Big Brother Betting: Life in the animal house analysed by our resident psychologist* Mike Norman

Big Brother 11 / Mike Norman / 05 July 2008 / Leave a Comment

* Ok, not quite a psychologist but he's glued to the box watching the action, so read his thoughts on the madness that is BB9 here

A week that started with the blind quite literally leading the blind ended with Jennifer being the third evictee (advised here at [3.95] last week) and three new female housemates arrive - an executive personal assistant (Sara), a theatre director (Belinda) and a model (Maysoon). I will discuss in detail their antics next week though first impressions suggest that Maysoon could well be Alexandra part two.

Sunday's task had Michael assisting the rest of the group as they took turns in being blind. There were no fall-outs to report, in fact the task was an overwhelming success in terms of educating the housemates on how a blind person lives, though Mikey himself did make me smile when he confessed in the Diary Room that he was now seeing people differently. Now I don't know about you but there's something not quite right about a blind person telling someone that he is seeing people!

Michael was one of the early favourites to win Big Brother, but after his best efforts to impersonate Jim Royle through his constant moaning and crudeness he is now available at [19.0] to win the show.

Another person whose seems intent on being his own downfall is serial conspiracy theorist Luke ([9.2]). He would win hands down if it were just his Diary Room chats that were shown, but unfortunately for the guy who thinks that the sun shining is in fact a Big Brother conspiracy he seems obsessed with analysing everybody else's game plan. Bouncing from room to room like a hyperactive pogo stick Luke may have friends in the house, but us viewers have his two-faced bitchiness clocked in our memory bank.

The midweek shopping task saw the house transformed into a zoo with housemates being paired together to perform a different part of the task. Mikey and Luke failed miserably as elephants and made a total of 146 mistakes when trying to recite an extract from Rudyard Kipling's "The Elephant's Child. But elsewhere it was good news; Stuart ([48.0] to win outright) and Lisa ([75.0]) managed to stand on one leg for 20 minutes dressed as flamingos, Mohamed ([38.0]) and Darnell ([4.2]) munched their way through a carrot every fifteen minutes whilst mimicking a pair of rabbits, Kangaroos Dale ([34.0]) and Rex ([16.0]) successfully proved their strength, and Kat ([3.3]) and Rachel ([25.0]) managed to stay in the same costume for the duration, dressed as a two headed llama.

The highlight of the task though was seeing Mario ([42.0]) proudly dressed as a zookeeper and having to throw a bucket of smelly water over seals Rebecca ([75.0]) and Jennifer every time Big Brother played "A Kiss From A Rose" into the house. Jen was the only one to grumble at the task and at one point threatened to quit, but as she is now gone it's irrelevant and her love affair with Dale and Stuart will remain about as clear as the water she had to endure - and just as fishy.

For the third week in a row the shopping task was passed and a luxury food budget was the reward - though not everyone in the house was happy as Rebecca turned into the housemate from hell.

It's not rocket science, but the serial stripper looks almost certain to be the 'Fourth Evictee' at odds of just [1.53] come Friday. She has been like the devil child this week, constantly whingeing, being destructive, having childish rants, being locked up for bad behaviour - and it's all been picked up on by her fellow housemates - she will receive enough nominations to be up for eviction and her stay in the house will soon be cut short.

As for the winner, or at least a good back-to-lay opportunity, I'm keen on both Dale at odds of [34.0] and Mario at [42.0]. I've always been a fan of the sensible Mario but it's Dale that is actually winning me over. Some may say he is playing the perfect game; he was dull and quiet for the first few weeks but now he is starting to brighten up. He is sure to whip up some more romantic interest now that the female numbers have risen and I think the female viewers are very keen on him. The thing with both Mario and Dale is that they are not picking up nominations at the moment - and if you don't get nominated you can't be evicted.

In the 'Top Four' market both Dale and Mario are trading around the [3.5] mark - a good bet perhaps? I will let you be the judge of that.