Mrluvaluva
03-06-2010, 01:43 AM
The final freakshow: We all know Big Brother humiliates and exploits contestants - so why do so many still want to take part?
Lady Herregina Princess Babserella the Third of Prussea has a problem that is making her so teary it threatens to spill her thick mascara all over her long, red, sequined cocktail dress and huge feathery wings.
The problem is this: Lady Babs's real name is Adam Chapman. He is a 28-year-old drag queen who tours bars in Nottingham. He is desperate to become a famous comedian, but worries that no one will find pudgy Adam funny.
He thinks his glitzy dress, bouffant wig and tinkly Lady Babs voice might make him stand out more, but he still isn't confident.
So, here he is, queuing up at the only place he thinks he might make it. Joining him is Maria, a 37-year-old mother of six who is still scarred from childhood bullying.
She hopes that she, too, might find happiness at last. Chef Michael Gianatiempo is also haunted by self-doubt.
He has just been through a divorce, realised he was gay, had difficulty getting access to his children and still isn't as successful as celebrity TV chef Gino D'Acampo, his idol.
These glum-looking, teary social misfits are all looking for personal salvation in the same place. They are queuing outside Wembley Arena at 8am on a bitter morning in February for a 30-minute audition and the chance to star in the last-ever series of Channel 4's Big Brother, which begins next week.
Deluded as it sounds, many see this chance of fame as a Holy Grail and will do anything to get it - starting with queuing for eight tedious hours for the first stage of the gruelling five-month audition process. and there's a lot of competition, in the form of hundreds of other - often distinctly tragic - hopefuls.
Paul Bachvarov grew up in a strict Bulgarian orphanage, where, he says, he spent most of his youth shoeless and dressed in rags. Aged 29, he has a good job in a nursery and a flat in West London.
But it's not enough. He believes the only way to truly exorcise his childhood 'demons' is to appear on Big Brother.
Frankie Howard agrees. She has just been given the all-clear after battling cancer. Instead of going back to her bar job in a Butlins holiday camp, the 20-year-old believes Big Brother will fill the void her illness has left behind.
There are 1,800 people queuing and Paul, Maria and poor old Lady Babs are straining to tell their stories over the beat of drums, throngs of people singing a tuneless rendition of Lulu's Shout! And a middle-aged woman performing chimpanzee impressions.
Read the rest here, and see the photos (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1283533/Big-Brother-We-know-humiliates-exploits-contestants--want-part.html?ito=feeds-newsxml)
It's far too long.
Lady Herregina Princess Babserella the Third of Prussea has a problem that is making her so teary it threatens to spill her thick mascara all over her long, red, sequined cocktail dress and huge feathery wings.
The problem is this: Lady Babs's real name is Adam Chapman. He is a 28-year-old drag queen who tours bars in Nottingham. He is desperate to become a famous comedian, but worries that no one will find pudgy Adam funny.
He thinks his glitzy dress, bouffant wig and tinkly Lady Babs voice might make him stand out more, but he still isn't confident.
So, here he is, queuing up at the only place he thinks he might make it. Joining him is Maria, a 37-year-old mother of six who is still scarred from childhood bullying.
She hopes that she, too, might find happiness at last. Chef Michael Gianatiempo is also haunted by self-doubt.
He has just been through a divorce, realised he was gay, had difficulty getting access to his children and still isn't as successful as celebrity TV chef Gino D'Acampo, his idol.
These glum-looking, teary social misfits are all looking for personal salvation in the same place. They are queuing outside Wembley Arena at 8am on a bitter morning in February for a 30-minute audition and the chance to star in the last-ever series of Channel 4's Big Brother, which begins next week.
Deluded as it sounds, many see this chance of fame as a Holy Grail and will do anything to get it - starting with queuing for eight tedious hours for the first stage of the gruelling five-month audition process. and there's a lot of competition, in the form of hundreds of other - often distinctly tragic - hopefuls.
Paul Bachvarov grew up in a strict Bulgarian orphanage, where, he says, he spent most of his youth shoeless and dressed in rags. Aged 29, he has a good job in a nursery and a flat in West London.
But it's not enough. He believes the only way to truly exorcise his childhood 'demons' is to appear on Big Brother.
Frankie Howard agrees. She has just been given the all-clear after battling cancer. Instead of going back to her bar job in a Butlins holiday camp, the 20-year-old believes Big Brother will fill the void her illness has left behind.
There are 1,800 people queuing and Paul, Maria and poor old Lady Babs are straining to tell their stories over the beat of drums, throngs of people singing a tuneless rendition of Lulu's Shout! And a middle-aged woman performing chimpanzee impressions.
Read the rest here, and see the photos (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1283533/Big-Brother-We-know-humiliates-exploits-contestants--want-part.html?ito=feeds-newsxml)
It's far too long.