 |
at gardencroft
|
|
at gardencroft
|
|
BBC CASTAWAY 2000 ALL THE LATEST NEWS AND GOSSIP REGULAR UPDATES RICHARD BRANSON AND BILL GATES LOTTERY BALLISTIC MISSILES ON THE ISLE OF WIGHT? INTO V.W.BEETLES & CAMPERS? TRY THIS! PREGNANT? PLANNING A BABY? BUNDLE OF JOY ALREADY HERE? TRY THE GARDENCROFT PREGNANCY WEBSITE I WORK IN BIRMINGHAM'S JEWELLRY QUARTER SEE WHAT WE DO FOR A LIVING!
in association with
|
NASTY NICK: I'M
By EMILY SMITH AXED Big Brother contestant Nick Bateman this afternoon called his nasty Nick nickname "extreme" and said: "I'm not a murderer!" Speaking at a press conference, he said: "I'm just an ordinary guy who took part in an unusual experiment under immense scrutiny and pressure. "Being labelled the most hated man in Britain isn't something that attaches to me. I was just taking part in a game show. "I haven't committed a murder - it's a very small error. People will have to have the capacity to forgive and forget." Asked about his double-dealing, he said: "I regret lying." There were guffaws of laughter from journalists as he added: "I would never run down any of the other contestants."
He said: "I wasn't playing to win. I wanted to enjoy the experience. "I'm over-competitive. "I did things in an overt way, which was picked up. You have to go for it 100 per cent.
"It wasn't a garden party by any stretch of the imagination. It was very hard." Nick he dismissed claims that he was a Channel Four plant as "absurd". He said: "It's completely not true." And he said that he would take up Channel Four's offer of counselling, adding: "All contestants should go through it. "It's a huge transition coming back into the outside world." Nick explained that contestants started out feeling very aware of the cameras. He said: "Some of them were whirring around the room. Everyone was very shy, especially going for a pee. "It was a great pleasure yesterday going for a
pee without a camera!"
He predicted that Anna would win the final
£70,000.
A Channel Four spokesman told how 6.2million viewers tuned in the show yesterday - the highest figure in 18 years in that slot during the channel's history. The website got 10 million hits yesterday - thought to be the most ever for any Internet site. Nick said the contestants had no idea how
popular the show was.
Nick came out of hiding nearly 24 hours after he left the TV house having told housemates: "I did what I did for selfish reasons." He called a meeting in the living room moments after being booted out by Channel 4 bosses and said: "I'm going to be leaving in 15 minutes. I've broken the rules so I have to leave. "This was a competition and I wanted to go as far as possible.
"I had nothing against any of you personally. "I did what I did at the time for selfish reasons. I made a stupid decision." Nick, 33, was whisked away in a black Mercedes after leaving by a secret back exit at 5pm. Channel 4 said: "We have today disqualified Nicholas Bateman from any further participation in the programme. "Nick was evicted for persistent infringement of the Big Brother rules after it came to light he had yet again been attempting to manipulate the show's nomination process." A new contestant will join the camera-filled house on Saturday to replace Nick. On hearing the news of the new arrival, man-eating Mel said: "Will it be a bloke? It's going to be a bloke." The replacement is eligible to win the prize money, but they will not be allowed to have a vote, or be eligible for eviction for a whole week. Despite the drama, voting continues as normal today on the eviction of Craig or Nichola. Nick's end came hours after a dramatic showdown with housemates - which was watched by so many fans on the Internet the Website crashed. He squirmed and eventually broke down in tears as they accused him of being a "scheming liar". Scouser Craig told him: "I thought you were genuine. I was misled and you made me look a fool. "I told Big Brother, five million people, my family and friends that I think you are a genuine guy and would like to spend the rest of the duration with you. I feel a ****." The row blew up after Craig and Darren, 22, searched Nick's bag and found papers listing his voting plans. The stockbroker had been slipping notes to housemates in a bid to influence their choices - which is strictly against Big Brother rules. Furious Craig, 28, told Nick he could not believe they had ever trusted him. He said: "You are plotting against everybody in here to vote against each other and divert it from you. "There are a number of people sitting around this table who have said you have shown them a piece of paper with various names on, including my own. "How can you be so two-faced, Nick? How can you do that? "You have passed a piece of paper with my name on in a conspiracy to get me out. "You've been caught out. You've dug your own grave." Nick at first tried to deny plotting, insisting: "That is absolutely absurd." But he was forced to own up after Mel and Tom revealed they had seen the secret notes. He then confessed showing the pair notes carrying Craig and Nichola's names to try to swing the vote. Dad-of-three Darren raged: "I am absolutely disgusted - that's sick. "You are a grown gentleman and this is so childish. "How can you do it? Do you want to win the £70,000 that much?" Nick remained speechless during the bust-up but finally blurted out: "Yes, I have done something wrong." Then he ran sobbing to pack his things. Mel, 26, followed him, stroking his shoulder and trying to convince him to wait. But later the other housemates said they were not happy about him staying since Craig or Nichola were due to be dumped today. Lesbian ex-nun Anna, 29, said: "I wouldn't want either of those two to leave. It's not fair the nominations for this week should stand." Meanwhile, Caroline O'Shea, 37 - booted out last Friday - was celebrating Nick's comeuppance. She said: "It's great. My only regret is I am not there to give him a big punch across the jaw." Nick's closest pals rushed to the house in East London after being invited by Channel 4 bosses. One said: "He's been very foolish scheming and writing those notes. "Nick is competitive but he also really wants to be liked by people. "It will be very hard for him to come out into the world to find so much bad feeling against him. We'll have to hide him away." Nick is also expected to have counselling to help him cope with the public backlash against him. Before yesterday, viewers were regularly left screaming at the screen in frustration because the housemates seemed to have no clue about his tactics. Nick, who was NEVER nominated for the axe by his housemates, first emerged as the villain when he said Caroline and Sada, 27, should go in the first vote - then rushed to comfort them. He then claimed his wife died in a car smash - which was a lie. He also boasted he had been in the Territorial Army - another lie. The moment the Internet came of age By DOMINIC MOHAN NASTY Nick's dramatic exit was one of most electrifying things I have ever seen on screen - and the moment the Internet came of age. Forget JR being shot in Dallas and Tiffany's death in EastEnders, yesterday's viewing was as gripping as England's fatal penalty shoot-out during the last World Cup. For five hours I logged onto the Big Brother website and watched as Nick was rumbled and humiliated by his housemates. After 34 days, his fellow contestants had finally sussed him out and I'd have given a week's wages to watch Nick squirm like that again. Up until that moment Craig had been little more than an annoying Scouser but before my eyes he was transformed into a working class hero. In an impassioned speech Al Pacino would be proud of, he said: "I thought you were genuine. I was misled and you made me look a fool. "You're making it hard for me to believe what anyone else has said." (Not schhhure Al could have mastered the Liverpudlian schhhpeech impediment though.) In that moment, Craig saved his skin and I predict he won't be kicked out of the house this weekend when the public vote. Thanks to him, the rest of the house saw the light and Nick was history. Darren played a blinder too. He was succinct, cutting and his voice boomed with anger. Nick the conniving, double-crossing posh bloke was a quivering mess and as he sobbed into his pillow I punched the air with joy. That was when I knew my Kick Out Nick campaign had succeeded. I always thought "it had me on the edge of my seat" was a cliché but I nearly fell off mine twice. It was as if I was watching the best acted soap of all time until I remembered what I was watching was real. It's going to take a while to wipe the grin off my face - WE KICKED NICK OUT!
|
