Celebrity Big Brother 2007

When Big Brother first started in the UK in 2000, I was above it. There was no way that I would be watching that rubbish. But Mark had different ideas and used to watch it on his own while I did my own thing. However, snippets while walking through the room gradually became longer and before I knew it "Nasty Nick" was accused of cheating, it all kicked off and Endemol had me hooked. Over the following years we watched Big Brother mainly because Mark loved it so much and because I so enjoyed watching Dermot O'Leary.

However, the last couple of Big Brothers have rather dragged (13 weeks is far too long) and I'm not sure that I can bother with the 2007 series. Although Celebrity Big Brother is shorter, so more bearable, I wasn't going to bother about this January's Celebrity Big Brother either, but we thought that we might as well download the launch show, just to see which D-list celebrities are going to be in the house.

This year the line-up's not bad -- at least I'd heard of most of them. I'm sorry to say that I'm hooked yet again.

This year's housemates are:

Jermaine Jackson: Former Jackson Five member

Thus far, Jermaine seems quite quiet and likeable, but gets rather irritated every time someone asks him to moonwalk and answers to the effect of "That's my brother's thing, I'm not my brother". There's something quite bizarre about watching Jade Goody asking him whether he bleaches his teeth and watching him try and explain why on earth he called one of his children "Jermajesty". There's also been some good conversations between Jade and Jermaine wherein she asks questions like "So, is Michael bankrupt now, after the court case?" and "So are you black then? Because Michael's skin has changed [etc...]". I think that in the next few weeks Jermaine is likely to spill a bit more.

Danielle Lloyd: A WAG (Wives & Girlfirends)

I'd never heard of her before this, but apparently she's Teddy Sheringham's girlfriend. So far, she seems quite nice.

Dirk Benedict: Face, Starbuck

Need I say more? As Chantelle Houghton (or is she Chantelle Preston now?) says, "The man from the A-Team won't stop sweeping the floor."

Ken Russell: Film Director (notably Tommy)

A crotchety old man who seems to have rather lost the plot. He snores loudly all night so that nobody can get a decent night's sleep. Unfortunately, though, a late night argument with Jackiey Budden was the last straw and he "walked".

Jo O'Meara: Former S Club member

Seems quite nice.

Ian Watkins: "H" from Steps

He just reminds me of a pastiche that Armstrong and Miller did.

Leo Sayer: Singer of Yesteryear

He's had a bit of an argument with Jackiey Budden, but hasn't done much else yet.

Shilpa Shetty: Bollywood star

She seems quite nice but is rather missing her entourage. She too has had altercations with Jackiey Budden.

Donny Tourette: Member of Towers of London

How did he get through the psychological profiling? Thankfully, he put us out of our misery early on by climbing over the wall.

Carole Malone: A Journalist

She's famous for having slated Big Brother (including Jade Goody) and footballer's WAGs. I suppose that the Big Brother production team thought that it would be fun to put her in a house with a WAG and an ex-BB contestant.

Cleo Rocos: Former Kenny Everett girl

Jade Goody: Former BB contestant

She's always worth watching.

Jack Tweedy: Jade's Boyfriend

Jackiey Budden: Jade's Mum

She's had several arguments with several people so far and is doing Jade's head in.

Here's a link to last year's CBB post: Celebrity Big Brother 4