ACTUAL HOUSEMATES

BIG BROTHER TANTRUMS

MY PREDICTIONS FOR HOUSEMATES

THE BEST BB HOUSE EVER!!!!

Very little is known about Bob or his motives at this stage and even Big Brother Executive Producer Phil Edgar-Jones isn't revealing much.

"He's going to be waiting in the lounge for the housemates when they arrive. I can't say anything more than that. He is just one of many surprises up our sleeve this year".

However, seeing as 'Bob Righter' is an anagram of 'Big Brother' we suspect that he is going to be a very interesting addition to the House. Be sure to watch the launch show from 9pm on Channel 4 tomorrow night (Wednesday 9th June) to see what happens when the other housemates meet Bob!

In other Big Brother news, make sure to come back here tomorrow between 1pm - 2pm for an EXCLUSIVE screening of the new Big Brother title sequence.

This sneaky first look will be available for 1 hour only, so miss it, miss out!

Very little is known about Bob or his motives at this stage and even Big Brother Executive Producer Phil Edgar-Jones isn't revealing much.

"He's going to be waiting in the lounge for the housemates when they arrive. I can't say anything more than that. He is just one of many surprises up our sleeve this year".

However, seeing as 'Bob Righter' is an anagram of 'Big Brother' we suspect that he is going to be a very interesting addition to the House. Be sure to watch the launch show from 9pm on Channel 4 tomorrow night (Wednesday 9th June) to see what happens when the other housemates meet Bob!

In other Big Brother news, make sure to come back here tomorrow between 1pm - 2pm for an EXCLUSIVE screening of the new Big Brother title sequence.

This sneaky first look will be available for 1 hour only, so miss it, miss out!

EVEN I FANCIED HER I BELIEVE SHE WOULD BE CALLED A MILF NOWADAYS

Glee Burt Hammel's Speech to Finn about gays

LENNY THE LION

What - doesn't anyone remember Lenny The Lion? Shame on you.

Well now; Lenny The Lion and his partner Terry Hall were amongst the most popular characters of early British children's television. They appeared around the time that Sooty began to make good, and would seem to have been presented as an alternative.

In fact, Lenny was much more of a character because - unlike Harry Corbett - Lenny's partner, Terry Hall, was a ventriloquist. And he gave Lenny a very identifiable and quirky voice as well as an interesting and humorous personality. Lenny was a big puppet - an armful - with a hand and a movable face, eyes and lower jaw. In short, there was a great deal more entailed in his act compared to the silent glove-puppet of Sooty and the rabid squeaking of Sweep.

At his peak, Lenny had his own show with variety guest appearances on prime-time kids' telly, but he doesn't seem to have lasted. Ceertainly he hasn't been anything like as enduring as Sooty & Sweep. And for the life of me I cannot think why? After the show he continued to make many guest appearances before being relegated to the pantomime circuit.

It wasn't fair, but I guess that's showbiz. Late 50's early 60's saw a lot of ventriloquist acts come and go. Comic impersonators seemed to banish them all by the 1970's.

But in 1957 Lenny was certainly worth the Lion's share in Puppetry and ventriloquism. What a pity he's just faded into obscurity.

VERY MUCH old school cod liver oil-esque educationalism,  with doddery old ventriloquist TERRY HALL and eponymous mangy cat, both of who had already been around for bloody decades, trying to teach  kids to shape up their vowels. Lion famously couldn’t pronounce his ‘r’s (conveniently enough for Terry), so fat lot of good that was in the classroom.

Ray Alan, the ventriloquist voice behind Lord Charles, dies aged 79

Ventriloquist Ray Alan, famous for his act with monocled, upper-crust puppet Lord Charles, died suddenly in his sleep yesterday. 

Alan, 79, was best known to millions of television viewers from the 1950s to the 1980s for his appearances on variety shows. 

He also had his own children’s series, Tich And Quackers, featuring a schoolboy puppet and his pet duck. 

'Tremendously well-liked': Ventriloquist Ray Alan with his doll Lord Charles

But it was for Lord Charles, first seen on the BBC’s The Good Old Days, that he was best known. 

The dinner suit-wearing puppet appeared to be tipsy, was noted for his catchphrase ‘You silly arse’ and would often be distracted by glamorous women in the audience.

Alan’s agent Peter Pritchard said the ventriloquist ‘passed away very suddenly’ at his home in Reigate, Surrey. He had complained of feeling unwell and had not worked for
several months because of ill-health. 

Mr Pritchard, who worked with Alan for 30 years, said: ‘Technically he was regarded as Britain’s top ventriloquist. You just couldn’t see his mouth moving. He was tremendously well-liked in the business and he had been in the entertainment business all his life.’ 

Born in Greenwich and raised in South-East London, Alan left school at 14 and was a ‘call boy’ – alerting actors that they were due on stage – at the Lewisham Hippodrome Theatre. His own act originally involved impressions and conjuring tricks before he
developed as a ventriloquist. 

The eyes have it: Ray Alan and Charles with the British boxer Charlie Magri, who tries out a monocle for himself at his gym in 1979

Lord Charles was inspired by a boozy toff spotted by Alan at a table during a cabaret show. He later based the puppet’s face on Stan Laurel, having performed with Laurel and Hardy on their last tour in 1954. 

Alan once recalled: ‘I looked at Stan Laurel’s face and I thought “Good God, that’s the face I want – just change the hair and put a monocle on it”.’ 

He was also a writer, publishing his third crime novel, A Fear Of Vengeance, earlier this year. 

Alan, who is survived by his wife Jane, said of Lord Charles in 2006: ‘I’m not one of those ventriloquists who thinks he’s real. When I finish my work I put it back in the tool
box and I don’t take it out again until the next job.’ 

Asked if he ever felt upstaged by the puppet, he added: ‘I’m delighted to say yes! It’s just what I planned, I can sit back and say nothing and let him take the blame.’ 

Diff'rent Strokes star Gary Coleman dies at just 42

Diff'rent Strokes star Gary Coleman died last night after suffering a brain haemorrhage.

The 4ft 8in actor, 42, had a fall at his home and was rushed to hospital where he fell into a coma. Doctors were unable to operate on him because of the severity of his condition.

His wife Shannon Price decided to turn off the life support machine.

It was the third time he had been admitted to hospital this year after seizures in January and February.

A representative for Coleman said last night: "Gary will be badly missed. He'll remain in the hearts of those who were entertained by him over the years."

Coleman was taken from his Salt Lake City home to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center on Wednesday before his condition worsened. The actor, whose growth had been stunted by a congenital kidney defect, had previously had two failed kidney transplants.

He played Arnold Jackson in Diff'rent Strokes from 1978 to 1986.

But he had got caught up in a series of financial and legal problems in recent years. In 2007, he was arrested after a "heated discussion" with his wife Shannon, 24. He was cited for disorderly conduct. Two years later, the couple had another row in which Shannon was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence. In January, Gary - whose catchphrase was "Whatchoo talking 'bout Willis?" - was held on domestic assault allegations and spent a night in jail.

He lost most of his fortune in a legal battle with his adoptive parents, who managed his wealth until he was 18. He was forced to work as a security guard and filed for bankruptcy.

Strokes Of Bad Luck

Todd Bridges, who played Willis, battled drug addiction and was tried in 1988 for the attempted murder of a dealer. He was acquitted and is now drug free. Dano Plato, who played Kimberly, also struggled with drugs and died of an overdose in 1999.

HAPPY THURSDAY

BIG BROTHER MOTHER

Davina McCall: I expect I'll cry my eyes out when Big Brother comes to an end

IT'S been her life for 10 years, so Davina McCall isn't embarrassed to admit that she's going to be a blubbering wreck when Big Brother disappears off our screens.

Next week will be the beginning of the end for the Channel 4 show, which was first broadcast on July 18, 2000.

The 11th series will be the last of the once ground-breaking show, which turned ordinary people into stars.

Many viewers are glad it's going, claiming that it has dumbed down television and made folk famous for nothing but spilling their darkest secrets.

But Davina sees it differently - and so she would.

It's the show that made her, saved her career and will be associated with her whatever she does in the future.

The 42-year-old, mum-of-three is so committed to the show that she continued to present series 2, 4 and 7 while she was heavily pregnant, proudly wearing a "Big Mutha" top.

No wonder then that, when asked how she'll feel when the last series ends later this summer, she admitted: "My feeling is that I might cry while it's happening. I think I'll probably do most of my sobbing on the day."

Davina was only told that Channel 4 were planning to pull the plug on Big Brother a few days before it was announced in the press during the final weeks of last year's series.

She said: "I was still a bit upset when I went out to present that Friday night.

"I felt like the crowd gave a bit of an extra cheer when I walked out, before the cameras were rolling, and I had a little moment then - a little tear trickled down my face."

Big Brother 11 will launch on Channel 4 next Wednesday, June 9.

This year's first twist will be that more people will be selected than the house can hold. The wannabe housemates will find out live, in front of the launch-night crowd outside the Big Brother studio in Elstree, north-west London, whether they have been chosen to take part or not.

It's all very different from the first series, which saw all the housemates going into the house together, carrying their suitcases (and even a guitar) with no fanfare or drama.

To start off with, it was an experiment watched by 3.7million people.

But nine weeks later, after Nasty Nick's cheating made it must-see TV, 9.5million viewers saw Craig Phillips being crowned the first winner.

Davina was as naive as the rest of us. Before Big Brother, she was best known for being Eric Clapton's girlfriend and presenting dating show Streetmate.

Does she even recall the opening night of the first Big Brother?

She admitted: "I don't remember a huge amount. I was just trying to do what the producer wanted me to do.

"The housemates had already been in the house for four days, so there was a little bit of a buzz about it, but I was too busy being petrified to really think about anything other than putting one foot in front of the other and trying not to swear."

Within the first few days of series one, Davina - like many of us - realised Channel 4 had hit on a winning formula.

Big Brother was the ultimate form of voyeurism, where you could watch people fight and flirt and then talk about them with your mates the next day.

Davina said: "There was something rather delicious about the fact that there were all these lovely housemates cocooned away from this huge furore that was happening on the outside.

"Looking back on the first series now is hilarious. Our housemates now think they get bored but our housemates in the first series literally did nothing.

"They got one task a week, and that task had to last them the whole week. And that's all they did. Our housemates now are up and at 'em from the moment they wake up.

"If the first series went on telly today, people would think, 'This is the most boring thing I've ever seen in my life.' But back then it was groundbreaking."

Love it or hate it, there's no denying that being in the house has changed ordinary people's lives - even if they didn't win.

The most famous housemate was the late Jade Goody, a dental nurse from Bermondsey, London, who became a multi-millionaire thanks to the show.

First winner Craig is now a television handyman, Big Brother 2 winner Brian Dowling has gone from being a Ryanair flight attendant to carving out a career in the media and BB3 winner Kate Lawler has become a respected DJ.

Davina's life has been changed by Big Brother, too. Not only did it make her a household name but it always gave her something to fall back on.

Like when her disastrous 2006 chat show ended up being savaged by TV critics and cancelled by the BBC after one series.

"Oh God," Davina mouthed in that embarrassing-drunk-aunty-at-a-wedding way she has of presenting. "Big Brother has been the biggest godsend for me and my career. It's made me in my work.

"I have also presented a couple of turkeys in the time that I have been presenting Big Brother, and going back to Big Brother has always made the nation forgive me quite quickly, and I'm so grateful for that."

Big Brother might end this year but there's life after the series for Davina. She recently hosted a new gameshow, The Million Pound Drop, for Channel 4 - and, for once, a show of hers away from the house has been a hit with audiences and critics.

But what she does next is a summer away.

In the meantime, no one is better placed than Davina to dish out advice to housemates on how to win Big Brother.

She said: "When you get in there, I would say hang back for the first couple of weeks.

"Get to know people, watch a little bit from the outside, let all the really big characters annoy everybody.

"I always think that the people who are really loud right at the beginning are the first out. I hate people who run around talking to the cameras all the time.

"Once in a blue moon this is appropriate but not for joking or jesting. It's not clever, it's not funny, don't do it."

Davina's second big tip is not to break the rules, especially telling people what's going on in the outside world if you are coming in after the launch night.

She said: "Tim 'Comprendez' (Culley, from BB3) really upset me that year when he went in and told them straightaway what was happening in the World Cup. I couldn't wait for him to be out, because it really annoyed me."

Her other advice is not to try to be a peacekeeper or be someone who stops the rows - "that's why most people are watching" - and to use the diary room to connect with the fans.

Davina said: "The public need to feel connected to you if you're going to win it. And have a reason to be in there, rather than just being a wannabe."

So, will Big Brother go out with a bang?

"Of course," she said. "It's going to be massive, naughty, bad, great, good, evil, happy, fun, outrageous."

That said, she knows as much as we do - and it will be what the housemates do that makes it good or not.

But let's hope she's right.

Novel way of entertainment

The show got its name from George Orwell's 1949 novel Nineteen Eighty-Four.

The first Big Brother television series was in the Netherlands in 1999.

A total of 165 housemates have walked through the doors of the UK Big Brother over the past nine years - 78 male and 87 female.

With more female housemates, it might be expected that more winners would be of the fairer sex - but no, only four of the 10 winners have been women.

Nicole from BB9 had the highest ever public vote to get her out - a massive 94.4 per cent - because of her attitude towards boyfriend Rex.

There have been 15 relationships during the shows and even two Big Brother babies. Tom and Claire (BB1) had the first UK BB baby and Lee and Sophie (BB3) the second.

The two most famous Big Brother quotes are: "I love blinking, I do" - Welsh hairdresser Helen in BB2.

"Am I minging?" - the immortal line uttered by Jade in BB3.

NEED A PLUMBER ANYONE?

OK UNTIL HE DANCES....

DOLLY QUOTES


I look just like the girls next door... if you happen to live next door to an amusement park.
I modelled my looks on the town tramp.
I wanted to be the first woman to burn her bra, but it would have taken the fire department four days to put it out.
I'm not going to limit myself just because people won't accept the fact that I can do something else.
I'm not offended by all the dumb blonde jokes because I know I'm not dumb... and I also know that I'm not blonde.
Im old enough and cranky enough now that if someone tried to tell me what to do, I'd tell them where to put it.
If you don't like the road you're walking, start paving another one.
Its a good thing I was born a girl, otherwise I'd be a drag queen.
My weaknesses have always been food and men - in that order.
People make jokes about my bosoms, why don't they look underneath the breasts at the heart? It's obvious I've got big ones and if people want to assume they're not mine, then let them.
Plastic surgeons are always making mountains out of molehills.
The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.
You'd be surprised how much it costs to look this cheap!

Dolly Parton