Big Brother UK

Unsurprisingly Big Brother is down on ratings (I personally haven’t watched any since Ken left) and the media are pinning the blame directly at Jade's door. To be honest I would put it down to the lack of real and well known Celebrities compared to the other 'all star' shows that are on at the moment, because although the other shows seem to rely largely on soap and sport stars it does mean that people in the mainstream have at least heard of them!

I liked the eleven house mates that entered the house seven days ago, there was only two I didn't know but after a quick search all was well. It was a good mix of characters that although very different seemed intelligent and polite enough to find out about each other and discover that maybe they weren't that different after all. It was interesting to watch in the same way that the real Big Brother was in the first few years.

Then came Jade.

I was never a fan of Jade the first time around and this time she's brought her family along for the ride. They were obviously brought in to shake things up, which they have done. But at what cost? Two of the more interesting personalities have left the house and the dynamic has shifted from a peaceful, happy time to an era of arguments and tension. Although that’s not all down to Jade, in fact – other than the business with Ken - Jade has been ok this time around, a little too much crying in the diary room perhaps but anyone that saw her four years ago would have been expecting that. The problems stem from Jade’s Mum, Jackiey, who although whilst seeming nice enough is in the same class as Gerrard for not being able to shut up. Jackiey is one of these people where if you want to have a chat, as Shilpa did the other day, and take them to a quieter place to do it, they will jump on the defensive and start getting louder this is what’s leading to problems – her inability to listen to others.

Let’s get one thing straight, I do not go along with the whole “Jackiey is racist” nonsense, I do not believe that for a second, but the way she has acted towards Shilpa since coming into the house is inexcusable and down to, I believe, ignorance. Not stupidity like some people believe “she just has trouble with her words”, ok, some people do have problems with words, especially foreign names, but really, Shilpa? Even after having the name said to her hundreds of times she can’t grasp it, this is not down to her being stupid or racist, it is down to her being lazy and ignorant. Of course ignorance is what leads to racism, but that’s another debate.

Gerrard is probably the only housemate that I actively have a problem with at the moment, he is so disrespectful of anyone else it’s unbelievable. He will not shut up, even if someone is trying to have a civilised conversation with him he will just talk over the top of them. Even Jackiey doesn’t do this until she feels threatened! When Dirk raised that point with him, did Gerrard take the manly route and listen to what was being said and have an interesting two way conversation? No, he acted like a spoilt child and refused to speak for the rest of the day. I knew from the first night that if any problems were going to arise they would be from Gerrard or Ken, and without the arrival of the Goodys, that would have been the first ‘trouble’ in the house.

There has apparently been seventeen complaints to OFCOM that there has been no footage of Jermaine doing his Prayers, now I think that with 24 hours of footage to be cut down to just one hour a day, surely there is a lot more entertaining – and lets face it BB is just a game show - footage than someone Praying?!

So onto the surprise eviction this evening, and Jade has apparently said that if Jack is evicted then she’ll follow. Well I can’t see it being any other way, of the five that are up for eviction, Jack is the only one that doesn’t seem to have a fanclub, and when the voting is for Housemates to stay in the house you cannot afford to stay as anonymous as he has. So yes, I think Jack will be leaving tonight, which may give the producers a worry as what are they going to show for his best bits?! All he has really done is sit and listen to Jade – but then as the conspiracies are the Endemol/Ch4 want Jade to win (so they can say that the most successful housemate from Big Brother was a winner) that would give them a chance to show more footage of her!

Who do I want to win? Still Dirk for me, although Gerrard is the only housemate I dislike and want evicted, so I’m not too worried.