Big Brother Day 7 - Jennifer Rants About Prime Minister

Jennifer is disgusted at Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s unwillingness to lower the abortion limit.

The gorgeous Big Brother housemate has revealed her view on the controversial topic in a chat with hunky Dale and nerdy Luke (1.45pm) - who studies politics at university - this afternoon (11.06.08).

She said “In most countries the limit is 20 weeks. Here it’s 24 weeks. I think that’s disgustingly vile that you can abort a six-month-old fetus.”

Jen - a mother-of-one who is also strongly opposes animal cruelty and lenient immigration policies - said the PM’s stance on the abortion limit was the main reason why she refuses to vote for the Labour Party.

But it’s not only politics the part-time model has strong views on.

The 22-year-old told P.E. teaching student Dale she’s obsessed with celebrities and loves buying showbiz magazines.

She said “Oh no, I’m gonna miss Coleen’s wedding pics! I hope me Mam saves it for me. I love OK. I don’t buy Heat anymore though as it’s gone a bit trashy.”

Darnell and Kathreya were sumo wrestling in the bedroom this afternoon (11.06.08).

Albino Darnell - who was deported from the US for gang related crimes - engaged in a playful bout with fellow housemate Mohamed (3.50pm) before moving onto plus-sized Kat, who is only 5ft tall.

Kathreya said “I’m ready and up for it guys. When I’ve done my wee- wee I’m going to wipe the floor with you!”

Darnell told Mohamed off for trying to trip him up during their oriental-inspired tussle.

Darnell said “You can’t trip in sumo!”

But the songwriter - who nearly had mum-of-one Jennifer in tears with his beautiful singing voice earlier today - met his match when feisty cookie monster Kat stepped up to challenge him.

After explaining the rules, cheeky Kat asked Darnell if she was allowed to grab his crotch - which she says refers to “man sausage” - during the fight.

Darnell said “That’s out of bounds. You actually get a penalty for that.”

But the Thai masseuse was adamant.

She asked “How about if I squeeze it a little bit?”

After an intense battle, the sumo wrestle ended with boisterous Kat apologising for damaging Darnell’s microphone.

Big Brother Day 6 - Alexandra Lets Rip in Bathroom Tirade

Mario and Lisa talked about Dennis’ “games” in bed this morning (10.06.08).

The lovebirds – who were reunited on Sunday (08.06.08) after a secret Big Brother task to keep their relationship a secret was rumbled – discussed the camp dancer under the covers.

Beefcake Mario said “Let the game commence. Dennis is playing a massive game.”

The couple said Dennis – who pranced around the living area in a pair of bright blue pants when Big Brother sounded the alarm this morning – secretly wants to lead the group.

Mario added “Some people are attention seekers. People like to think they’re the leader. Leadership is about taking control.
“This is a marathon not a sprint. People will fight for ‘I’m the biggest, I’m the hardest and I’m the strongest.

Lisa – who appeared on BBC’s ‘Kitchen Criminals’ where she pushed judge John Burton Race’s head into her tuna bake - suggested the arguments may be sparked by housemates getting frustrated by the low food supplies.

Alexandra said she doesn’t care if housemates don’t like her.

The Big Brother villain has been at the core of several arguments in the house and has so far butted heads with Mario, Mikey, Rachel, Rebecca and Steph.

But last night (09.06.08), the spiteful Londoner told Sylvia and Dennis exactly what she thought of the other housemates in a private bathroom chat while everyone else celebrated Mario’s birthday in the garden.

She said “People could say that they don’t like me but I wouldn’t give a f**k.”

Alexandra went on to say she doesn’t like Mario because he exploits blind Mikey and that mother-of-one Jennifer was a “sell-out” and will use a romance with Dale to boost her celebrity status.

She said “Jennifer p****s me off. You’ve got your thing with Dale and your five minutes of fame.”

Next she laid into sweet-natured Rachel – who she made cry last night – and boasted that she had a higher salary than the trainee teacher.

She added “She’s very patronising. I think she’s playing it safe, but she’s a d**khead.”

Her nastiness continued when she insisted Lisa “looks like f*****g mutton” and ditsy Rebecca makes her sick.

Big Brother Day 6 - Katherya Wants an Elephant for A Bridesmaid

Kathreya has revealed she plans to have an elephant as her bridesmaid.

The roly-poly Thai told fellow Big Brother housemates about her quirky plans for her wedding last night (09.06.08).

Romantic Kathreya - who fills a lunchbox for her fiance everyday, with heart-shaped sandwiches on Valentine’s Day - is set to marry next year.

Camp Dennis told Kathreya he was jealous of her engagement.

He said “I want to fall in love too. I want to meet someone and fall in love so much. I love listening to you, that’s what I want to happen to me.

“But you can’t make that happen, it just happens to you.”

The nutty cookie-fiend then tried to comfort lonely Dennis.

She said “I’m thirty, honey. Your time’s going to come. Everyone has their own time. All you can do is be the best person you can, and when it comes it will come. Your Prince Charming will come.”

After bonding over their love lives, the pair began to discuss food - prompting Dennis to ask Kathreya what she has for lunch.

She said “Elephant bum bum sandwich!”

Dennis asked if she meant “fat bum bum” sandwich. Kathreya corrected him, saying it was definitely “elephant”.

Big Brother housemates are worried about Darnell.

Last night (09.06.08), Jennifer, Sylvia and Dale said they felt the albino US deportee was isolating himself and has yet to come out of his shell.

Sylvia said “Darnell is a bit, like, different, in the sense that he doesn’t eat at the same time as other people would.

“He hasn’t told me why, but I’m trying to get him to be open. Like, if you feel you can’t sit at the table because of a certain reason, we’re not going to force him. I feel like he’s been isolating himself a little. I’m a bit worried about him.”

Mother-of-one Jennifer confessed she finds it difficult to approach Darnell because he keeps himself to himself.

She added “He’s got such a big barrier.”

Churchgoer Sylvia defended the songwriter, saying he was trying to think about life in the house and work things out.

Darnell has previously admitted he has to battle negative thoughts about his albinism - a genetic condition which makes his hair and skin white.

The Apprentice: Why I Fired Them

Remember how some shows do that thing where one episode is a flashback episode, in which the characters recall all the funniest, or sad or whatever moments? I always thought those sucked. This is the reality TV version and so I was not impressed when I read about it. Hey another money maker in the franchise right? After all, Alan Sugar is a businessman. Yet I found, weirdly, that I really, really enjoyed this flashback to all the businessman wannabes.

Perhaps its because those excruciating, humiliating board rooms in which the candidates backstab and bitch are one of the most spectacular examples of human competition at its worst. These guys are breathtakingly arrogant, and yet almost unanimously they are hilariously crap. I mean seriously, who doesn’t know what kosher is? Who actually thinks that the green movement needs greeting cards? Starting from the very first stupid toff who ballsed up the lobster pricing, to the latest to get the boot, zany Lucinda we get to relive those great boardroom moments, with a little background from Sir Alan.

It was great to hear some of the more behind the scenes stuff, a few perceptions from Sir Alan about what made him fire people. What is perpetually interesting to me is that unlike the orginal Trump version Sir Alan does seem to be very clued in about the real behaviour of the candidates. He instantly seems to clock the sordid, selfish inner workings of each person, and then bollock them for it. This flash back show reveals this more than ever and is so enjoyable because of it.

However having sat through this collection of moments I find myself asking - Is it truly possible that one of these people will end up working for Alan Sugar? The ones left over don’t seem any better than the ones who’ve gone before.

Well, we will soon find out.

Big Brother Day 2 - Fussy Eaters

Blind, cross-dressing comic Mikey hates pickle while 20-year-old trainee teacher Rachel loves “boring food”.

Thai-born cookie-fiend Kathreya offered to cook this morning (06.06.08) but Rachel declined because she was nervous about what Kathreya would prepare.

Rachel said “If I have sandwiches, just margarine and spread will be fine, or ham and cheese. You don’t need all the pickle.”

Mikey admitted he hates pickle so much he can’t even bear to say the word.

The Scotsman – who shares music diva Diana Ross’ strange eating habits - exclaimed: “I’m very keen on boring food. I absolutely hate The ‘P’ Word. That’s what I call P.I.C.K.L.E. I don’t even like to spell it. I don’t eat sandwiches. I can only eat sandwiches if the bread is separate from the stuff inside. I eat the bread, I eat a bit of the inside. I can’t eat bread and the stuff together.”

Meanwhile, top chef Rex told bodybuilder Mario he doesn’t mind cooking for the house – because food is his passion.

This year’s Big Brother housemates have to buy special tokens for beauty products this year.

Big Brother has decided that things like hair straighteners, clippers, tongs and other non-essential items will have to come out of the shopping budget.

That means extra pressure will be on the 16 contestants to pass their weekly task, otherwise they will not only be hungry but also unkempt.

The new rule is not the only change Big Brother has made in a bid to get tough.

Housemates who misbehave will be sent to ‘jail’ and persistent offenders will have to contemplate their actions in a padded cell.

The house smokers also have to indulge their habit in a giant ashtray which they have to keep their feet in at all times.

If they step out while smoking they will be punished.

Meanwhile, Stephanie and Mario are still struggling with their secret mission.

Just minutes ago the pair – who have to pretend to be a couple otherwise they will face eviction along with Lisa, Mario’s real-life girlfriend, and Luke – were chatting about how difficult it is to convince the other housemates they are an item.

Stephanie said “It’s hard isn’t it.”

The Culture Show Debuts the Latest Season

The Culture Show debuted its latest season last night and as usual it was cracker. This is such an accesible show. It marries high culture with pop culture with a complete lack of w*nkiness and the truth is, it’s hard to talk about art and culture without becoming some boring old lecturer that sends everyone snoozing.

Last night’s episode saw a look at the Vienna boys Gustav Klimt and Sigmund Freud. Since every student’s wall has at least one poster of ‘The Kiss’ then this is sure to draw in a huge amount of people. The thing is, behind Klimt’s beautiful paintings is a whole lot of sex and death, something which the Culture Show quite rightly points out is well within Freud’s realm.

What really got me laughing though was Mark Kermode’s review of Sex and The City. When talking about the future franchise possibilties he remarked that this ‘made him lose the will to live’. The thing is, he’s not just bagging on a pop culture film, well he is, but he does it with such style. After nailing it to the wall for its ‘narcissm, product placement’ and general ghastliness, he finishes with a line i will now quote forever and says he wants to watch a film that ‘doesn’t have a handbag where it’s heart is’.

This is why the Culture Show is so excellent, it gives us bite sized chunks of culture, delivered with panache by kookily sexy hosts. So what if you never get out and see the shows/bands/films they talk about. At least you feel like a better person for getting a little culture…

Britain’s Next Top Model

This is very distinctly a poor man’s version of the US Top Model. I never thought i would say this but sometimes, watching Britain’s Next Top Model (Living TV, Mondays, 9pm), I think these girls make the Americans look, well classier.

There, I said it. Ugh. It’s so wrong, and yet so true.

Last night’s episode was a swiss roll of a bitch fest rolled up in some of the most toe curlingly, nail bitingly embarrassing moments that i’ve seen for a while. In order to explore the ‘drama’ of modelling, the girls had to improvise a scene where they had to tell their (guy) best friend that they loved them, and then snog them. In front of their parents. These scenes were excruciating to watch. Not only for the bad acting but for the self indulgent whining, and bizarrely serious approach the girls took. One of them, Rachael, decided to add some extra drama by adding in to her scene that she was dying of cancer. You’re not going for an Oscar, luv what’s with the death throes?

I want to tell you how it went after that but it was really hard to see what was going on with my eyes closed and my fingers in my ears while i sang la la la la la over and over again in an attempt to block out the hideously embarrassing performance that ensued. She cried and everything. Funnily enough, the best improviser of the lot was one of the nastier girls of the house, Stefanie. You could actually see her as the resident bad girl on Hollyoaks. Mainly though, she didn’t take it too seriously which by the time it was her turn was a blessed and unique relief.

To make matters worse this week’s photographer was the kind of endearing uber-w*nker that really believes in his craft. He really entertained me, not least because he had the girls shouting, crying, screaming, laughing and generally looking ridiculous in between moments where he would whisper some horrible thing about the girl all secretively to the camera crew ‘I just didn’t really, you know, connect with her right?’ (pats heart). You realise the girls will SEE you doing that on TV right?

Of course no series of BNTM would be complete without some sort of fight between friends, and sure enough this week brought about the two faced nastiness at its best with accusations of fakery and bitchery all over the place as Catherine started throwing her waif like weight around. For some reason she took it upon herself to tell the, ok very grating, Stefanie that she was a drama queen. Oh dear. Stefanie bore the accusations quite well, or like a wuss, depending on your point of view. I think she thanked Stefanie for telling her. Then offered everyone a cup of tea.

In the end though, its the booze, boobs and bitch fights that make us watch this show and this season, like every other, has its fair share. Easy Monday viewing.

Frasier Star Suffers Heart Attack

Kelsey Grammer, star of popular sitcoms ‘Cheers’ and ‘Frasier’ has suffered a mild heart attack over the weekend in Hawaii.

The 53 year old was at his second home in Kona, Hawaii when he had the heart attack. He was paddle boarding with his wife when it happened and was taken immediately to Kona Community Hospital. From there he was taken by helicopter to Honolulu hospital for treatment.

A spokesman for Grammer said that he had other wise been in good health and was now “resting comfortably”. He is expected to leave hospital by the weekend.

Grammer’s most famous role is Dr. Frasier Crane, a character who started out on the hugely successful sitcom ‘Cheers’ and then went to star in his own show ‘Fraiser’.

He has won several Emmy awards, as well as two Golden Globes.

Lost Season Finale

I know that this tends to be a love it or miss it show. The truth is, unless you have followed from the beginning, this is not a show to come to late. Maybe this is why, watching the death and destruction finale of Lost season 4 last night I was struck by how far this show has come. Remember beautiful, vapid Boon? The guy who was in love with his equally beautiful, vapid sister? He was the first to go. Well, the first REAL character to go, as opposed to one of the fluctuating cast of randoms that were the extras. In fact, ditching Boon was an early streamlining that continued until the show is what it is today. The writers ditched all the nonsense (black smoke, monsters blah blah) and stupid characters (Boon, his sister, the other half of the passengers) and developed the show into a lean mean tension machine. It’s so completely engrossing, with such a tightly woven plot, and probably the most complex narrative structure ever seen on TV. This is probably why many people can’t get into the show late on. The crazy story structure is the narrative equivalent of the hokey pokey, it jumps in, it jumps out, it shakes it all about.

Yet as I watched, I couldn’t help but marvel at the brilliance of where the show has ended up. It’s a masterpiece of story telling, it challenges even the most basic conventions of TV drama- often you know the end before the beginning and yet it sustains the tension seamlessly, not to mention the fact that despite how much money the show makes the creators have contractually ensured that it ends after two more seasons. Why is this important? Because it means that they can really tell a story, with a beginning, middle and end, just like REAL stories. By doing this we will get to see a full plot, one which isn’t hurried to a suddenly cancelled close a la Joss Whedon’s Angel, the fastest Armageddon in television. This fundamentally challenges the age old TV drag-a-thon that requires that a show must be crushed until every ounce of financially rewardable juice has been squeezed from it and all that remains is an empty, pitiful husk of a dried up, once awesome, show that suddenly ends with no warning. Think Friends. Think Scrubs. Like that.

So as this season ended in a shower of explosions and broken expectations and predictably undpredictable plot turns, mainly what I thought was ‘I can’t believe I have to wait until next year to find out what happens next’. So for those of you that are in the ‘missed it’ category, in a way I’m slightly envious. Because you still get to watch all this for the first time. My advice? Get started, before next season comes around. Boy are you in for a treat.

Yves Saint Laurent Dies Aged 71

Legendary fashion designer to the stars Yves Saint Laurent passed away on Sunday.

The news of his death was announced by Pierre Berge, his long time friend as well as at times business partner and lover.

Born in Algiers in 1936, Saint Laurent was discovered at the incredibly young age of 18 after his design for a cocktail dress won a contest by the International Wool Secretariat. This brought him to the attention of fashion icon Christian Dior and he soon began working for the famous fashion house.

When Dior died suddenly of a stroke in 1957 Saint Laurent was named head designer. He guided the fashion house from the brink of financial ruin back to success, however in 1960 he was conscripted into national service. He was given exemption on medical grounds after only a few weeks, but by the time he returned the House Dior had replaced him.

He struck out with Berge and created his own line YSL, where he further established his status as a 20th century design icon.

In 1983 the Metropolitan Museum of Art devoted a show to him, the first time ever this had been done for a living designer.

Despite his fame and talent, Saint Laurent battle with drugs and depression and Berge is quoted as saying that he “was born with a nervous breakdown”.

In a radio interview Berge said that Saint Laurent was a “true creator”.

“Chanel gave women freedom” he said, and Saint Laurent “gave them power”.

No cause of death has been announced as yet but it is known that Saint Laurent had been ill for a long time.

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