That's a very interesting question Mark. I still think they wouldn't want to because I don't think he was the reason that ultimately stopped them from doing it, but it did stop the flirting from taking off so seriously so soon. They both had to pretend to not fancy each other for longer than they might have done. On the other hand, if they didn't have to spend so much time pretending nothing was going on and instead had the odd snog, then the sexual tension might not have reached crisis point. Helen was better at forgetting the cameras, but regardless of boyfriends I don't think Paul could forget his mother and Nan were watching. That will always dampen your passion.
They should definitely choose completely different people, not just to keep it fresh, but to prevent people trying to base strategies on what happened in previous years. I'd like to see someone older, but fun. I've forgotten her name, but the woman who lost out to Josh would have brought in an interesting dynamic. A person in their forties or fifties who chooses to do BB would have to be up for a laugh. It would make it possible for someone with children to be in there without being an absentee parent. They would be more likely to have the skills to be motherly/fatherly and comforting and holding things together without having to be dull about it. I think they should avoid having anyone too young. Helen and Brian were the youngest and least mature, so they need to avoid that. Young people who are too mature are just plain boring or wierd, so should also be avoided.
Dean was perhaps right when he said there should have been some-one a bit more hard-line. This year they were either too liberal, or too PC to voice disapproval of anyone else's lifestyle with any enthusiasm. Apart from Liz moaning about people being lively and Penny hogging the kitchen, but that's hardly the same.
I think anyone like that would be nominated and evicted pretty quickly, but it would at least mean next year’s Dean might have a decent reason for nominations. They should be made to give better reasons for their nominations too. The first person to mention gelling should be made to sleep with the chickens. They can’t have the contestants going mad, so some soothing people are required, but all chilled tai-chi and sunbathing makes for dull television. To aid sanity amongst exuberant people they could give them a little extra space for the early weeks, but take it away when the numbers are reduced.
I think starting with 20 people as is rumoured is too many, but just having an extra couple of people, then doing a double eviction week 5 might up the pace a bit and make it harder for people to select their strategy. It might also be interesting to not allow them to nominate the same 2 people week after week until the end. Apart from being a bit harsh, it was dull having Paul nominated each week. It would force people to be more imaginative, and stop any one individual being under constant strain. Knowing you could be facing the outside world soon made them all behave differently and showed a different side of their personality. I’d have liked to have seen it from more of them, and less often from Paul. Regardless of sexual chemistry, it was inevitable Helen and Paul would hang around together. They were the only ones who knew what it was like to survive an eviction. I might be wrong, but I think the only thing that stopped Craig getting nominated each week was his unmasking of Nick.
Oops, gone of track a bit, but I think it is important they ensure no copy-cat tactics are used. Although Liz tried an impression of Anna with quite different effects. That should be a lesson to them all.
One sort of person I’d love to see would be someone who has studied psychology and psychiatry - possibly even a professional. A psychiatrist would be better because then there would be more potential for conflict of opinion with someone with a psychology background (the tv psychologists in particular). There would also be the benefit of having a medic for those sprained ankle and tin-can emergencies. Anyone with a profession like doctor, lawyer or accountant is bound to provoke a reaction. I heard that when an American contestant told the group he was a doctor he suddenly became much more interesting to a couple of the women – one in particular. The opposite of Josh telling the group he was gay! Lawyers and accountants are also likely to have good incomes, but society doesn’t generally like them so much. If you could find a policeman mad enough to go on, it would make those late night drug debates more interesting.
