Big Brother XI: How to profit from the last ever BB

Big Brother 11 / Eliot Pollak / 09 June 2010 / Leave a Comment

This is what happens when you win Big Brother - last year's winner Sophie Reade promotes Ann Summers on a wet October morning

"It isn’t just fans who will mourn BB’s loss – for punters it is a haven of unpredictability with the chance to clean up on the eventual winner, by spotting potential and punting them early. But what to look for ahead of opening night? Allow us to help."

Eliot Pollak sheds a tear as he looks back on 11 years of bitchiness from the fame-chasing ne'er-do-wells of the BB House

Ah, the Lord hey. What a character. He giveth and then He taketh. Just as we learn to love, we must learn to leave. Just as we have become accustomed to 12 oxygen thieves peacocking on our screens all summer, Channel 4 announce they have better things to fill the hours with. The swines.

Big Brother XI marks the end for the epoch-defining television programme - there will be no more. Devastating news for fans, with Big Brother now as much a part of our summer as rain, a Brit crashing out in the 4th Round of Wimbledon, and Barcelona trying to sign Cesc Fabregas. But it isn't just fans who will mourn it's loss - for punters it is a haven of unpredictability with the chance to clean up on the eventual winner, by spotting potential and punting them early. But what to look for ahead of opening night? Allow us to help.

Last year's winner, for those who don't read Nuts magazine, was the amply-upholstered Sophie Reade, who in triumphing broke one of the golden rules of reality television. Reade's victory was unusual as women who men find attractive tend not to win these things. Knee-deep (and out of my depth) in Freud here, this may be because women instinctively do not like other attractive women, whom they see as competition. Stick with this - it's about to get good. Since young women are the electorate in such contests, hotties never triumphed. However, last year saw Reade rewrite the rulebook, which incidentally, will certainly be the last book she is ever involved with.

Another taboo that was thankfully breached in 2007 was the win of Brian Belo, the first black winner of Big Brother. A disturbing trend in reality shows through the early part of the 21st century, was the absence of any such triumph, with terrific black BB contestants such as Darren (Series 1) and the magnificent Victor (Series 5) underperforming badly. Similarly on other shows, Sneddon beat Lemar, Gough beat Jackson. Yet Alexandra Burke soon shattered that glass ceiling, and the house now reflects society, in that all are equal regardless of race.

So what to look for in 2010? The last five winners have all been in that important age demographic of 19-24, so focus attention on the nippers. It may also be significant that only half of winners have been from the UK, although in World Cup years, amidst a more patriotic public, a Brit has always triumphed.

Betting wise, don't get sucked in by the opening night favourite either. The last four series have seen the antepost favourite knocked out fairly early on, as Big Brother producers love an early manipulation or two.

Who wins? You decide...