A bit of a brief column this week. Apologies. I’m on holiday.
Fair play, I know I compared her to a cartoon donkey and I really didn’t like self-absorbed bog roll pinching Shabnam, but I’m actually sorry she’s gone because for all her faults, she brought something to the house.
Here we had someone clearly just out for themselves and what they can get, a true product of the type of society that the Big Brother phenomenon has helped to create for the last seven years and for that reason alone it’s a shame she’s gone.
Carole and Tracey survived but for me both of them have been a massive disappointment.
Carole was sold to us as a strong-minded individual with strong political views but in there she seems to have turned into Mrs. Bridges. An annoying trait of hers is to simply walk away from discussion or debate as soon as it gets serious. As a political animal I’d have thought she’d have been in there fighting her corner but at times she seems not to care.
Unless she gets involved, then what’s the point? The twins may not contribute much but at least they are ornamental.
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As for Tracey I’m sure there’s more to her than the caricature that she’s letting us see as she hides behind the childlike and inarticulate language of the subculture she’s adopted. I’m bored with the facade now and if there’s nothing behind it then she really is a waste of a housemate.
The one that really caught my attention this week has been Laura who seems to be a complete bundle of negativity, though she hides it well. She reminds me a bit of Per Kay’s character from Doctor Who last year, the Absorbaloff. She seems to be able to such the positive out any situation and make things sound bleak. Any excitement in the house and she’ll be there, seeming like she’s enjoying it while pointing out every pitfall at the same time.
I’m finding it increasingly easy to dislike Laura and unless she changes, I can easily see the housemates turning against her as the weeks drag by.
One housemate we must keep at all costs is Charley because she so bitchy she’s brilliant.
The great thing about her is that you can read her face like a book and the irony is that she’s at her worst when she’s actually trying to cover up from some minor misdemeanour and her talk without thinking style ends up making it ten times worse.
Charley’s own self image is so out of kilter with the way everyone else sees her that she’s one of the most fascinating housemates ever and always sure to be at the centre of controversy, even with those closest to her. It’s therefore highly likely that she’ll face the public vote but please think hard before getting rid because the show will be so much the poorer with her stirring it.
Another not averse to stirring it is Nicky who seems to get on her high horse at the slightest provocation and really, really needs to chill out. Again, in her head, I’m sure she’s acting out of the best of motives and I’m sure that only on seeing herself on screen will she realise just how much she’s rubbing people up the wrong way.
Of last week’s new arrivals, I found Seány particularly annoying on arrival actually, but he seems to have calmed down a lot since. I get the impression that he’s still learning things about himself and I’m never entirely sure that this show is the ideal place to go on an intimate journey of self-discovery.
Gerry is great entertainment value and it’s sad for him that Lesley left when she did because he is more than capable of holding an intelligent conversation and seems very well read. It’s a pity that he’s stuck with a load of airheads though. While he seems well educated you can’t teach common sense, something he seems to lack at times and his lack of tact is pure gold from an entertainment perspective.
I can’t help thinking that maybe they should raise the lower age limit of this because some housemates just don’t seem mature enough to know what they’ve let themselves in for. I can’t help thinking that in maybe as few as a couple of years' time, Chanelle and the twins will look back at the tapes of this and cringe.
Too early yet to have a clear view on the new arrivals but Brian seems determined to make his mark quickly and could well be the one to watch.
