Backdoor or no backdoor

Good day, citizens of Big Brother world, and welcome to another edition of Big Brother from the Batcave

First, a recap of recent events

• An alliance of 7 set their sights on James
• Keshia suggested taking down Chuck and putting Mark up on the block
• Omarosa confronted Shannon about the betrayal when Chuck was evicted
• Omarosa suffered an asthma attack and temporarily left the house
• Ross won HoH
• Shannon suggested putting Omarosa and Keshia on the block
• Ross suggested putting Shannon or James on the block if Omarosa didn't come back
• She did return, and Ross stuck with his original nominations

Who will be next to go out and talk to Julie, the answers coming right up

Julie welcomes us in for tonight's festivities, as she explains recent events, she does a fake cough in an obvious reference to Omarosa when she returned to the house and much to the amusement of the live audience

Omarosa says Big Brother is "hour by hour, day by day, battle by battle" and is focusing on a new battle, to lay low and find a new alliance

Keshia says she is going to go out fighting, while Shannon was expecting all hell to break loose but it didn't when Omarosa returned from the hospital and was put on the block

Ross shares Shannon's sentiment, but he is uncertain what to believe about Omarosa and whether she has really changed or not

Ariadna says to Brandi that the house is going crazy and that they could talk to Ross, and Brandi queries whether it makes sense. Ariadna says Shannon has to go, to which Brandi agrees but Brandi says Ross is scared of Shannon and James and that they are getting too much power. In the Diary Room, Brandi confirms James and Shannon are working together and points out Shannon is overplaying

Ariadna suggests getting Keshia on board to try and get rid of Shannon, in other words a backdoor, and then in the Diary Room says Omarosa is a weak link and reiterates that James and Shannon have to be broken up

Brandi pitches the idea to Ross, suggesting they could recruit Keshia...Ross said he was already considering it

Ross pitches the idea of backdooring Shannon to Marissa, should one outside of James and Shannon winning the Veto, to which Marissa agrees to eventually

She says she couldn't believe it when she saw Shannon was going to be in the house, but believes it is Shannon's time to go

Talk now turns to Omarosa, saying how she was the villain in basically every show she has been in, and then Mark refers to Omarosa's stories about being breaking news and keeps expecting news banners along the bottom of the screen

Back to backdooring Shannon, Ross says he won't backdoor her unless he has the votes and says he needs 4 votes, he is now pitching the idea to Mark. Mark wants to tell James, but he is stopped by Marissa and Ross as Ross is afraid it would all get back to Shannon eventually

Next stop is the jacuzzi, with Metta talking to the camera Anne Widdecombe style...For those that don't know, Anne made a habit of talking to the camera in the UK version this past January. Metta messes around with the plastic flamingos

Plotting continues towards the Shannon backdoor, but Ross is having second thoughts and then Shannon knocks on the HoH door and Brandi, Marissa, Arianda and Ross wonder if she overheard anything

Next up, the not so live now Veto competition

Now You See It is the name of the competition, and the rules are:

The houseguests will be shown several billboards advertising several star studded crews. For each billboard Julie will ask a question referring to a particular item on that billboard to which the houseguests must answer MORE, EXACTLY or LESS. The winner stays on and the loser is eliminated, the winner then chooses the next two houseguests and so on. If both houseguests on the podiums answer incorrectly both are eliminated. The competition continues until one houseguest is left standing and that houseguest will win Power of Veto

And we're off

First up is Keshia and Ross

Eliminated - Ross

Shannon v Omarosa

Eliminated - Shannon

Ariandra v Marissa

Eliminated - Ariandra

Omarosa v Keshia

Eliminated - Keshia

Omarosa v Marissa

Eliminated - Omarosa

Marissa wins Power of Veto

Keshia is suddenly bawling her eyes out about missing her child

Back from the commercials, Marissa is asked by Julie to give her decision and decides NOT to use the Power of Veto, so Shannon stays for a little longer. Julie calls a break before we find out who goes.

Time for the final speeches

Keshia reveals her breast milk has continued to deplete and pleads on their compassion to evict her. She turns to James and tells him that she has nothing to hide, and she did the dirty work on Shannon and said he wasn't her choice and wishes them all the best

Omarosa says she is so proud of Keshia and sends out lots of love to her friends and family, and that the house has taught her so much

Time for the live voting to begin

Shannon evicts Keshia

Ariadna evicts Keshia

Brandi evicts Keshia

James evicts Keshia

Mark evicts Keshia

Marissa evicts Keshia

Metta evicts Keshia

Keshia is evicted 7-0

Keshia saying she will tell all the stories when she gets out

Keshia says to Julie that she came to play but her baby means more to her than her celebrity fee and has been pumping 'religiously' so her baby has fresh nutrients and has yet to move to solids. Julie points out how long Keshia has been in there and away from her baby, and Keshia said she had to go as she is a single mum and has to provide for her daughter. Talk moves to Omarosa and Keshia is surprised that she bonded with her so much.

Final thought from Keshia, it was the most unique experience of her life. Julie reminds Keshia that she is on the jury, but can go home and watch with the rest of us and she will be back for finale night on February 25

Julie plugs the next HoH/Nominations episode and Veto/Eviction episode, and that's good night until the next episode

Another good episode in the bag as we take another small step towards the February 25 finale, surprising twist at the end. Personally I am pleased Shannon is still there and looking forward to seeing what she does when she finds out about this little backdoor plan that was cooked up

Go Team Shannon, and may god have mercy on them when she does find out

Hope this has been a good read, chums, and looking forward to the next episode when a new HoH is crowned and more nominations are made

Until next time, and remember someone is always watching :)

Bowler drama in the house

Hello citizens, and welcome to another installment of Big Brother from the Batcave

When we last left the houseguests:

BGM was formed between Keshia and Omarosa

Shannon won Veto, but was increasingly torn on whether to use it or not

She eventually did not use it, meaning Chuck or James would leave the house

Chuck was evicted 7 to 1, with the 1 being Omarosa 

Omarosa was not happy, but would she win the next HoH

The answer to this coming up as we head into a new HoH competition and Nominations episode

James in the Diary Room, scoffing at the still fracturing alliance and pretends to receive a call from the White House informing Omarosa he is still in the game

Omarosa suspects another alliance she doesn't know about, and Shannon is relieved this particular eviction is over

Brandi think Omarosa controls the house, but does the usual 'I am not scared of you' mantra

Ross confesses he made a final 4 deal with Shannon,James and Marissa, he seems pretty confident he is going to be in the final 4 in any event

Omarosa basically demands a one on one with Shannon, which Shannon reluctantly agrees, and demands an explanation about why the vote went the way it did and Omarosa warns Shannon to be straight with her

Omarosa scoffs at Marissa and Brandi coming up with any sort of strategy, and then says Shannon is a 'horrible bitchy chick' (Her words not mine) and then ends their alliance saying the only person who has Shannon's back on a consistent basis was her

I don't think Shannon has to explain her rationale to you, Omarosa, or to anybody

Shannon tips off her alliance about the stuff Omarosa said, and admits flipping the vote just to help along her game

Ross says he is stunned about the deal between Shannon and Omarosa, and his mind is blown

Omarosa is in the gym with Keshia and Metta, Omarosa is talking about a potential back door and Metta asks what a back door is in this game....But then it gets better as Metta thought it was a Vote to Save and that's why he voted Chuck. The ladies are explaining it was a Vote to Evict, I think the words banging one's head on a brick wall would apply here in regards to Metta

Keshia hopes Omarosa wins Head of Household, as otherwise she WILL go home

Time for the HoH competition, and it's Bowlerina

Keshia is ineligible to play as she is the outgoing HoH

The first name drawn will step up and challenge one of the other players to a head to head competition. The winner goes to the back of queue, and whoever loses is eliminated completely. The next player in line then steps up and challenge any of the players still in. Every 12 seconds the gate will go up and the player will have to spin around 12 times to get more bowling time. The last player standing will be the new HoH

The order of the draw is:

OMAROSA

ROSS

MARK

BRANDI

JAMES 

MARISSA

SHANNON

METTA

ARIADNA

Omarosa gets in Shannon's face as she overheard "Keep picking Omarosa"

First up it's Omarosa v Shannon

Eliminated - Omarosa

Omarosa walks off to the Diary Room with her inhaler

Metta v Ross

Eliminated - Metta

Mark v Brandi

Eliminated - Brandi

James v Ariadna

Eliminated - Ariadna

Shannon v Mark

Eliminated - Shannon

Marissa v James 

Eliminated - James

Mark v Ross 

Eliminated - Mark

Ross v James

Eliminated - James

Ross is the new Head of Household

Back to the house and Omarosa is still AWOL, and everyone is wondering where she is

Ross has already decided on his nominations, and they will be.....find out later ;)

Midnight hour approaches in the house, and still no sign of Omarosa....Oh I'm sure she will be ok, houseguests

Ross discusses with Marissa what the situation will be if Omarosa doesn't come back, and thinks he may have to go after Shannon or James in that scenario

Big Brother get Ross to read out some information about Omarosa, she has been taken to hospital with an asthma attack and will return before the nominations ceremony

Ross says he is still nominating Omarosa when she comes back from the hospital, but is now considering backdooring Shannon as he thinks they are all playing her game

Omarosa returns from the hospital via the Diary Room and fakes a cough as she says it was a 'rough night'....Spare us the theatrics. Personal opinion all because she lost in the HoH competition and she has merely stormed off and had a diva tantrum

Everyone flocks around asking if she is ok, and the non BB Ross wants to tuck her in with some chicken soup, but the BB Ross wants to get her out of the house

Nominations ceremony time, announces Ross

Ross has nominated OMAROSA and KESHIA

Not a big surprise says Ross, and Omarosa starts running her mouth thinking it's personal and Ross threatens to throw her out of the room and insists it is not personal

Omarosa says she is looking forward to her first Veto competition, and that's a wrap for this episode

Reminder, live Veto and Eviction 2 up in the next episode

Was Omarosa faking things because she lost? Was she being genuine? Please leave comments below or reply via Twitter if you wish :)

Hope this makes for good reading for everyone who reads it, and please come again for the next installment tomorrow when the Veto and Eviction will be typed up

Until next time, and remember someone is always watching :)

Veto or not to Veto, that is the question

Greetings citizens, and welcome to another installment in this blog :)

Previously on Celebrity Big Brother:

• Shannon won the first Head of Household for this season
• Big Brother then revealed a twist involving gift bags, one of which contained a Recast power to which the power holder could take over as Head of Household
• Much strategising followed, in which Chuck said he would not open his bag
• Ross suggested a backup plan to which he and the ladies would open their bags should Chuck go against his word
• Chuck did indeed break his word and opened his gift bag, to which Ross's plan was executed so whoever's coloured chip was drawn would open their bag
• Keshia was the lucky houseguest and she had the Recast power, and she nominated Chuck and James

This installment see the Veto competition played out, and will it save Chuck, James or neither....Answers coming up on this latest installment of BB from the Batcave

And we pick up where we left off after the last show, with Keshia adjourning the nomination ceremony and James is straight to the Diary Room and saying he is pissed and won't forgive and forget being on the block

He informs Chuck one of them has to win the Veto, to which Chuck says if that happens then the other has to petition

Keshia says James is the main target, and is then seen talking to Chuck...Chuck plants the idea that Shannon would have come up with two different names.

Omarosa saying the women are in total control right now and they plan to take out the men one by one and they (the men) should be very worried

Shannon tells James it isn't as bad as he thinks, as most are mad at Chuck for going for his gift bag and tells James to keep his cool. All of this is a ploy as revealed by Shannon, so he doesn't try as hard in the Veto and then gets taken out

Mark thinks Chuck has gone into 'beast mode' when in fact Chuck is snoozing away in the gym, and then tells James that if he (Mark) won Veto he would use it on James as he is a valued member of the men's alliance

Omarosa goes to speak to Keshia about the girls alliance, and pitches about a new girl alliance called BGM (Black Girls Magic)

Veto competition time, and 6 houseguests can participate

The 2 nominees, and others chosen are Shannon, Ariadna and Mark...Omarosa is chosen as the host of the competition and Big Brother will inform when the competition starts

Keshia starts sniffing around to check out possible scenarios for whoever wins the Veto, and Mark is first up and he said he would save James if he won

Chuck next up, and he admits Mark wouldn't save him and Keshia informs him he has to play really hard in this Veto competition

Next up, one of the many filler segments as in telling them news headlines while they have been sequestered, in the form of a quiz in True or False, nothing on the line and it's just for fun

"With 8 nominations, Jay Z wins big at this years Grammys" - False
"Blake Griffin traded from Griffins to Lakers in blockbuster deal" - False
"Kylie Jenner named daughter Selfie Star" - False
"For the second time in 3 weeks, the US government shut down" - True
"Tom Brady leads game driving victory over Eagles at the Superbowl" - False

Time to don those robes as it's time for the Veto competition

Welcome to the Four Sneezens Spa, and to enjoy the healing power of the Veto houseguests have to spell the longest word possible using the letters within the noses, and they may only bring back one letter at a time. Once they have made their chosen word, they can then press the button on their podium to lock their answer in. The winner with the longest word wins Power of Veto. 10 minutes only to make their words, and the lowest rated houseguests will get a booby prize.

And we're off.....

Lots of scurrying about in the mud before the buzzers are all pushed, and now let's see what our houseguests have put as words

Ariadna - WAING - She said she was supposed to spell WARNING
Mark - SOME - Pretty basic, but probably won't win
Keshia - PRIMED - Keshia takes the lead
Shannon - RESPONSIBILITIES - Might be a BB spelling record, one for the BB boffins there
James - FAMIL - Supposed to spell FAMILY but lost the Y
Chuck - SPANNED - Good but obviously not enough to beat Shannon

Shannon becomes the first Veto holder for this season, now will she use it.....Stay tuned

"Who would have believed an alliance formed on night 1 would begin to unravel" questions Julie as we head back to the house for the Veto aftermath

Marissa comments how difficult that competition was to watch for the ones not participating, and then Keshia says she has to talk to Shannon about possibly taking Chuck off the block, and then putting Mark on the block in his place and still getting rid of James, as Mark with his whole "I'm going to save James" spiel needs to feel a little something, and Chuck is a little more malleable to work with

Ross doesn't agree with this, as it could lead to Chuck and James being more mad at Shannon

Shannon walks into the room and the above idea is pitched, but nobody seems to agree and they all talk over each other resulting in someone saying for everyone to take a breath

Omarosa pipes in with "I love you and all, but this feels like it's all me me me I I I, and there's an alliance here"

Ross comments in the Diary Room that that is the reality Omarosa coming out, then Omarosa is in the Diary Room thinking this is not good for HER long term strategy and insinuates Shannon is making this all about herself

Back in the bedroom, Keshia says may the best woman win, and then tears all round as Shannon starts crying and Ross queries why the women are crying

Brandi gets frustrated at the women treating Ross like 'garbage' and calls it disrespectful and is shocked

Ross now thinks that he is just a number in the girls alliance, and will be disposed of once the girls alliance are the last ones standing

James and Arianda are summoned to the Diary Room, as per the Veto competition rules as they were the lowest rated housemates, and will get the Big Brotox treatment as in wearing baby costumes for the next 48 hours and have to crawl on their hands and knees as well. When the baby noise gets piped in at any time, they have to suck on their provided bottles

Much laughter ensues from the other houseguests, and it is genuinely funny :)

Keshia confers with Omarosa about James and Mark, and thinks they may be greater threats...Ross warns Shannon to be careful with her Veto decision. Her decision could ultimately come back and bite her with the new alliances forming

Shannon says Ross brings up a good point about why is Keshia fighting to keep Chuck in

Keshia then reiterates that the alliance decided unanimously to take Chuck off the block, and put Mark in his place but apparently Shannon has had a change of heart

Shannon, in the Diary Room, queries the alliance saying Keisha and Omarosa are jumping down her throat wanting the veto to be used, and Ross telling her not to and not backing her up

Brandi says she is not scared of Omarosa as the others seem to be, and believes Omarosa has bulldozed her way through the other members of the fracturing alliance

Omarosa explains a tactic called "Shock and Awe"

It goes something like: "You have to shock them, catch them off guard, and force them to make a dumb move"

Shannon is very confused now and cries thinking whatever she does it will be a wrong move, and says she wants to go home to Cape Town

Veto meeting is upon us, and here comes the decision from Shannon

Shannon is explaining the rules of the veto ceremony, but BB interrupts and plays the baby noise into the house to much amusement. James has to do his Veto plea on his hands and knees as per a stipulation of his punishment in regards to the Veto comp

After Chucks plea, Shannon decides NOT to use the Veto and James and Chuck stay on the block and one will face eviction

Shannon hopes she has made the right decision and Keshia thinks Shannon doesn't want to get the blood on her hands

Talk in the bedroom turns to Omarosa, and Shannon and Ross say they don't trust her...Ross says Keshia and Omarosa are out to get him, and when she walked through the door he said not to trust her

Shannon gathers what is left of the alliance and says to switch the votes over to Chuck as Keshia is trying to make a side deal with him.so he will put two of the alliance up and not Omarosa. Shannon then suggests she could make a deal with James to not put any of the alliance up

Eviction time, either James or Chuck will leave the house first

James and Chuck will give closing speeches to why they should stay, and now they are done....Keshia will have a deciding vote if there is a tie, and the nominees can't vote

And off we go for the voting

Brandi evicts Chuck
Ariadna evicts Chuck
Omarosa evicts James
Ross evicts Chuck
Metta evicts Chuck
Marissa evicts Chuck
Shannon evicts Chuck
Mark evicts Chuck

It's official, Chuck is evicted 7 votes to 1 and Omarosa has a face like thunder

Hugs all round as Chuck leaves the house to talk to Julie

He says he was expecting that kind of result and some last minute switching contributed to his downfall. He thinks he should have said something about opening the gift bag. He is informed he is on the jury but will not be sequestered, which basically means he can go home and watch with the rest of us. He thinks Shannon or James have a good shot of winning

Chuck's final thought is that he had a good time

Next Head of Household is this coming Sunday along with Nominations, Monday is the Veto competition and Eviction

And that is the first eviction in the bag, it was a long slog but we all got there in the end

Going to be interesting to see what Omarosa does to the house if she wins HoH, should be very exciting

Hope this is a satisfactory read for everyone who reads it and it is action stations again the day after the new HoH and who is on the block have been revealed....

Thanks for reading, and remember someone is always watching :)

Until next time, citizens

Seconds out, time for the first round of Nominations

Hello citizens, and welcome to the first Nominations episode of the inaugural Celebrity Big Brother USA

When we last left the first ever batch of celebrity houseguests:

• ·         Omarosa was safe for the week as the number 5 proved very lucky for her
• ·         Some old faces from Big Brother made an appearance…Perennial runner up Paul, and winner from a few years ago Rachel, to name but a few
• ·        Shannon won Head of Household, but there was a twist as 11 golden gift bags were introduced, one of which contained the Recast power, which basically meant whoever had that particular power could themselves replace Shannon as Head of Household

Who has that power, and will they use it, and who will take the dubious honour of being the first ever celebrity houseguests on the block….The answer beckons shortly on Celebrity Big Brother USA

Proceedings begin tonight with Julie saying good night to the houseguests

Ross is in the Diary Room saying nothing catches him off guard but this twist is the exception and wants further details

Brandi says she would love this Recast

James thinks everyone is scared about what may be in the gift bags, but is excited about what he may get

Girls are all in agreement a guy has to go claims Shannon, and wants this twist to work to their advantage

Mark and Ross are afraid this could go completely wrong, and Ross says he now has to suck up to 10 people whoever gets the power

Praise for Shannon, as some admit she is playing well so far

The girls have the numbers as in 6 to 5….

Shannon summons the houseguests and reads out the instructions for the Recast Power

“Prior to each nomination ceremony, the gift bag will appear on the screen and after it appears the first houseguest to enter the Diary Room and declare they want to open their gift bag. In the event of more than one houseguest declaring they want to open their gift bag, then there will be a random draw to determine which houseguest opens their bag.

Whoever has the Recast power will immediately replace the current Head of Household and will have to make their nominations on the spot. The houseguest who is replaced cannot be nominated and the Recast power can only be used once, and once it has been used the whole twist is immediately over”

Marissa points out that if one of the boys, especially James, gets the power, two girls are going on the block without fail

Chuck and James discuss tactics, and make a pact and give themselves the very strange name of The Celebrators….One of the stupidest names ever, boys

Shannon is in a world of her own with this twist, and Mark reminds her how strong she is and is one of the biggest threats…Shannon is quite bemused by this and makes her feelings known in the Diary Room

Shannon recruits Ross, and he has no problem with it as he gets along more with girls more than boys

Straight into gym talk between Metta, Chuck and James….They are still talking about Shannon being a big threat…Chuck is noticing the divide between the men and the women

Chuck is then being given a face mask, which basically he is looking like he is in the early make up stages for The Incredible Hulk…Then him and Metta try on the girls false nails

James is STILL thinking there will be a boy and girl going up if one of the girls get the Recast power, resulting in Mark getting increasingly frustrated

Next up, Omarosa says she hasn’t had a chance to properly congratulate Shannon on winning HoH…She pitches to Shannon that she could show Shannon how loyal she could be and talks about a previous experience in the White House

Keshia walks in and immediately Omarosa talks about if Keshia trusted Bill Cosby

Shannon now moves onto Chuck and enquires if he has talked to people about looking out for each other

James thinks he is about become pie if he doesn’t go and talk to Shannon and enquires about who she may put up…He says he wants to remain in the house, and she asks if there is a male alliance and James denies it, but in the Diary Room he says he is keeping that info to himself

Shannon apologises to the ladies out here and says the eye candy has to go

Metta is next up and totally hints at walking in the Diary Room, resulting in him spilling some tears. 

He admits he is not going to open his gift bag which pleases Shannon, and she says he is staying as he won’t be going on the block

During a conversation with Ross and Omarosa, Omarosa spills some tears…Are they genuine tears or crocodile tears, answers on a postcard please

Ross thinks Omarosa is a delight, but is torn on whether or not he trusts her….Meanwhile, Omarosa’s tears keep flowing as she talks about life in the White House

The girls talk about Mark possibly being the pawn this week, and plan to make James the main target

The gift bag appears on the screen, and Ross reiterates that if a multiple number of houseguests want to open their gift bags then it would be decided by random draw

Chuck has decided to open his gift bag, much to the chagrin of some of the houseguests so Ross and the girls assemble ready with their declarations

Shannon declares Chuck may be in trouble for opening his gift bag after he gave his word he wouldn’t

Time for the nominations ceremony, but first let us all find out who has got lucky in the random draw

The colour chip drawn out of the box by Shannon is ORANGE, which was drawn by Keshia, and in her gift bag is THE RECAST POWER

So therefore it’s up to Keshia to decide on the spot, as per the twist rules, to who is on the block, and she nominates JAMES and CHUCK to be on the block pre-Veto

The gift bag twist is now officially over

Tonight is a 2 hour show, which will see the Power of Veto competition and also whichever two are on the block after Veto, one of them will be taking the short walk to talk to Julie

And that wraps it up for the first nominations episode for this season, hope this is a good read for those who do read it

An ok episode, and much more gameplay in the first two episodes than there was in the whole run of the last summer series

Next blog incoming post-eviction, so look out for it :)

Until next time, someone is always watching….

Exit CBB UK, Enter CBB USA

Welcome, citizens, into a fresh new series of Celebrity Big Brother and this time it is the debut of Celebrity Big Brother USA

A whole new batch of celebrities for us punteroonies to get our teeth into, and also a whole different format to what most of us are used to

Basically, the North American format is a lot more cutthroat than the UK version

• ·         There is no public vote
• ·         Strategy is the name of the game, and alliances are formed
• ·         Houseguests choose who to evict, save and when it gets to the business end there is a jury of ex houseguests who decide the overall winner

More will be explained about this format as this blog continues through this series, and I do hope I can get it right for those not familiar with this format

On to this series we go….

The boss of CBS’s wife Julie Chen welcomes us in, and we are straight down to business as we get a look at the first 5 to go in

3 weeks long (Feb 7-25 local time) and first up is lead singer of Sugar Ray, Mark McGrath

A familiar face to BBUK viewers, Brandi Glanville, is up next…She was in Summer CBB UK 2017, but didn’t make much of an impact overall. Apparently she hasn’t got a clue about the North American format but we will see as the show progresses and if she is still in there further down the line

NBA star, Meta World Peace, is next up….His story speaks for itself in terms of NBA

Next up is the beauty queen who was wrongly given the Miss Universe crown in 2015, Arianda Gutierrez

Ross Matthews up next, and he is a celebrity journalist….Will say he certainly has a high opinion of himself, says he’s a BB superfan as he sat in the audience for the very first civilian BB USA. We shall see, Ross

Julie welcomes the first 5 on stage, and congratulates them on being amongst the cast of the inaugural Celebrity Big Brother USA and in they go to get used to their surroundings

On to the second lot of houseguests:

Shannon Elizabeth – Claims to have watched every series of Big Brother USA, is a keen poker player and conservationist and has starred in many films such as Scary Movie and American Pie

Chuck Liddell – UFC Hall of Famer and former light heavyweight UFC champion

Keshia Knight Pulliam – Former child star of The Cosby Show. She has her own spice line called Keshia’s Kitchen and is a very keen cook

Marissa Jaret Winokur – Tony Award winning actress in the stage version of Hairspray and she reveals she has transitioned into a director as well. We see a short clip of her revealing to her son that she is going into the house. Her strategy is a social game, and she says she is no threat to either the girls or boys.

James Maslow – Big Time Rush actor and also a singer

Omarosa – Appeared on the first ever The Apprentice USA, to which a certain current president was the boss. Says she is a ‘reality tv legend’. Worked in the White House in the Trump administration and she also says she is a ‘superfan’.

Marissa’s silent OMG is observed on camera as Julie announces Omarosa to come on the stage

Shannon is sceptical about sharing a room with Omarosa, but she’ll see

Marissa reveals how close she is with Shannon, but won’t tell the others at least not yet

Omarosa tells James that she was on The Apprentice with Trump, she is distinctly unimpressed with his resume though…Have this feeling James is an early candidate for first out

Brandi is as clueless as everyone else on why James is in there, but does talk to him and keeps cutting him off. James walks away politely saying to himself how rude Brandi is, and she is being considered for the block if James wins Head of Household

Omarosa expresses an interest in working with Shannon for this shortened version of the USA series, then Shannon discusses if one of the ladies wins Head of Household then two of the guys will go on the chopping block

Julie appears on the plasma saying it’s time for the first Head of Household competition, and it’s endurance to get this season’s competitions underway

But first, houseguests have to stand behind a number and the houseguest who is standing behind the number contained in the envelope will be safe this week. Julie reveals the number and it is number FIVE, which to no great shock Omarosa is standing behind. They don’t want to see her sent on her way too early, that’s just personal opinion

Back to the competition, and everyone except obviously Omarosa has to hang on to a giant award for the longest time possible

And worst luck, Julie announces a song and dance number and perennial runner up Paul turns up in a top hat and tuxedo singing and dancing

Next to appear is Rachel, the winner from Series 13, who in my opinion had a lot of help from backstage to help her over the finish line

And back to last year, Cody and Jessica are sitting in the seats of the competition…2017 showmance still going strong

Back to the competition at hand, and the current houseguests get a load of slime and other stuff dropped on them

Meta and Marissa are early fallers, and shortly afterward the spinning of the statues speed up and a touch up of the statues follows and Mark and Ross fall to the crash mats

Ross is happy he outlasted an NBA player in Meta, Chuck then falls of his statue followed by Arianda

Kiesha and Brandi fall off and it’s down to James and Shannon

Chuck is hoping James wins, and then James nearly comes off his statue but hangs on just barely

Statues speed up some more and Shannon and James are barely hanging on, but James does eventually fall and Shannon is the first HoH of the season

The women have control so far, but that may change as Julie introduces 11 Big Brother gift bags and all will be revealed in a few moments

Back on the sofas, Julie goes back to the house after recapping the previous segment

11 gift bags are revealed in which the contents are not all the same, but one of them has the power to recast the Head of Household if the holder of the power so wishes

James is hoping to get that particular power, and Shannon says this power could knock her game sideways whoever gets the power

In the next episode, it’s Nominations time and then a 2 hour show the episode after for Power of Veto and also the first eviction of this season

All in all, a good start to the inaugural CBB for the USA…Really looking forward to seeing how this series pans out and hope it’s a success so we can have plenty more series

Some links you may want to watch out for in this series as they will be discussing this particular format

Big Brother Radio – www.bigbrotherradio.us

BB on Blast - https://www.spreaker.com/user/lightupvm

Rob has a Podcast - http://robhasawebsite.com/

If I've missed anyone, it's not personal and please free to post your links in the comments if you so wish. The more the merrier :)

First episode in the bag, and hope you will like my little contribution to this season

Until next time, and remember someone is always watching :)

CBB, it's time to let you go for another series

Greetings, citizens, and welcome to the final blog for this series and what a series it has been

Can't believe it's the end already, this series has absolutely flown by and you know the old saying "Time flies when you are having fun...."

Although the final two in Anne and Courtney may seem locked in, you never know what might happen as we have seen in so many series

The first CBB on Five when everyone thought Jedward would romp to victory, and they ended up finishing 3rd to winner Paddy and runner up Kerry Katona....

When Jedward made their return to the house, but ended up runners up to Coleen Nolan

Just two examples when you think someone has it wrapped up, then the voters pulled the rug from under the lot of us

So much tale of the tape to get through before 9pm, so here goes for a small look at the contenders before showtime

Shane L - Made a sandwich during one of the few arguments, can't really think of anything else apart from he will have the Boyzone fanbase vote and should not be underestimated. First or second out tonight, but stranger things have happened....

Placing prediction - 4th or 5th, no higher

Wayne - Has contributed immensely to this series even if he has been a bit pissed at times but has kept the morale up with his witty little activities

Placing prediction - 3rd

Jessica - Has provided a few amusing moments and she was actually correct with the cucumber and salmonella link, so not all bad but the I'm fick me stuff may have worn a bit thin with some

Placing prediction - 4th or 5th

Anne - Where to start with her, too many reminders of she who controlled the kitchen in regular series 8...The she who is banned who won Power Trip type housemate who will most likely finish top 2 after that it's up to the voters, well those who want to stop a certain someone else winning who will be mentioned in a moment

Placing prediction - Winner or runner up

Courtney - Like Anne, a very polarising housemate who has divided opinion across the board...Shame a small few of his fans have resorted to using a certain H word these last few days towards anyone who dares to critique him whether it be on forums or social media and that small number who will gloat like mad if he wins

Placing prediction - Winner or runner up

It really is that hard to call, and it will be fascinating to see the results as they come in...Personally I am not bothered too much who wins, but seriously good luck to the final 5 and fingers crossed it won't be too bad tempered out in forum and social media land whoever wins

And here we go....

WHOOP WHOOP and all that

First up, it's hello to the housemates who have gone, but Malika hasn't turned up yet

Momma Willis looking as hot as ever

5th place will be announced in 3 minutes, folks, get voting

Series recap before we get down to the real business and lots of happy memories to take away from this series, which is what it should be all about really....

Nice to have a series we can look back on fondly, which is very rare in this era of the show....Hoping it's not going to be a case of too little too late

5th place time, and finishing in 5th is WAYNE

Bit of a shock, thought he would finish at least 3rd as stated further up....Guess it's that Boyzone vote working for Shane L

Vote frozen again once Wayne's interview is done, let's get ready for 4th place....This SHOULD be Shane L or Jess, watch this space

And here we go again, time for 4th place to come on down and it's JESS

Who on earth is voting BOREZONE Lynch

But well done Jess, another member of the No Nominations club

Top 3 is confirmed as SHANE L, ANNE and COURTNEY

Vote frozen again, and a few minutes breather while everyone gets their breath back ready for bronze medal announcement

Taking the bronze medal in this series, no great shock it's BOREZONE Lynch

So the final 2 everyone called has become a reality and we have a 30 minute breather before the winner is announced

To say it's going to be rough when the winner is announced would be a massive understatement....

Half time in the CBB final January 2018

Final word from the top 2, before the announcement

And this is it, and the winner of CBB January 2018 is......COURTNEY

Anne is your runner up, folks

Like I said, not too bothered who wins and well done to the fans of the winning housemates, but in essence they have all been winners this series, and I hope that we will get more of the same in the summer when the civilian series rolls around

And for me that wraps up this particular series, and I would just like to say thank you to everyone who has taken some time to read this blog and I do hope it has been a good read and thank you so much for all the likes and retweets, it is very much appreciated

Mulling over about whether to do the US version and BB Canada, so watch this space or my twitter timeline

But before I go, I would like to point you in the direction of Big Brother Radio and BB on Blast  if you do suffer withdrawal from this amazing series seek out these two pretty top notch sites

Catalogues of show from both as far as the eye can see and come highly recommended :)

Thank you so much to all the fansites, DSBB forum members and everyone else in between for all the laughs and opinions, it certainly hasn't been a dull series and looking forward to doing this again in the summer

The biggest thanks and I do mean this most sincerely go to Emma, Rylan, Marcus and everyone else on the BB crew for putting on a dam good series even if it did have its little faults and look forward to the summer

Nice to have a series to remember for the right reasons and not be saying thank god that's over

I hate long goodbyes, but as the curtain falls on another series and the last firework has flown for Courtney's victory, everything is crossed the show gets another contract as we start the road to the summer shows, or perhaps sooner those sticking around for CBB US and BB Canada

So long for now, and remember someone is always watching even if we are not ;)

Thank you, good night and see you maybe in the summer :)

Return (or should that be Revenge) of the ex housemates

Greetings citizens for the penultimate blog of this current series

Tonight we see the return of the evicted housemates for a task and a party

Lucky us, some would say

These people were evicted for a reason, and it does seem a bit pointless sending them back in when they will be seeing each other anyway for the finale and then the wrap party....So in essence they will be having two wrap parties

Some of them won't be able to help themselves in revealing what's going on out here, but I suppose BB had to cater to the MTV generation or those who just love the arguing eventually and tonight is that night

Still it's only one night, but could still affect the result tomorrow however don't think it will alter the probably already locked in final 2 of Courtney and Anne

So without further ado, let's get down to business, grin and bear it, and let the ex not rights have their extra minute on tonight's show

Day 30, but we don't need to be reminded what is happening today ;)

Lights on in the bedroom and an all too familiar voice is on hand to wake them up in Ginuwine, and so it begins and in Celebrity Hijack style

Ginuwine proceeds to treat the people still in there with a breakfast each, and then the men who bring the breakfast in do a striptease

Anne already complaining in the Diary Room, no great shock there

John Barnes turn on the mic, and he gives Jess and Anne a football training session to complete...A bit of fun I suppose

Anne doing her daily routine of talking to the camera, and we have some sofa gatherage

Good grief, India's back, this will go down well for some...not

We are treated to some furious flashbacks, in Courtney's malfunction on launch night and a dig at Shane L making a sandwich, Wayne getting cleaned in the bath by Amanda and Jess's cucumber/salmonella connection

Then we get Anne directing Dapper around the mini race course played on the plasma

And lots of outside information is sent in as India tells them how they are being perceived out here, which should NOT be allowed...Go away and piss off, India...Be bitter someplace else

Dapper up next, and he gives Jess a little game of Yes and No, Courtney a game of Would You Rather

Now Andrew makes an appearance via the secret wall, to the happiness of Courtney and Courtney gets a secret mission

While Courtney is doing his secret mission, Anne walks across the living area and Andrew sticks two fingers up at Anne as she walks past....Eventually they all spot him on the wall

Rachel up next with one of her crappy rapping, but look out in she goes and then a flood of ex housemates are not far behind.....'Nuff said

India STILL giving away outside information might I add

Remember the days of old when they were left alone to enjoy the final week without any interference to make things miserable

Lucky us, the most boring showmance in the history is now back on again, as in Ashley and Ginuwine and then it's back to Courtney and Andrew in the bathroom

Finally they are out of there, and that's end credits

Not as bad as I feared, but wish they could have done more to keep India quiet about the outside

Going to knock off half a point for the outside information, but at the moment this series is heading for 8 out of 10 overall

So that's the penultimate episode in the bag as the ex housemates leave in readiness for the final 5 to head out the door tomorrow, and despite India giving away way too much about the outside this series will get a high rating from me no matter who wins tomorrow

Tomorrow see the next and hopefully not final January winner crowned, who wins YOU decide

Just hope forums and social media will stay pleasant and not spontaneously combust with cries of fix if their favourite doesn't win

Remember it's only a TV show, so the best of luck to the final 5 for tomorrow no matter what people's feelings are about them

In closing, remember once proceedings are over tomorrow, the US version starts on February 7 local time, and the early hours of February 8 for us in the UK

Remember, someone is always watching even if we are not ;)

Until the final time tomorrow.....