother 7 by doing pretty much nothing but swearing at every opportunity and breaking at least five housemates’ hearts, we were on our guard. Mikey looked like a hand-picked winner, and we weren’t having any of it. Mikey had to earn his place in the house, and his random spurts of slightly bizarre humour, not to mention his unusual washing practices, didn’t appeal to the public at all. (Well, I liked Mikey from the start, but I was pretty much alone.)

But suddenly something clicked. It must have been quite late on, as I had no idea of Mikey’s popularity when I switched on the TV for the Final. It was no surprise that he was there: as predicted, he’d received few nominations, and never faced the public vote. But whereas the public believed Mikey’s fame-seeking housemates would not dare nominate a blind man, it seems more as though they didn’t nominate him because they liked him. As Rebecca told her surprised and dubious audience during her interview, ‘Mikey is hilarious’. And the public must have finally realised that because Mikey came second with 49% of the vote. He got the best reception of the evening too. And even though I feel as though he was certainly the stronger of the final two, I’m probably more thrilled for him than disappointed.

And it was RACHEL – fake, boring Rachel – who walked out to cheers and fireworks as the winner of Big Brother 9. The heavy boos that had greeted her whilst she was in the house had faded. Either that section of the audience had left in disgust after Mikey’s interview, or they’d decided to follow Mikey’s lead, and congratulate her.

I still don’t understand why she won. She probably isn’t a total fake, as I don’t think even an actress could have kept up an act for thirteen weeks. If she does seem fake at times, I think this is probably how she is naturally in the real world. Yes, she sat on the fence in the house, then had a little bitch in the Diary Room, but that’s probably more tact than fakeness. Rachel said that if she had a problem with someone, she would tell them, but there are some problems there’s no need to mention. Sometimes the problem is more about you than about them, and then what you need is to have a little rant about them – a very polite little rant if you’re Rachel – and then it’s all over. Prize fund or no prize fund.

I’m thrilled we have another female winner at last. Much as I like Sara, I am glad that an original housemate won it. No disrespect to Brian, who was lovely (despite his monumental inanity), but his win did seem to demonstrate that there had been something wrong with the selection of original housemates. (As I could have told you on the first night.)

It’s great that someone really kind and well-spoken has won Big Brother. Last year, the interviews got less and less articulate as the Final progressed. Rachel certainly gave one of the most the most comprehensible interview of anyone. Mikey gave a brilliant and very amusing interview, but Darnell seemed shy; Rex was enjoying keeping people guessing, and Sara has a wonderful habit of rambling on in great, complicated and confusing detail when all she needs is to say yes or no. Rachel does need to find out how many days there are in a year before she’s let loose in a classroom, but she probably can’t start teaching until the next academic year, so she can count the days as she goes. From October, she won’t have much else to do.

Rachel’s ability to keep calm under pressure will certainly be an advantage whatever she ends up doing. She might even be entertaining on I’m a Celebrity. “Would you like to eat a kangaroo testicle? How about you, babe? I really don’t mind, I’m happy to do it, but if someone else really wants to do it, I’m cool with that. Oh gosh, what fun. They look a bit like chickpeas, don’t they?” But I do find her a bit patronising, and it’s a long time since she’s actually entertained me. It’s a long time since it was worth sitting through a whole episode of Big Brother just for a glimpse of Rachel’s peachy bum.

So, should Mikey have won? A lot of people think so. The bookmakers expected it, although they also thought Samanda would win, and the margin was 20% in the end. I would have liked a female to win this year, but I much preferred Mikey to Rachel. Mikey was entertaining. He was basically a nice guy, but, like most people, he sometimes upset people by accident. He did and said things you didn’t expect. He was never afraid to fight his corner. And the fact he managed second place – very nearly first place – shows you just how well he’s done. Not because he’s blind: because he was hated, and he managed to turn it around, and he left the house to wild cheers.

Much of the dislike for Mikey was probably really aimed at the Big Brother producers, who’d put in yet another disabled person who seemed born to win. The fact it takes everyone a while to understand Mikey’s humour, housemates included, was another disadvantage. I do respect the people who refused to allow Endemol to manipulate them into giving a blind man the prize, although I do wonder if Mikey would have done better if so many people weren’t against the idea of letting the perceived Chosen One win. (They disliked Luke for being a Chosen One as well, although this was compounded by the fact Luke had more faces than Aisleyne*.) Maybe some of the votes for Mikey were sympathy votes, but I think the fact that he had so little sympathy to begin with shows that he won most of the votes for being Mikey - an amusing and entertaining housemate, who probably should have won.

But well done to Rachel. 51% of the public have spoken, and we have another female winner at last.



*I do love Aisleyne, but ‘more faces than Big Ben’ has been done to death, and Big Ben doesn’t even have faces because it’s a bell.

Big Brother 9: The Build-Up to the Final

I know I haven’t written for ages, but I hadn’t watched Big Brother for ages either, so I didn’t know what I could write really. While Big Brother 9 was a much better series than Big Brother 8 in that there were some very interesting characters, I think the fact that I lost interest was mostly because the tasks that became monotonous. Although Rachel didn’t help.

So I stopped watching for a few weeks, and, when I tuned in for the Final, I was in for a shock. The housemates were all the same, but it was as though I’d entered an alternate universe. Mikey popular? Darnell unpopular? What the f*** happened????

Going back to where I left off, following Mario’s eviction, Belinda-Belinda-Belinda was the next housemate to go. I don’t really understand why everyone disliked her. She was loud and dramatic, but, unlike most loud and dramatic housemates, she often had something quite interesting to say, and you have to admire her perseverance in the cycling task. She might not have got far, but, as Lisa was quick to point out, it was a great achievement for someone who’d never cycled. Belinda probably worked harder than anyone considering the state she got into.

I also think she’s quite a good singer. If only Belinda had been there at the start, the hymns at Mario and Stephanie’s fake wedding might have been almost bearable.

Rebecca was the next housemate to leave. It’s true I’ve spent quite a lot of time hating Rebecca, but she was one of the funniest housemates this year, and perhaps her clearest demonstration of this was in her eviction interview. Much as I love Mohamed, Rebecca’s declaration that living with him was like watching a slug crawling across the floor was hysterical. There’s definitely a touch of the Nikki Grahame about Rebecca, but Rebecca might have been at a disadvantage not being a petite blonde. Nikki was sweet no matter what she did. Rebecca was only sweet when she was quiet.

Maysoon then left via the back door, but I’d watched at least one complete episode without her before I’d even noticed she was gone. Her exit seemed sudden, not only to someone who wasn’t paying attention, but to her housemates as well. Maysoon was a perfectly nice girl, as far as I can see, but this highlights the danger of putting glamour models into the house. I know plenty of glamour models with great personalities, including Lucy James, whose non-appearance in Big Brother 8 was just one of that series’ many disappointments. She’d have won BB8 by miles. But, apart from their deceptively glamorous lifestyle, glamour models are no different from any other contestants. There are people who make good housemates, and people who don’t. Maysoon did not. But the fact that (at least in my opinion), Rachel, Nicole, Sara, Jennifer, Dale, Stuart and maybe even my lovely Mohamed did not always make brilliant TV shows that the problem is with the selection procedure.

The eviction of Luke against almost all his fellow housemates was far from a surprise, even though, within the space of a few days, he’d gone from second favourite to win to polling almost half the eviction votes against about 10 of his fellow housemates. Even Luke wasn’t that surprised to go, as he’d been miserable all week about losing Rebecca – not to mention his catchphrase, ‘No, Rebecca, no’, which couldn’t really be applied to anyone else - and the fact the wannabe politician had fallen for someone who thought Gordon Ramsay was the prime minister didn’t make him feel any better.

But Luke felt a lot more cheerful when he got out of the house, and was reunited with the girl of his dreams. The fact that Rebecca had claimed not to fancy him when she was evicted was soon forgotten as she realised the potential of the union. Soon, the pair were posing in provocative positions for numerous newspapers and magazines. (If you’re an evicted Big Brother housemate, there’s nothing in the world better than a magazine deal or two.)

The housemates were then given a surprise when Rex’s girlfriend Nicole entered the house as one of his special prizes. (Am I the only person in the universe who agrees with Rex that Nicole is gorgeous?) She didn’t make a particularly good impression on the house, crying because she didn’t have any makeup (imagine if she’d been in Week One of BB7! Well, at least Bonnie wouldn’t have been evicted) and arguing almost constantly with Rex.

Nicole was put in a horribly difficult position, apparently without much preparation or thought, and this was very unfair not only on her and Rex but also all the auditionees who nearly made it, many of whom would have been on standby. Putting Lisa and Mario into the house together was different: both had strong personalities, and made a good team, and they’d appeared on a number of TV shows together in the past. They were ready for the challenge of the house, and the audition process (despite having its flaws) had probably showed this. It was obvious from very early on that Nicole was not ready.

Dale and Stuart, meanwhile, had been begging to leave for weeks. Stuart, who was missing his daughter, meant it; Dale just wanted the kudos of having survived eviction – and, no, losing to Luke against a million other housemates just wasn’t enough.

So neither of them got what they wanted, as Stuart was kept in the house, and Dale was evicted to boos. As Dale did occasionally say something interesting (usually related to the male genitalia), whereas Stuart only occasionally said something on any subject, it was a disappointing move from the public yet again. To make matters worse, Dale was nauseatingly reunited with Jennifer. If I’d believed for a moment that Jennifer might actually care about anyone besides herself and her Picasso masterpiece pizza painting, I might not have minded. But as it was, I’d hoped never see that girl again. And there she was, leading Dale astray. Like a little lost sheep and a… dog.

Dale, to put it in your language, the girl’s a cock tease. Stay away. (Note: Dale has obeyed my commands and is now with Chantelle.)

Stuart’s eviction wish was granted the following week – as he was up against Rachel, I ironically would have liked him to stay. Stuart is sweet when he cries over his daughter (his eyeliner must be very waterproof), but what else has he done besides that? He’s so wet, I’m surprised he didn’t catch pneumonia. (Why didn’t I fancy him?)

But at least he’s never patronised anyone. Well, to be fair, Rachel has probably never patronised anyone either. She’s too nice to do something like that. But sometimes it sounds as though she is. I especially don’t like the way she speaks to Mikey – although, he seems happy with it, it has to be said. But the only real shock was that Nicole didn’t face the public vote that week.

But poor Nicole was next to go. ‘Rex’s girlfriend’ – a rather unkind nickname that nevertheless accurately represented her position in the house - was so woefully inadequate as a housemate, I don’t see how anyone could hate her. If she’d auditioned, she’d have been lucky to get through the first round. She was just so pathetic, voting her out seemed like an act of kindness, and the boos were just cruel, like kicking a puppy. (I would have said kicking a horse to be more original, but that’s just too cruel.) Nicole was not prepared to go into the house, and the fact that her boyfriend Rex was there wasn’t a good enough reason for letting her go in. But I’ll always love Nicole for beating Sezer’s record. She was at least a bad housemate. Even the people who dislike Sezer mostly seem to feel he was an effective villain.

Lisa and Sara faced eviction in the week before the Final. It was a week of mixed fortunes for Lisa. Accepting Mario’s proposal might have made her and Mario happy, but the viewers were probably left questioning her taste. Lisa’s sanity has been an issue for quite a while – one of the few episodes I saw showed Lisa attempting to smash her way out of the house, Leo Sayer-style (if there was an issue with Lisa’s underpants, I fortunately remain in ignorance of it). I loved Lisa’s escape (an overreaction to the presence of Nicole, despite the fact that Lisa had just seen her at her best), but it was a little bit odd. Not that I’m saying I wouldn’t do it. But the public nomination process that resulted in Lisa’s and Sara’s nomination probably wasn’t a lot of fun either. Lisa and Sara were then given the chance to win £50,000, but the two opted to share the money. It was a sweet moment, but Lisa did spoil it somewhat by pointing out what a generous person she is.

However, winning money before the Final can put you at a bit of a disadvantage as people tend not to want you to win the prize money as well. Previous winners Eugene (BB6) and Liam (BB8) had to settle for second and third place respectively, and the survivor out of Lisa and Sara would probably be lucky to get that far even without the money.

And Lisa was the unlucky one, losing to latecomer Sara in a close vote. But if she’d been given the choice between a place in the Final and a proposal from Mario, I think she’d have chosen the proposal.

It was probably only Mohamed’s position as Head of House that prevented him from leaving in the final eviction of the series, and it was no surprise that he was one of two housemates who left halfway through the final week. It’s a shame, as he’s a lovely guy. But he was very quiet, and never really at the centre of things, and I think he knew that.

So Mohamed unsurprisingly left the house in 7th place – although he certainly deserved a higher percentage of votes – and, as another housemate followed him, things went a little bit crazy.

Day 38

I haven’t written one of these for ages. I actually haven’t been watching that often. It’s not that it’s boring, exactly. It’s just I’ve entered a new online house (I’m hated, apparently) and I’m finding that quite time-consuming. We’ve had two evictions, one ejection, one walker, four people threatening to walk, one of whom has managed to upset every person in the house (she’s going to win, then).

Jennifer was evicted last week with the ridiculously low percentage of 90%. Apparently, her voting lines closed a couple of hours early. The latest house bitch (although Rebecca was, by then, in a strong position to take over) did at least consider that her exit was a possibility. But did it occur to Jennifer that she might actually be hated? Oh no. Anyone who voted for Jennifer would only do so because they were jealous of her. For someone who looks in the mirror so often, it’s amazing Jennifer doesn’t see herself better. (No disrespect intended to Mikey and Darnell.)

Dale was devastated to lose Jennifer, and was consequently unable to muster any enthusiasm for the three new housemates – the young and beautiful Sara and Maysoon (a real model, not a pretend one like Jennifer) and my favourite, the delightfully mad theatre director, Belinda-Belinda-Belinda. Dale’s rival Stuart, as you’d expect, was rather more robust about Jennifer’s departure, and thereby saved Dale from being the least interesting person in the house. Sara has settled well into Big Brother life, spending most of her time with her head in the lap of one of the guys. Belinda has also been moving from one housemate to another, imparting misinformation about what various housemates have said. Maysoon doesn’t appear to have done anything at all except have a name that sounds a bit like a type of climate.

Mario was shocked to be evicted on Friday night, but he did make some attempt to hide it. Lisa was there to offer wholehearted support to her partner: rather than believing for a moment that the world might actually dislike her man, she instead suggested that he had to go because ‘the universe is calling them.’ Encouragingly, all her housemates, unlike Brian and Amanda last year, appeared to know what the universe was. But Lisa was not totally wrong. While the universe might not have been calling Mario, it is true to say that 77% of the universe was calling Mario’s eviction number. (I’ll miss you, Mario.)

The percentage might seem small – but it wasn’t so long ago that Mario’s eviction rival Rebecca was in with a chance of being evicted even against Jennifer. Luckily for us, she did not face eviction that week: the increasingly arrogant Rex did instead (yes, we know you're a chef, darling). Like many before him, he committed the cardinal sin of saying those fatal words “I don’t think I’m going.” But at least Rex had the sense to keep quiet about it until Friday.

But, getting back to Rebecca, the young lady who claims to be representing Coventry (Coventry has unanimously disowned her), was thrilled to survive eviction. She expressed her joy so quietly, I almost believed she wasn’t trying to grab airtime. Luke’s jaw dropped so far, he probably needed a spade to dig it out of the ground. However, once Rebecca had got the traditional “Oh my God!”s out of the way, she made a fatal mistake. “I’m not hated! I’m not hated!” she cried to anyone who would listen, and everyone who wouldn’t listen, for that matter.

No, Rebecca. You are hated. It’s just the public hates Mario even more than you.

I don’t think I hate her, though. The poor girl. She probably thinks her ‘showmance’ with Luke is the reason she’s staying. The truth is, if it wasn’t so pathetic, it would probably border on stalking. As usual, it is very difficult to know Luke’s feelings on anything. His opinions change every five minutes. He tells Rebecca he doesn’t fancy her, then says in the Diary Room that he loves her and he can’t live without her. No wonder Rachel can’t express an opinion of her own: Luke has probably sucked her opinions out of what passes for her brain and is expressing them all himself. He’s probably got Lisa’s opinions in there too. Ladbroke’s are probably taking bets on what will explode first: Luke’s brain from the pressure of his conflicting opinions, or his steadily-inflating sense of self-importance.

My love for Rachel has already turned to slightly irritated indifference. I’m sure she and Kat really are as nice as they seem, and I’m glad there are such nice people in the world. But that doesn’t mean I want to watch them on TV. Not that Kat’s last interesting act was great to watch. She cried almost as much over an argument that didn’t concern her as Mohamed did when he was spat at. In some ways, watching Kat was a lot more disturbing than watching Mohamed because at least Mohamed had a good reason to cry like that.

Speaking of Mohamed, he is living proof that nice, quiet people can make great housemates. Mohamed is absolutely adorable, and his facial expression following Mario’s eviction was certainly interesting. It seemed as though he’d brushed the incidents of Fight Night under the carpet, but perhaps it’s not that surprising that Mohamed wouldn’t enjoy watching Mario (who took such good care of him after the spitting incident) being evicted over Rebecca (who screamed in his face, then accused him of squaring up to her). But don’t worry, Momo. Jennifer’s gone, and Dale and Stuart can barely breathe without her help. I’m sure it’ll be okay.

Mikey has become even less popular with the public after allegedly using what is now known as the ‘Emily word’. I haven’t seen the incident, but, as far as I can make out from the outraged incoherence, he was only reciting the rhyme ‘eeny meeny miny mo’. Emily didn’t mean anything by the word – she just wanted to show Charley how cool she was – but she did direct the word at another housemate. I think Mikey was only referring to some of his belongings. If Mikey’s belongings make a complaint, he should indeed be removed. But as it is – it’s only a nursery rhyme.

Darnell, meanwhile, having spent a bit of time as one of the favourites to win, is now dropping in the public’s estimation. Within the house, he has been branded one of the biggest gameplayers by Luke (the pot calling the kettle ‘Emily’). Darnell is an intelligent guy who seems to be interested in people. So it follows that he’d find something like Big Brother, with its mix of personalities, interesting too. But it’s dangerous to be intelligent in the Big Brother house. Clever housemates usually only do well if it’s well hidden. If you’re intelligent, your only hope is to cook an egg for the very first time. Otherwise, you don’t have a chance.

Day 24: Fight Night

A juvenile prank by Rex turned into something a lot more serious when Dennis spat in Mohamed’s face. Dennis was removed from the house, and several more housemates were warned. Few housemates had no part to play in the drama, but whilst some were criticised for not attempting to defuse the situation, others were condemned for getting involved. It was a frightening and horrific night for housemates, and not that much better for the viewers. Even Big Brother was clearly rattled by events. Having called Dennis into the Diary Room, he appeared on the point of sending Darnell and Mohamed to the same location, but, after a long pause, sent them to the other bedroom instead.

It all began when Rex decided to smudge Jennifer’s picture of Stuart. It was an incredibly stupid and immature thing to do, but surely nothing in comparison with what happened later. Jennifer dramatically declared herself upset, but Rex admitted it was a silly thing to do, and the pair sorted things out. However, after Jennifer’s knights in shining armour, Dale and Stuart got to hear about it, Jennifer turned on the tears again (not that I saw any actual tears) and her boyfriends tried to show their macho sides – ordering Rex into the bedroom one minute, and telling him to piss off the next.

Mohamed became involved after hearing something smashing: Dale was taking his aggression out on the crockery again, and Mohamed not unnaturally wondered what was going on. He went into the bedroom and saw Jennifer, Dale, Stuart, Dennis, Rebecca and Sylvia ganging up on Rex. Mohamed spoke up quietly and politely in support of his friend, only to have Rebecca turn on him, which was probably bad enough for Mohamed, but he was then accused of turning on Rebecca. This was when Dennis spat in his face.

When Darnell discovered one housemate had spat in another’s face, he was furious. He was shocked to discover Dennis’ friends apparently considered this acceptable behaviour. He attempted to make his point calmly, but he had to shout in order to be heard over the baying mob. He was so disgusted and upset anyway, he ended up losing his temper. Dale, despite being one of those who had made him angry, was the one who calmed him down. Dennis had been called to the Diary Room, but he stood outside the door, laughing and taunted Mohamed, who was crying and hyperventilating as Mario tried to help him into the other bedroom. Dennis’ friends, meanwhile, agreed that Darnell and Mohamed ought to be ejected for aggressive behaviour.

It is easy to blame Rex for what happened, as he certainly started it by damaging Jennifer’s painting. It was very stupid and unkind, and extremely immature. But his was far from the most violent and destructive act of the evening. It’s unlikely it was Rex’s act alone that caused the problem. The fact that the problem escalated so much and so quickly suggests that the fight was more about an ongoing divide between Rex and Jennifer. Smudgegate happened to be the catalyst, but it could easily have been something else.

There was no need for Jennifer to make quite as much fuss as she did. It wasn’t unreasonable for her to be upset, but her behaviour appeared manipulative because she seemed to become much more upset as soon as her protectors, Dale and Stuart, started asking her what was wrong. If she was upset enough to cry for hours, which does seem a bit excessive, it’s a bit surprising she was able to talk about the incident in such detail.

I can understand why Dale and Stuart wanted to protect Jennifer. It’s not clear whether they actually like her or whether they just want to get into her knickers, but it was probably natural for them to feel unhappy that their friend was crying over someone else’s behaviour. However, they went too far. Dale not only bullied Rex (although it didn’t look like it, as Rex remained calm whereas Dale looked pathetic), he also threatened Mohamed with violence – not for the first time. Damaging people is definitely worse than damaging their property. (Besides, Dale has damaged property too by breaking cups. There is no reason why people shouldn’t drink out of the cup Mikey uses to wash himself – although I can understand why people would rather not do this – but they definitely can’t drink out of cups broken by Dale.) Dale did do the right thing in calming Darnell down, but it was partly his fault Darnell got so upset.

It really is unfortunate that Darnell got so angry about the spitting incident – although several viewers (not me) have said they would have punched someone if they were in Darnell’s position, and it’s probably going to feel worse for Darnell, inside the house, than everyone else outside it. Darnell’s disgust and anger was reasonable, but he did look close to hurting someone, and, even though he was acting in Mohamed’s defence, Big Brother would have had no alternative but to eject him if he had hurt someone. (It’s not as though Darnell was physically defending Mohamed. That would have been different.) But major respect to Darnell for speaking up like that – he had the best of intentions.

It is annoying to have to be grateful to Dale, but I am very glad he was able and willing to restrain Darnell. Jennifer seemed to be hoping Darnell would be thrown out, so it was quite brave of her wussy little slave Dale to protect Darnell. He wasn’t even telling him to leave Jennifer alone – he was just telling him to calm down, which suggests he was actually worried about Darnell. But that was only one good moment for Dale. He had many bad moments too. The fact that Dale allegedly made a further attack on Mohamed yesterday seems to suggest it wasn’t a belated pang of conscience that made Dale intervene.

Rebecca was very drunk, but the way she spoke to Mohamed was nasty and vicious. She’s no longer my favourite person in the house. I think part of her problem is that she’s insecure, and wants to be in the cool group, and the drink didn’t help, but the fact that she could behave like that under any circumstances when Mohamed wasn’t even talking to her is disgusting.

Mohamed has been criticised for getting involved with the argument. I don’t think Dennis would have dared spit at anyone else – but that’s not Mohamed’s fault. I wish Mohamed had stayed out of things, and I’m sure he wishes the same – it was horrible watching him get so upset. But I can’t really blame him. He heard something smashing, and was curious to know what it was. That’s natural – if something smashed in your house, you’d want to know what was happening. Once he realised there was a big argument going on, he could hardly walk away, particularly as it was his friend Rex getting attacked. So he tried to calm things down. He didn’t do a very good job of it, but who could? Perhaps the best person for calming down such a situation would be someone neutral – but no-one’s neutral in that house.

There was so much going on, it was difficult to know what some of the other housemates were doing. I think Kat and Mikey were upset by all the shouting, but I can’t blame them for being too scared to get involved. It was a horrible situation anyway, and it might have been particularly difficult for Mikey, who couldn’t see what was happening, and Kat, whose English might not have been good enough for her to understand everything that was said. Rachel made some attempt to calm things down, but she couldn’t do much on her own. I didn’t notice Luke. He seems to save most of his confrontational moments for the Diary Room. Sylvia made surprisingly little impression too – she comforted Jennifer, but, for once, didn’t seem to get that involved with the bitching. I think Lisa was doing some comforting too, but I'm not sure.

Mario was wonderful. He can be annoying, and his opinion of himself does seem a little bit high, but he is calm in a crisis, and so good at looking after people. Mohamed’s panic attack was quite frightening to watch, and I have seen (and had) a lot of panic attacks. Mohamed clearly needed someone to look after him. Rex and Darnell weren’t getting through to him (Darnell was quite angry and upset himself, and Rex, who is naturally calm and unemotional, has trouble dealing with the emotions of others). Mario hugged Mohamed and spoke to him gently, and was both calm and sympathetic – and it clearly helped. Maybe he could have done more to control the other housemates, but he knew Mohamed needed him more than anyone else.

Some people have commented that Rachel, Dale and Dennis are training to be teachers, and feel they would be fairly useless at dealing with a similar problem in a school. They do have a point. But situations in the Big Brother house are probably, at least some of the time, a lot more emotional than a similar situation in real life. The housemates are constantly under stress. Problems seem magnified because their housemates are with them all the time. Teachers can go home at the end of the day.

Also, in effect, the housemates are not in a position of responsibility inside the house. Teachers are responsible for the children in the school, but Rachel, Dale and Dennis are here only responsible for their own behaviour, so they are approaching problems with a different mentality. Teachers are (or should be) working together in a team. Rachel lacks authority inside the house, but she might be stronger with a team to back her up. Dale, in effect, is following Jennifer’s lead, and he might follow a head teacher’s lead with the same conscientiousness – he is very much a follower – so he might be okay if he was set a good example. But the cup-smashing is a problem.

Dennis probably is quite a good dance teacher, as he did well helping the others in the treadmill dance task. But he spat in someone’s face. Mohamed wasn’t even being aggressive towards him – although it wouldn’t have been acceptable if he’d spat at someone who was being aggressive. I don’t think the spitting was a calculated move – more one done in the heat of the moment. But the fact that Dennis spat in the face of arguably the least aggressive person and no-one else does suggest that he did have some awareness and control. At the very least, he had got himself into a mindset where there were boundaries in how he could behave towards certain housemates, but much looser limits on what he could do to Mohamed.

Dennis will be missed as a housemate because his stirring is interesting to watch. But watching people spitting in other housemates’ faces is horrible. It is not fair on the other housemates to expect them to live with someone who has proved themselves capable of assault (spitting is legally classified as such) under any circumstances, but particularly so in an environment with the potential to become that inflamed; an environment from which they are not in a position to escape (even if Mohamed had tried to walk to get away from Dennis, he’d probably have had to wait the usual 24 hours). Dennis had to be removed from the house.

In other news. Sylvia was evicted with 90% of the vote. But that doesn’t seem to matter much. The important thing is that Mohamed survived.

Day 22

How could anyone have a problem with Mohamed?

Okay, he might eat a bit more than the other housemates, but that’s nothing in comparison with the behaviour indulged in by some of the others. To me, he seems like a nice, kind, polite member of the household, and one of the very few whom I’d actually like to live with, yet he received more nominations than bossy Rex, dull Dale, two-faced Luke, two-timing Jennifer, controlling Mario, trouble-stirring Dennis – more nominations than anyone else in the house apart from new hate figure Sylvia.

Dale had the nerve to nominate Mohamed for not contributing. This is so ridiculous it’s actually laughable, and were it not for possible racist connotations in the phrase, I would now be talking about pots and kettles. Luke nominated Mohamed on the grounds of greediness, claiming that he does not know what the word ‘equal rations’ means. Last time I checked, Luke, that was two words.

It is horrible when a housemate, particularly a lovely one like Mohamed (although it wouldn’t really be any more acceptable if it had happened to Alexandra) is not only nominated but also ostracised by his fellow housemates. When Rex and Mohamed were sent to jail, they were pretty much ignored. This is in rather painful contrast to the crowds that visited Dennis and Jennifer when they were in the same predicament.

Some have suggested that Mohamed is disliked by the others because he is quiet, non-argumentative, and therefore an easy victim. But this says less about Mohamed than about his fellow housemates. They gave plenty of sympathy to Rebecca and Rachel when they were attacked by Alexandra, but none to Mohamed.

Mohamed is far from an ungenerous housemate. While he and Rex were languishing in jail, the other housemates were given a chance to use their last ‘token’ to free them, rather than saving it for hot water tomorrow. For almost the first time in the series, Mohamed raised his voice, leaning out through the prison bars to shout to the others to save the token. This most of the housemates were only too happy to do. With the exception of Kat (a close friend of both prisoners) and Rachel (who would probably have campaigned for the release of Jade and Charley, never mind Mohamed and Rex), they felt hot water was more important. As wannabe politician Luke insisted on pointing out several times, it was a majority decision. And possibly a fair one – after all, Mohamed and Rex will benefit from the hot water too - but the incident yet again put Mohamed into a considerably better light than most of his housemates.

The fact that the housemates’ dislike also seems to be extended to Rex should probably be addressed as well. It would probably be unfair for me to say Rex deserves this treatment just because I don’t like Rex at the moment. But Rex seems able to tolerate this kind of treatment, and he’s more than able to speak up for himself when necessary. Mohamed can’t do that. The Highlights showed Rex comforting Mohamed as he cried in jail, but they did not show Rex berating Mohamed immediately prior to that.

Rex now seems to be the most controlling housemate in the house – so where does that leave Mario? Well, I can tell you where Mario was last night. In my DREAMS. Can you imagine anything more horrible? The fact he was so nice in my dreams is all Rachel’s fault. He was really kind to Rachel when she sprained her wrist, and she really seemed to appreciate his support when he helped her into the Diary Room. I have to say, though, I made considerably less fuss than Rachel when I broke my collarbone, and I also hurt my knee and had (ewww) blood pouring out of my hands. But (I can’t believe I’m saying this) it would have been nice if Mario had been there to look after me. I do actually think he’s, well, lovely.

Mario was also right to say that only the fittest housemates should attempt the treadmill dance task (poor Rebecca, though), although I’m not at all sure Big Brother should have asked the housemates to do it in the first place. I’ve always thought tasks that compromise housemates’ physical health should be banned – especially as Big Brother is already messing with their mental health to severe degrees. Dancing on treadmills is one of the most stupid things I’ve ever heard of, second only to taking one’s jumper off whilst on a treadmill. (No, that wasn’t me. I’ve never even seen a treadmill in real life.)

Luke went down in certain viewers’ expectations when Darnell exposed his gameplan for all to see. We all know that Luke has a little habit of saying one thing to one housemate and something quite different to another – generally the thing they most want to hear. But Luke looks and sounds so sweet and innocent, and his bitchier comments are usually forgiven on the grounds that they are also very funny. So he has always got away with this.

Until now. Darnell worked out exactly what Luke was doing, and challenged him. Unfortunately for Darnell, he’s not a particularly popular housemate, and Rex didn’t even seem to be listening to what Darnell was telling him. So Darnell’s calm, deadly and accurate unmasking of Luke went unnoticed by all but the viewers - as did Luke’s stammering and trembling lip and complete failure to refute anything.

But the award for Most Pathetic Housemate of BB9 – if not in the whole history of the show – goes to Dale. A few days ago, he decided to show his manliness by having a little bitch about someone. Dennis and Jennifer were his audience; Rex was his target. Dale was so caught up in his eagerness to use yet another phallic metaphor, he completely failed to notice that Rex was sunbathing at his feet. (Jennifer’s frantic sign-language attempt to warn Dale is probably the most exciting thing she’s ever done.) Rex, never one to let a jibe go by, stood up and challenged Dale. Dale was at once reduced to a gibbering wreck (if ‘reduced’ is the right word).

To quote Dale himself, he did indeed ‘drop a bollock’, and Dale’s attempts to ‘wave his dick in Rex’s face’ came to nothing. He certainly cocked up there. What willy say next?

The following day, when he was feeling more courageous, Dale took Rex into the bedroom and explained exactly what ‘talking with your dick out’ means. In more gentile language, it means ‘not practising what one preaches’. Rex was naturally interested to know how Dale had come to this conclusion about him. Dale mumbled that he didn’t think that at all: “I didn’t like know what I was like on about like.”

It’s encouraging to see Dale showing such strong self-awareness. Dale, you never like know what you’re like on about like!

A lot of Dale’s critics think he is gay, and he did much to fuel their speculation when he reached out to grab at Rex’s crotch area. “Now you really are talking with your dick out,” he said. Rex, it seemed, had neglected to do up his fly – but surely there was no need to point this out quite so graphically.

Dale’s other critics, however, feel his love for Jennifer shows homosexuality is quite out of the question. He certainly appeared unhappy when Jennifer started flirting with Stuart, although perhaps it was Stuart he wanted – the same Stuart who has already broken Sylvia’s heart, thus proving she does actually have one.

Dale’s girlfriend and Jennifer’s husband are rumoured to be heartbroken too (although Dale and Jennifer claim to be ‘single’ and ‘a single mother’ respectively). The abandoned partners must feel like they’d been slapped with a wet dick, as Dale would probably say. There’s a word for people like you and Jennifer, Dale, and it’s a word you probably like. It’s ‘wanker’.

Day 20

So, Stephanie has been evicted, and Alexandra has been ejected. As usual, we’re two weeks in, and we’ve lost two girls. This is actually an improvement: this time last year, we had lost Emily (ejected), Lesley (walked) and Shabnam (evicted). The year before, we had not only lost two girls in the first two weeks – Dawn (ejected whilst in the process of walking) and Bonnie (evicted) – but also three boys: Shahbaz (walked), George (walked) and Sezer (evicted). Not to mention Celebrity Big Brother 5’s trio of walkers: Donny (who climbed over the wall), Leo (who smashed his way through the wall), and Ken (who left via the conventional route, but might have given us equally memorable exit if he’d been twenty years younger).

You’d almost think people weren’t having fun in the Big Brother house.

Big Brother 9 might not be the most exciting house ever, but at least the housemates seem happy to stay put for the moment.

The only thing I don’t understand is why, having lost two girls, Big Brother decided to put Stuart into the house. The only interesting things that have happened as a result of his entry are Jennifer’s huge smile (I didn’t know she could do that) the moment she laid eyes on him, and Dennis’ subsequent eagerness to show him the bedroom.

The fact Sylvia seems to have fallen in love with Stuart at first sight does make me feel a little bit more sympathetic towards the lying bitch, although I can’t say I’m impressed by her taste. But most of my sympathies lie with Sylvia’s boyfriend, who can’t be enjoying watching Sylvia cry over another man – although the fact she has shown herself to be a lying, scheming bitch might well have put him off her some time ago.

Mohamed and Sylvia face the public vote this week. I have no idea what anyone could have against Mohamed, who is a nice, kind and principled young man whom Alexandra would do very well to look up to. But the housemates obviously have a problem with him.

Dale finally did something interesting last Friday when he started to cry. Jennifer gave him a big hug, but her words were a lot less kind. For once, I think I’m on her side. Dale, I think it’s very sweet when guys cry because they’re scared of being evicted (if only Sezer hadn’t waited until his name had already been called). But Dale, like next time you want to like cry about like being up for eviction, why not like wait till you’re actually like up for like eviction like? Just a, like, thought.

I like Darnell. He’s not afraid of an argument, but he can make a point without sounding aggressive. He seems to be doing amazingly well considering he’s partially sighted – I never would have guessed he was. He and Mikey are both very brave, and if Mikey wants to use a cup to wash his naughty bits, that’s fine with me. He’s only using it for pouring, and he does keep with his belongings, rather than taking it back to the kitchen. I can understand why Jennifer wanted to clarify this point, but the patronising way she went about it – not to mention the very rude way she walked away from him when he was still talking to her – is far more disgusting than peeing into a cup, which Mikey wasn’t doing anyway.

Dennis is a bitch with a game plan, but he is an interesting character. The Highlights suggest he’s not very subtle about stirring things up, but he manages to get a reaction out of his housemates that doesn’t seem to have backfired on him as yet, if the nomination results are anything to go by – although perhaps the other game-playing housemates see him as too pathetically obvious to be a real threat.

Kat is still the favourite to win, but I don’t understand why. She does seem to be very nice and genuine. She’s usually very cheerful, and gets over any upsets quickly. But she doesn’t really have anything interesting to say. This doesn’t make her a bad person, and I do like her a lot. I just don’t think she’s entertaining enough to win a gameshow where personality plays such a big part. I can see that someone like her might win if it got to the end and there wasn’t anyone nice left – that’s pretty much what happened when Anthony won BB6, his only competition being a geek, a gameplayer, a bottle shagger and a deranged stalker (although I think the geek should have won). But he wasn’t the favourite in Week Three.

Lisa and Mario, having dominated the action in Week One, have now faded into the background a bit, and only appear occasionally to make a negative comment on one or more of their housemates. Mario’s claims of “I’m not going to be evicted” sent a lot of people to the phone to dial his number, but most voters felt there were more important things to worry about than wiping the smarmy smirk off his face – not that I’ve seen the smarmy smirk for a while. Mario got enough nominations to face eviction last week, and he’d probably have gone against anyone but Alexandra (who had 87% of the vote so far, and I bet she’d have ended up losing by least five percent more if she hadn’t been ejected). But this week, the fairly meek and mild Mohamed has beaten him to face the public vote against two-faced Sylvia.

Rachel continues to be very nice – so nice, her housemates are becoming suspicious. There are people in the world who are genuinely that nice, including people who have been on Big Brother, but Big Brother doesn’t usually trouble to show housemates in the best light possible. Even Luke (who is very nice himself, to people’s faces) and Rebecca (who is nice all the time, and I want to kiss her every time I see her) are starting to doubt her. Apart from crying when Alexandra had a go at Rebecca, Rachel doesn’t seem to have shown any weakness at all. She even says she doesn’t usually cry. A beauty queen probably needs a lot of strength and determination because it’s quite likely she’ll come in for a lot of criticism, both from those who disagree with beauty pageants and those who were competing against her. Rachel’s experiences as a child star in films might have helped her to develop this strength, and to grow up fast. Rachel has certainly shown she’s not as fragile as she appears, and her determination to win Miss Wales led her to enter the competition not once but twice. It has even been alleged that she cheated by wearing heels under a long dress in a part of the Miss Wales competition where heels were forbidden, although I’d have thought the judges would have noticed if their smallest contestant had suddenly grown an extra four inches. I think Rachel probably is a very nice girl, but she’s also a determined character with very high standards, and it would be a mistake to underestimate her.

Big Brother fans predicted that Sylvia would face eviction this week, alongside either Mario or Rex. After an increase in popularity last week, Rex is now being condemned by many viewers as bossy and cruel, and I’d say he has a definite tendency to put words in other housemates’ mouths.

So why is Mohamed up for eviction instead? Maybe he is a lot more irritating than he appears to be. Maybe some of Alexandra’s friends (if she had any) blame him for her departure. Maybe they see Mohamed as a likely winner, and are stupidly hoping he might lose to someone as active as Sylvia. Or maybe they used their intelligence, a rare trait in the Big Brother house, and voted for Mohamed to help ensure Sylvia leaves.

If this is the case, it’s surprising they’ve all chosen the same housemate to be Sylvia’s rival. But it’s probably a lot easier to influence nominations that you might think. Sezer and Imogen got banned for discussing nominations in BB7, but two of their friends made exactly the same nomination choices as they would have done. Vanessa in BB6 was also able to influence nominations in such a way that Big Brother didn’t notice, and, despite rumours that one housemate had been breaking the rules in this way, they weren’t sure who it was until Derek gave her away three weeks later. And not forgetting Nasty Nick, who smuggled pen and paper into the house back in BB1.

The housemates in BB9 don’t seem that bright, and Big Brother has presumably learned from their experiences with rule-breaking housemates. But I’m sure there are always going to be Big Brother housemates who are interested in cheating the system, either in order to help themselves win, or just for the fun of deceiving the all-seeing one.

LOVE: Mikey, Mohamed, Rebecca
LIKE: Darnell, Kat, Rachel, Luke
UNSURE: Dale, Lisa, Dennis
DISLIKE: Jennifer, Mario, Rex, Stuart, Sylvia

EVICTION PREDICTION: Sylvia to go with 70-80% of vote

Day 16: Alexandra

I don’t need to say what happened to Alexandra. I’m sure even the non-BB fans have heard about it.

But did Big Brother make the right decision?

Yes, they did.

Alexandra said something that could be interpreted as a threat to her fellow housemates. She said when she leaves the house, she’s going to see her housemates’ friends and family, and she’s going to be able to do the shit she can’t do when she’s in the house. She has gangster friends who have ‘instructions to follow out’.

I believe she didn’t mean it the way it sounded. When Big Brother asked her questions about what particular phrases meant, she explained them coherently and convincingly. Also, it’s not unlikely Big Brother edited what Alexandra said, leaving in the phrases they see as important. I’m glad Alexandra admitted to saying what she did, as I don’t know how far we can trust Big Brother to give a balanced view of anything. Different phrases will have different levels of importance depending on the context in which her words are taken, and the omission of a particular phrase might make the phrase following it seem very different. I’m not suggesting that Big Brother did this on purpose to make Alexandra worse than she is - to some extent, it is their job to exaggerate incidents in the house: in order to entertain the viewers, they have to make some scenes seem more dramatic than they actually were. But in matters of possible criminal behaviour, they have a responsibility to depict scenes as honestly as they can.

Some would say ‘pow pow pow’ is pretty conclusive. But conclusive of what? That Alexandra is a violent, nasty, aggressive thug? Or perhaps that she is a mentally damaged individual who never should have been placed in so stressful and challenging a situation as Big Brother.

A lot – if not most – of Alexandra’s problems are her own fault. Some are the fault of the people who have hurt her – and she must have been hurt a lot. She finds it very difficult to trust people, and any signs of apparent disrespect is very upsetting for her. Anyone with such characteristics is likely to be under particular strain in the Big Brother house because Big Brother is playing games, and a lot of her housemates are going to be playing games as well, and I think this puts anyone who is very suspicious of this all the time under a lot more stress than most housemates. There are past housemates who could also be described as obsessive about this sort of thing and who were hurt by others in the house, but most of them accepted it as a part of BB life rather than fighting it, and showed themselves to be much stronger people than anyone expected at first. Alexandra can’t help but fight anything that comes along.

Sometimes Alexandra’s tenacity can be very positive. She seems to have worked hard at the tasks, and she has made some good points about unfair behaviour from the other housemates. The problem was that she insisted on making her points over and over again, and that she took any response to what she was saying, including ‘you’re right, Alexandra’, as an attack. But Alexandra has spent so much of her life fighting, and she’s probably got so much into the habit of it, she can’t always tell when there is something to fight and when there isn’t, and life has taught her ‘if in doubt, fight’. This sort of mentality is going to make life incredibly stressful, and it’s not all that surprising she can’t always think before she speaks when she’s in that sort of state.

This could be a feasible reason why Alexandra behaves as she does, and I think it seems very sad that Alexandra is so insecure, she feels she has to defend herself from what she sees as attacks every moment of the day.

But Big Brother has more to consider than a particular housemate’s intentions. Big Brother didn’t articulate this point very well, but I believe the real problem in this situation was that Alexandra’s words could be perceived as being threatening. I am happy to accept she didn’t mean what she said in an aggressive way, but you also need to consider the effect your remarks are having on other people. Her housemates have been disturbed by Alexandra’s words on a number of occasions. So has Big Brother, and so have the public. It’s not fair for her housemates to have to cope with the severe anxiety caused by living with someone with Alexandra’s problems. If you go into the Big Brother house, you can expect to be frightened by Big Brother. You can expect conflict. But you shouldn’t be that seriously worried about comments made by another housemate.

Alexandra said herself that her remarks could be perceived as threatening if put into a particular context. She obviously has serious emotional problems that have limited her understanding to some extent – for example, she has trouble accepting that some of her housemates’ words to her were not meant as she interpreted them - but she understands what should have been Big Brother’s main point. Alexandra was, at first, willing to listen: she stayed quiet when requested (I don’t think ‘mmm’ noises count as an interruption), and quickly stopped herself when she did find herself breaking into what Big Brother was saying.

But I think Big Brother made a mistake in continually saying Alexandra ‘was’ aggressive rather than using the words ‘could be perceived as’. Maybe it wouldn’t have made a lot of difference, but I think sometimes it’s easier to appreciate what someone else is saying if they show some sign that they’ve listened to you, and that they respect your views. (Respect is particularly important to Alexandra.) Big Brother barely acknowledged Alexandra’s explanation. If this wasn’t an aggressive act exactly, it is certainly one that could put someone on the defensive, and make them less amenable to hearing your points of view.

I wonder if it might have helped for Big Brother to show Alexandra footage of the incidents in question. Alexandra doesn’t think she’s an aggressive person, but seeing footage of her behaviour might have help her to understand what Big Brother means. A lot of housemates including Jade and Charley have watched videos of their time in the house and realised that what seemed perfectly reasonable at the time in the heat of the movement was actually pretty awful. I’m not saying Alexandra should have been shown these videos instead of being ejected. She had to go. But it might have supplemented her earlier warnings, and helped her to see Big Brother’s and her housemates’ points of view.

If any BB fans hate Alexandra for her behaviour, I can’t really blame them. But one thing I do think is unacceptable is discussing what they would like to do to Alexandra if they saw her in the street, or what they would like her gangsters to do to her. I can understand why people feel angry with Alexandra, and I don’t think it’s an unnatural expression of anger to imagine what you would like to do in that moment of emotion.

However, I think writing about what you would like to happen to Alexandra on the Internet is taking it too far. In some ways, people who do this are worse than Alexandra. I haven’t seen anyone threatening to send gangsters after her yet (although hoping her gangster friends turn on her is not far off), but there does seem to be a big difference between Alexandra and the people who have written about her like that. Alexandra doesn’t seem to realise what she’s done wrong: at the moment, I don’t think she can see past the fact that she wasn’t trying to be aggressive and Big Brother’s inability to accept that. But the people writing aren’t in Alexandra’s position. They know her behaviour was wrong because they condemned it themselves.

I am sure that most, if not all, of the people who wrote things like this aren’t really planning on doing what they said. I’m sure most people wouldn’t march up to Alexandra in the street and pow pow pow. As they’re in a stronger position mentally and emotionally than Alexandra, they are probably less likely to carry out what they’re saying than Alexandra is. But even talking about it could be perceived as a threat. That’s actually pretty much what Alexandra was doing, except that her words seemed more ambiguous.

So, to reiterate. Alexandra should not have gone into the house. This is Big Brother’s fault for putting entertainment before of Alexandra’s and her housemates’ mental health. If Alexandra meant her remarks in the way she says she intended them, she was not being threatening. However, we must also consider the potential effect on anyone who hears these remarks, and her words could certainly ‘be perceived as’ threatening, and this is against the Big Brother rules. Housemates who break the Big Brother rules should be punished, and three serious offences should result in removal from the house. But that doesn’t mean we have any right to speak about her in the way she appeared to be speaking about others.

Alexandra had to go. That’s one thing Big Brother did get right.

I hope Alexandra and her daughter (together or separately, whichever is best for them) stay safe, and that Alexandra is able to work towards overcoming her problems.