SundayPost
By Cameron Stout
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BIG BROTHER 7 officially kicks off on Thursday. They’ve brought the start forward by a day to give it the inside track against ITV’s Celebrity Love Island the following evening.
Whichever BB executive took that decision deserves a pat on the back.
We’re about to set off on a marathon 13-week haul — unlucky for some, but I’m already on tenterhooks.
I’ve been discussing with my mates which is better — the Big Brother launch or the final. Though the climax is exciting if your favourite is one of the contenders, there’s nothing quite like another opening of another show.
The speculation, the surmising, the guesswork, the gossip about what the house and the housemates are going to be like fuels the fun and there’s already been quite a bit this year.
We’re told it’s going to be the smallest house ever and it will be surrounded by glass walls.
To throw the selected 16 even further off balance, there’s fake grass and garden furniture in the kitchen, while the garden has apparently been furnished with a chandelier, carpet and a dining table.
As for the guests, one name already dropped as a possibility is that of 22-year-old former Miss Great Britain, Emma Spellar from Gravesend. Mind you, if the rumour mill is true and her cover has been blown, BB could well drop her as a contestant.
According to sources, the housemates have been spirited away to a secret location outside Paris to ensure watertight security. Ah, that takes me back.
I remember all the cloak-and-dagger preparations quite vividly. We were supposed to leave on a particular date, but because of leaks to the Press our departure was brought forward. I got a call telling me I had to be on a plane that night.
Once in our hideaway, we were allocated a chaperone to make sure we didn’t have access to the outside world. Our text messages were vetted which led to a few comical moments, as my friends tended to text in Orkney dialect.
At one point James, my chaperone, said, “Cameron, you’ve got a text. But I can’t understand it and I can’t let you see it either.” It was very frustrating.
Another story doing the rounds is that when a Glasgow mum’s daughter went missing, the first people she contacted were not the police but Big Brother, to see if she been whisked away prior to making her television debut.
It’s odd to think there are people none of us would recognise if we passed in the street, but who are going to be all over the papers in just four days’ time. I’m excited and nervous on their behalf.
The selection process was by open audition again this year. Unlike postal applications, this tends to attract the exhibitionists and the attention-seekers, so I suspect we’ll have the same mix of people we’ve had for the past couple of seasons.
Ideally, this year I’d like to see relationships being allowed to develop naturally and spontaneously but, given the nature of the selection process, I don’t know how realistic an expectation this is.
In fact, it’s been indicated that housemates are going to be encouraged to form cliques and gangs as one of the shows “twists and turns”.
I’d also like to see prize money either abolished completely or raised to enormous sums and then confiscated piece by piece for the slightest infringement of the rules, such as not wearing mics or refusing to join in with tasks.
What I don’t want to see is anything that gives families grief and upset. On previous BBs, housemates have actually appeared on the programme without even telling their parents they are applying!
But very soon all will be revealed. I’ll be with friends having a BB7 launch party on the night, which will be electric with anticipation.
Let the games commence. I’m looking forward to bringing you all the news for the next three months.
Tarra for noo!
) in the Eurovision semi-final at the same time - she has her flag ready.
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