Coventry Telegraph - Pass the Remote

Nasty Nick Pulls Out of Big Brother Appearance

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 08:12:45 +0000

"NASTY" Nick Bateman has pulled out of plans to enter the Big Brother house today as he was not being paid.

Craig Phillips, who confronted Bateman in a gripping showdown during BB1, has been drafted in as Bateman's replacement.

Phillips went on to win the first series, after Bateman was kicked off for writing notes which he showed to contestants to influence their voting.

Batemen was due to be the first of a number of former contestants, including Nikki Grahame and Brian Belo, set to appear on television screens again this week as part of celebrations for the show's 10th series.

Nasty Nick Returns To Big Brother House

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 09:44:36 +0000

"NASTY" Nick Bateman will return to the Big Brother house today, nine years after being thrown out while appearing in the first series of the reality show.

He is one of a number of familiar faces who will be seen on television screens again as part of celebrations for its 10th series.

BB1's Bateman created headlines by writing notes which he showed to contestants to influence their voting.

He will take on his former nemesis - the assault course - and pit his fitness against a current housemate.

Also today, a group of three ex-housemates from BB3 will take part in an egg and spoon race.

A current housemate must predict the winner to succeed in this task.

BB4, BB5 and BB6 will be revisited tomorrow, while on Wednesday, Nikki Grahame and Brian Belo will each take part in a memorable task from their year.

Five Housemates Face BB Eviction

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 09:33:57 +0000

FIVE Big Brother housemates face eviction from the show today.

Halfwit and Marcus were nominated by their fellow contestants to face the public vote.

They will join Charlie, Dogface and Kris, who Big Brother put up for eviction after the trio broke the rules this week by discussing nominations.

It is the fifth time aspiring politician Halfwit, whose real name is Freddie, has been put forward to face the public vote.

The 24-year-old entrepreneur from Market Drayton, Shropshire, who legally changed his name to win housemate status earlier in the show, received seven nominations, while Marcus, aged 35, got five.

Former X Factor Singer Lands West End Role

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 09:24:09 +0000

FORMER X Factor contestant Diana Vickers has landed a West End role starring in The Rise And Fall Of Little Voice.

The savage black comedy drama about a painfully shy girl who lives alone in the north of England will be revived to run at London's Vaudeville theatre from October 8.

Lancastrian Vickers, 17, was described by Little Voice writer Jim Cartwright as a "natural actress."

The singer will take a break from recording her debut album, out early next year, to star in the show.

Producer Nica Burns added: "When Jim Cartwright, who originally wrote The Rise and Fall of Little Voice for Jane Horrocks, told me he had found the perfect girl - and then dragged me off to Wembley to see Diana Vickers perform as part of the X Factor tour, I thought he'd gone mad.

"But when I saw Diana I knew immediately he was right; she has a special quality. When she finally agreed - after much persuasion - to come in and read for us, we found out that not only can she sing but she was an intuitive actress as well."

Vickers appeared in last year's X Factor contest, which was eventually won by Alexandra Burke.

Big Brother Housemates Angel And Halfwit Face Public Vote

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 08:30:54 +0000

ANGEL and Halfwit have been put up for eviction by their Big Brother housemates.

In nominations shown live on TV, the contestants were given 90 seconds each to get to the diary room, say their nomination and give the reason why they were putting that person up for eviction.

Two lightbulbs were placed on a table in front of the contestants, one lit up when there was 30 seconds left, the other bulb flashed and buzzed when their allotted time was finished.

Earlier on Wednesday, Big Brother asked the house to send a good, loud speaker to the diary room to receive some instructions.

Rodrigo enthusiastically jumped at the chance but the news did not match his excitement with every housemate given only a minute and a half to deliver their nominations.

Halfwit was nominated for the third successive time, while Angel faces eviction for the first time.

Marcus Immune From Big Brother Nominations

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:28:10 +0000

MARCUS Akin will be immune from Big Brother's live nominations tonight.

The village idiot was awarded the privilege by Siavash Sabbaghpour in his role as King Henry VIII for the Tudor shopping task, when BB said he could bestow a knighthood upon a fellow housemate, which would give that person immunity.

Siavash toyed with the idea of knighting Halfwit, formerly known as Freddie Fisher, to save him from facing the possibility of eviction for the third week in a row.

But in the end the bearded monarch decided to bestow the honour upon Wolverine wannabe Marcus, because he was "the person that is closest to me".

Siavash's favourite BB housemate Cairon Austin-Hill was evicted last Friday.

The housemates don't know it yet but they will have to nominate on live TV tonight.

Evictions Twist For BB Housemates

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 08:07:15 +0000

BIG Brother housemates will be called to nominate who should be evicted in a special live show today.

Host Davina McCall will broadcast directly from the studios to spring the surprise.

Following clips of housemates' highlights on Channel 4, Big Brother will announce to the house that each housemate will be called, one by one, into the diary room to give their nominations live on TV.

Each housemate will be given a strict amount of time to name the two housemates they wish to nominate.

Only nominations given within this time frame, with full and frank reasons, will count.

Housemates will be gathered on the sofas to hear the results of the nominations later.

The highlights will be shown from 9pm and the live nominations will air at 10.55pm. The public vote will open at 10am tomorrow.

Jessica Simpson's Beauty Spot

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:25:44 +0000

JESSICA Simpson is to star in a reality TV series on beauty - and the things people put themselves through to achieve it.

The Price Of Beauty will see the actress and singer - who used to appear in reality show Newlyweds with then-husband Nick Lachey - travel the globe to find out about different perceptions of what makes someone look good.

The VH1 show will also examine beauty regimes across the world.

Jessica told People magazine: "I am really looking forward to discovering how beauty is perceived in different cultures and participating in some of the crazy things people do to feel beautiful."

X Factor hopefuls may have to sing again

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 15:58:39 +0000

LOOKS like X Factor hopefuls who auditioned up in Scotland will have to sing all over again thanks to the show's new look format this season.

After the success of Britain's Got Talent and its performers getting out on stage in front of a live studio audience for the auditions X Factor guru Simon Cowell wants this year's X Factor wannabees to sing in front of the public too.

But the show has already filmed in Glasgow meaning anyone who auditioned there will have to stand up to the plate a second time.

An X Factor spokesman said: "It does look like everyone who auditioned will come and audtion again."

Meanwhile Cowell has admitted mistakes were made in the way Britain's Got Talent favourite Susan Boyle was handled, although he says he's not sure what else he might have done.

He said he didn't imagine Boyle would become the global sensation she did and insisted Boyle had always told him she was happy to carry on with shows even though she seemed to be finding the fame too much to take.

Scottish spinster Boyle was admitted to the Priory Clinic with exhaustion after the show and has missed a number of the live tour concerts.

There have been numerous reports of her bizarre behaviour.

Susan Boyle Returns To Warm Welcome

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 08:21:37 +0000

BRITAIN'S Got Talent star Susan Boyle received a standing ovation when she performed live on the talent show's tour.

The 48-year-old has missed several live dates, including two shows in Nottingham on Saturday, to take rest days due to the stress of being in the spotlight.

But she returned to the stage yesterday, performing at two shows at Wembley Arena, in north-west London.

Susan sang her semi-final tune, Memories, from the musical Cats, and also I Dreamed A Dream, from the musical Les Miserables, the song which brought her worldwide fame.

Big Brother's Halfwit Celebrates Birthday

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 07:44:51 +0000

BIG Brother housemate Halfwit celebrated his birthday in the house and admitted it was "weird" to be doing it on camera.

Halfwit, who changed his name from plain Freddie after becoming a housemate, turned 24 yesterday .. the day of the Summer Solstice.

Big Brother said the Solstice was often associated with hippies and gave the housemates some costumes to wear, to Halfwit's delight.

He was thrilled with his tie-dye outfit but later told Angel: "This is probably the weirdest birthday because it's all being broadcast."

Beeb Tell Sir Alan Sugar "You're Hired."

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 15:48:17 +0000

SIR Alan Sugar will continue on The Apprentice after the BBC decided his new role as a Government adviser would "not compromise the BBC's impartiality", the corporation said today.

Questions had been raised about whether the entrepreneur's new "enterprise tsar" role could breach the corporation's impartiality rules during the general election campaign.

The 62-year-old, who will take a seat in the House of Lords following Gordon Brown's Cabinet reshuffle earlier this month, said he was "glad" about the decision.

It is understood the BBC reached its decision because it was felt, in his advisory role, Sir Alan was not obliged to endorse or promote Government policy.

Halfwit Tipped For Big Brother Eviction

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 08:18:13 +0000

THE knives are out in the Big Brother house as thoughts turned towards the next eviction.

Lisa, Dogface and Noirin decided that Halfwit, whose real name is Freddie, would face the axe tomorrow rather than Cairon.

Talking in the kitchen, Lisa said: "I think he probably irritates people just as much as he irritates people on the inside."

Dogface, whose real name is Sophie, added: "He's really eccentric when he talks and stuff. I don't understand what he says."

Wannabe politician Halfwit got nominated by nine of the other housemates for eviction, and this will be the second time he has faced the public vote.

Two Face Eviction From Big Brother House

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 11:12:40 +0000

CAIRON and "Halfwit" face eviction from the Big Brother house.

It is the second time aspiring politician Halfwit, whose real name is Freddie, has been nominated by fellow housemates to face the public vote.

The 23-year-old received nine nominations - meaning all but two housemates voted for him to go.

Scottish glamour model Karly nominated him, saying: "I feel like his intelligence is masked by this crazy side he has to him.

"I feel like it's needless, I feel like it's attention-seeking and it's annoying everyone in the house - especially me. I cringe, it's embarrassing".

Halfwit faces Cairon in the eviction battle after the 18-year-old student garnered four nominations.

Discussing her reasons for nominating him, Noirin said: "He's so lazy. He doesn't do any cleaning in the house, he doesn't do any cooking in the house. All he does is sleep, maybe sometimes he gets up to have a smoke."

New "Live" Format For X Factor Auditions

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 09:35:37 +0000

X FACTOR judge Simon Cowell unveiled a new format for the talent show today and acknowledged that Susan Boyle had found it "very, very difficult" to cope with the intense media pressure following her appearance on Britain's Got Talent.

Cowell told GMTV that, for the first time, X Factor auditions would be held in front of a live audience.

He said live public support would provide a boost for performers as they appeared on the ITV programme.

He said Boyle was aware of the pressure of appearing on Britain's Got Talent but had still decided to carry on with the show.