After the shambolic but newsworthy event that was Celebrity Big Brother 5, we return to the series proper and a result of January’s shenanigans, this one will be scrutinised like no other.
Journalists have been sharpening their knives over this format since its inception but trickily, the show is a double-edged sword. It’s incredibly easy to get on your high horse about it but the truth is that it still sells warehouse loads of newspapers and magazines and generates loads of website hits and the nastier and more distasteful it gets, the more interest and subsequently revenue it generates.
So if you are expecting the eighth series proper to pass off without major incident and controversy, think again. With each passing year, we grow more indifferent to some of the outlandish behaviour and each year the show has to move up a notch. Social experiment be damned, the show has to be shocking to survive and after the Shilpa Shetty incident, the bar has been raised considerably.
Should the show become safe and tame, down will go the viewing figures. If the extra measures put in place strangle what makes it such a compelling watch, it really will die a death. If, on the other hand, producers are seen to be doing too much to spice things up, a significant minority of the audience may well head down the protest route again. Certainly many people felt far more empowered by their complaints to Ofcom than they ever did by texting to evict their least favourite.
It would seem that the show’s producers are walking a tightrope, damned if they do and damned if they don’t and right now I can only one way of staying on the wire.
I predict that we will get a highly controversial series and that to cover themselves, the show’s makers will have no alternative but to throw at least one and possibly more than contestant to the wolves. Many former Big Brother contestants have stated at one time or another that they have regretted the experience. This time more than ever, I’m convinced that someone is going to come out of there with their live in tatters and it is highly likely that that person will be one of the least able to cope with aftermath.
What to Read Next
By what the heck, it’s only a bit of fun isn’t it?
Isn’t it?
What’s another year
I’ll be around for the duration of the series with my views on what’s happening in the house and perhaps as pertinently given recent events, the impact they have in the inside world.
You can expect a new column at least once a week, with the odd extra one thrown in if something major occurs and I have a view on it. As ever, I reserve the right to completely contradict myself, this being more a stream of consciousness than an exercise in continuity.
Here we go again
Time to kick off the new series then in time honoured fashion with incredibly unjustified snap judgements about the initial crop of housemates.
Davina kept making the point that the house was designed to be annoying. Not half as irritating as her description of it I’d venture.
Sam & Amanda
Twins! I’m so glad I don’t do Live Updates these days because twins would be the ultimate nightmare on that task.
Pink, girly and intensely irritating before they even got through the doors, I can already see them rubbing other housemates up the wrong way.
Those squeaky screams had me reaching for the mute button. I honestly don’t think I’ll mind E4 cutting the sound when this pair gets over excited.
Oh dear.
Lesley
Is Lesley on the right show? Perhaps she wanted to be on The Apprentice but wondered into the wrong queue.
A bit of an oddball was my first impression but sure to be a huge influence on the house, whether she manages to integrate with the main body of the group or just carp from the outside.
Charley
Fired from all of her jobs. I wonder why and just how long it will be before we decide to fire her too.
It’s far too early to describe anyone as shallow and maybe we’ll discover hidden depths but she strikes me as one of those that wants to be loved and was clearly shaken by her less than enthusiastic treatment from the baying mob.
Tracey
You have to have the nutter don’t you, but how often have we seen these extroverts go all quiet after the initial adrenalin rush of being in the house has worn off?
A genuine eccentric or just trying too hard? It’s not fair to comment just yet but judging from the vocab on her entrance, I wouldn’t expect that we’d get to actually hear much of her on pre-watershed live streaming.
Chanelle
Great! A Victoria Beckham wannabe and a “fun young Yorkshire person”. Excited?
The typical contestant that’ll be probably be on the front cover of Nuts before the month is out and who would rate that as a wonderful achievement.
The look that Lesley shot her would have curdled milk. Fireworks ahead.
Shabnam
“So many eye shadows I can’t even count them”
Overly made up and innumerate then. I’ve got mates that have been looking for a woman like that all their lives.
I sort of liked her at first sight but I’ve no idea why yet and I doubt it will last.
Davina mentioned Amy Winehouse and I can see what she means.
Emily
“I’m not a rich bitch”
We’ll be the judges of that. Could we have a new Grace on our hands? I’d like to think so.
You’ve got to have a housemate you love to hate and I think I’ve found mine already.
Laura
A pint thief? Hanging’s too good for her.
She seems chirpy enough but that machine gun delivery when she talks could start to grate very quickly indeed.
Chirpy and bubbly enough but what lies beneath the surface?
Nicky
Very nervous.
I haven’t really formed any strong opinions at all but if I were placing bets on an early walker, I’d be placing them on her.
She seemed really phased by the whole experience.
Carole
We had Kitten a few years back. Now imagine her thirty years on.
What we have here is a rebel looking for a cause and absolutely bound to cause trouble, which is interesting because this peace campaigner is unlikely to bring peace to the house.
If she’s looking to use the show as a soapbox, she’s sure to come a cropper.
Girls, Girls, Girls
Not a bloke in sight in a daring move that gives the format a good shake. Whether it’s a wise move or not remains to be seen.
I can’t say I’ve been bowled over by the opening show though.
More from me on Saturday.
