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Big Brother 09 Betting:The week of the long knives

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Despite piling on the pounds, Mo continues to slip through the net. But could Rex's luck be about to run out?

A week is a long time in politics and although the concept of time is somewhat warped in the Big Brother house, the past seven days have given us more action than we've had in a month. For no apparent reason, the gears were multilaterally notched up leaving us to enjoy the most eventful week thus far.

All set for a run of the mill eviction showdown between Dale and Luke after Monday's nominations, most of the housemates decided to commit the cardinal sin and discuss voting en masse. Believing they could fool the world using a cunningly disguised football team code that even the Enigma machine would give up on, Big Brother had it cracked within minutes.

Quite what goes through the minds of individuals as they knowingly break the most major rule of the game in front of scores of cameras and microphones is a mystery perhaps comparative to that of the appearance of crop circles. But with paranoia poisoning the thoughts of so many this week, it's possibly an inevitable by-product, even for the likes of Kathreya and Rachel, who joined Darnell, Mohamed, Rex and Stuart in the eviction line-up as punishment for their crimes.

In the end, it was the lovesick stickman Luke who proved the least popular with the GBP, following the rambunctious Rebecca out of the house and into a flash in the pan period of Z-list celebrity couple stardom to warm the hearts of the nation for at least a week. Looking like a death row inmate on a two-month hunger-strike, Luke was well aware that he was a condemned man and to his credit, he accepted his fate with reasonable dignity. What will rile him the most though is that whatever his faults, at least he offered us something, unlike the handful of remaining housemates who provide zero in the form of interest or entertainment.

Chief of these is the voracious dawdler, Mohamed, who having survived every eviction thrown at him thus far, is now appearing suspiciously teflon-coated. There's hardly anyone who has a good word to say about Mo, yet he continues to slip through the net, in spite of his ever-expanding waistline. Though in fairness to him in these times of environmental awareness, when doing absolutely nothing feels like you're doing something, then you can't get more energy efficient than that. In a touch to [75.0] to win, Mo may have a few more weeks left in him as nominations seem set to go elsewhere. At [4.2] to be the next out, he is just behind Dale who continues to lose support and is second favourite to go at [3.7] and constant at around [17.0] to win.

Intriguingly resembling a Conehead more and more as each week passes, self-appointed Lord of the Manor, Rex, has gone to great lengths to alienate fellow housemates. Never afraid to tell people exactly what he thinks of them - particularly if he believes it may provoke a reaction - Rex's up front attitude is, in fact, really rather refreshing. Whatever your opinion of him, at least you know where you stand and maybe this is why he maintains support inside and outside of the house.

However, an almighty spanner was thrown into the works on Friday night following Luke's departure. With the lifeless Maysoon voluntarily walking out after only 3 weeks, Big Brother decided to draft in Rex's posh girlfriend as a replacement. While looking like she was plucked straight from the set of Footballers' Wives, blonde Nicole ([90.0] to win) comes across as more of a Sloane Ranger, far more in keeping with Rex's upmarket taste.

But with the initial joy of being reunited soon visibly soured, some apparent underlying tensions between the pair may come to the surface in the next week or so, putting Rex's chances of victory in serious jeopardy. Out to [17.0] to win, the chickens may have finally come home to roost for the Big Brother bad boy and he's the [2.6] favourite to be the 8th evictee.

Conversely, sightless Mikey has had his fortunes change with a sudden burst of personality to match that which was promised upon entry. A few favourable highlight show edits have seen the once cranky Scot plunge into [4.0] to steal overall favouritism from the now flagging Kathreya, who continues to drift to a current [5.7]. But one may suggest that Mikey has timed his run a tad too early as there's plenty for time for others to turn it around, while he seems limited in what he can offer.

Another to emerge from this week successfully is the mind-numbing Rachel, who may be given a chance to finally flourish as next week's Head of House. Though given her form, one wonders how she can possibly fluke this to win and at [8.4], it's hard to see her going much shorter. Meanwhile, Darnell maintains popularity at [5.7] and providing he can avoid the gangsta rap-like outbursts that have occasionally looked to blot his copybook, he continues to appeal in the long-term.