[James]

Interview with James from the Sunday Mail.

JAMES: 10 DAYS CHANGED MY LIFE FOREVER

By Thomas Quinn

SCOT James Kelly emerges as one of the stars of Teen Big Brother with his backing for a gay housemate.

James, 18, of Paisley, and Hasan fell out over the issue after the devout Muslim criticised Irish lad Paul's homosexual lifestyle.

He said: “As far as our generation is concerned to say something bad about someone's sexuality is just as bad as saying something bad about someone's race, and that's the point I was making to Hasan.''

The ex-Paisley Grammar School pupil found the 10 days he spent inthe Big Brother house a real test of character. He said: “I assumed I was going to be the life and soul of the house the joker and comedian. But it really didn't turn out like that.

The rest is here

[James]

Tommy and Jade, and profiles of the housemates in the Sunday Mail.
Full article at the Sunday Mail

Tommy and Jade join forces with Channel 4 to defend the first BB bonk as the `honest and typical behaviour' of a pair of 18-year-olds

By Natasha Weale

BIG Brother's wee brother is about to divide the nation... by showing two teenage housemates slipping under the duvet for a spot of reality TV lovemaking.

Goodbye to BB predictability and camera hogging by attention-seeking, talentless wannabes and hello to great entertainment with some genuine housemates you're sure to love or hate. With no gimmicks, no public vote and, initially, no prize being offered to the winner, Teen Big Brother The Experiment is reality TV gone back to shocking basics.

The junior version starring eight youngsters aged 18 and over has achieved what all four Big Brother shows were desperate for the first pair of housemates to have a BB bonk.

In the week-long series to be shown on Channel 4 from tomorrow viewers will see Tommy Wright and Jade Dyer, both 18, snuggle up for a saucy session as the other six housemates sleep nearby.

The next day Jade was given the morning-after pill by Teen Big Brother's bosses.

The show, has been slammed as voyeuristic and manipulative especially after Channel 4 promoted it to a prime-time slot for five successive nights after it was originally created for its educational arm 4 Learning.

But Tommy and Jade deny they were exploited by the show to boost ratings.

Jade said: “I wasn't aware of the cameras at all I completely forgot about them. I'm not usually that forward but I really fancied Tommy.''

Tommy said: “It did cross my mind I was having sex in front of loads of TV lenses but after a while I started to ignore the fact there were people behind them. It felt like they were little robots.''

Sunday Mail doctor Gareth Smith, the show's psychologist, says the teen version is compulsive viewing.

Dr Smith, who gives snapshots opposite of what the teenagers are like, added: “When anyone watches this type of show what they want to see is reality.

“In Big Brother 1 the contestants didn't have a clue what they were getting into and that's what made them captivating.

“The same happens with the teenage housemates. They weren't really fans of the show, they didn't want careers out of it and it's never been done before.

“It's Big Brother in its purest format honest and non-exploitative.''

Dr Gareth knocks down suggestions that showing a teenage couple having sex is voyeuristic. He said: “They didn't do anything any other 18-year-old wouldn't have done in the situation.

“I really hope when the public come to watch it they don't perceive them as older than they are or forget what they were like as 18-year-olds...

continued here

JADE AND TOMMY

TEEN Big Brother lovers Jade Dyer and Tommy Wright insist they got so carried away they forgot all about the cameras during their romp.

Jade, of Lowestoft, Suffolk, said: “I wasn't aware of the cameras at all.

“I'm not usually that forward but I really fancied Tommy.''

In the show Tommy, of Weymouth Dorset, comes across as very genuine and open with a great sense of humour.

Initial impression is that he's a bit like Harry Enfield's teenage terror Kevin but he's trusting and loyal.

He's also pretty temperamental and being put together with mouthy Jade leads to a lot of rows.

In the main Jade was a popular housemate and got on well with everyone.

She is very funny but there is a part of her that is insecure. Jade lives in a caravan park and works as a barmaid in a holiday camp.

TRACEY

TRACEY, of Runcorn, Cheshire, speaks at 300 words a minute when she's on a roll.

She's quick to speak her mind which resulted in her and Paul having a few clashes.

A very warm and genuine person she was incredibly useful in the aftermath of Tommy and Jade's night together. She acted as the go-between.

Tracey is not afraid to say what she thinks and while she isn't a stirrer intentionally she did manage to stir things up in the house on occasion.

HASAN

LONDONER Hasan had a bit of trouble sharing a room with the other housemates because, as a devout Muslim, he needed his personal space to pray five times a day.

But he racked up Brownie points by just getting on with it and refusing to lose his temper as the girls gabbed during his prayers. Could be accused of being so laid back he is virtually horizontal. As a result he's remarkably tolerant of other people's behaviour, though his views on homosexuality did cause friction in the house.

SHANEEN

SHANEEN, of Leeds, quickly took on the role as mum of the house.

She cares about people and always sees the good in everybody but sometimes she cares too much.

This could be because she's the product of a broken home her parents split when she was young and she did not have the most stable upbringing.

She has a warm and sensitive personality and was one of the most popular housemates but doesn't deal well with conflict.

PAUL

GAY hairdresser Paul, of Belfast, is incredibly outspoken on the show and comes across as a bit of a show-off.

Despite being a tad tempermental he also displays a loveable side and is very friendly.

He bonded most with Jade almost a brother-sister style relationship. He helped to diffuse a lot of the tension among other housemates by playing the clown.

Paul was at the centre of a row with Hasan who did not approve of his gay lifestyle.

CAROLINE

CAROLINE from Ashford, Kent, is very middle class and obviously comes from a privileged background.

She was on her way to university and is without a doubt the most politically astute of the housemates.

On the show she comes across as seeking approval from the others but often likes to consider herself the leader of the house.

She got on well with everyone in the house with the exception of the more mouthy and out-going Tracey.

[James]

Programme criticised by family campaigners:

C4 under fire over real-life teen sex
By James Morrison, Arts and Media Correspondent

12 October 2003

Family campaigners last night called on Channel 4 to pull this week's teenage version of Big Brother featuring the first scene of real-life sex ever shown on British television.

Claire Rayner, the veteran TV agony aunt, and a leading charity urged executives to reconsider their decision to screen the peak-time show, in which 18-year-olds Tommy Wright and Jade Dyer are shown having sex under a duvet. Ms Rayner described the programme as "criminal", while Robert Whelan, the director of Family and Youth Concern, advised viewers to "get a life" and boycott it.

The decision to include the scenehas also been criticised by Mr Wright's mother, Christine. Mrs Wright of Weymouth, Dorset, told London's Evening Standard newspaper her family was in "shock" and described Channel 4 as "irresponsible".

Teen Big Brother, to be screened over five nights at 10pm from tomorrow, is controversial in several respects. It was originally commissioned by 4Learning, Channel 4's educational unit, as a serious daytime programme exploring the "reality" of modern teenage life. But when executives realised how potentially explosive the footage was, they decided to switch it to prime time - with a re-edited version for teenagers to follow in a daytime slot next January...

Full article here

[James]

The Scotsman accuses Channel 4 of hypocrisy.

Time for a reality check

Rick Hewett


If you thought Derren Brown’s fake Russian roulette stunt a few days ago showed British TV in a distasteful light, just wait until next week. Channel 4, in a triumph for Big Brother executives who have spent five fruitless years trying to capture rumpy pumpy through their peeping Tom cameras, is to show the first "live" sex on prime-time British TV.

The "consenting adults" are not your normal BB housemates intent on becoming minor celebrities. The giggling and fumbling under a duvet in a darkened room emanate from two 18-year-olds, Jade Dyer, a barmaid from Lowestoft, Suffolk, and Tommy Wright, a science student from Weymouth, Dorset.

The scenes are a dubious landmark for British reality TV, though what viewers are most likely to conclude is that the whole episode carries with it the whiff of classic TV hypocrisy.

Our young lovers appear in Teen Big Brother - The Experiment, a programme said to have been conceived with the notion of assessing the behaviour of a small group of teenagers in a controlled environment. It was commissioned by 4Learning, the educational programming department, and had been allocated a graveyard daytime slot as if to prove its serious credentials.

Predictably, however, when filming was completed, Channel 4’s ratings-hungry executives decided it had a mainstream winner on its hands, probably because the footage was peppered with yobbish behaviour and expletives. Suddenly, Teen BB became an "engaging, captivating and entertaining series about the world of Britain’s teenagers", deserving of "a larger audience". Which means we can all now enjoy this affirmation of teenage life at 10pm every day next week...

More of this article here

[internetsusie]

I would like to say that what was written in the paper was a load of rubbish, I am tommys mum, and not once have I said I was shocked, nor have I said channel 4 are irresponsible for showing the programme, I have no idea where that came from, I have written to the paper concerned and told them exactly how I feel about the lies they have written, of course they wont reply, nor will they retract any of it, just for the record, I would like to say I am not ashamed of Tommy, I will say I am not proud of what he did, but whats done is done, but he is 18 an adult, he can do what he likes.
The evening standard tricked me into talking to them, we are ex directory and when he phoned me he said channel 4 had given them our number and they were speaking to all the housemates parents as a preveiw to the show going on air, I stupidly believed him and told him stuff, but not once did I mention shock, horror, disapointment, or any thing as negative. That will be the very last time I speak to any journalist, I would never trust another reporter ever again.l

[kaphc]

It sounds like you're going to have quite a lot of media interest over the next week!

I think it's sad but true that whatever you say to a journalist will be twisted around, unless you sign a deal with someone like OK where it's a bit more promotional.

I hope that you don't get hounded by them too much.

Journalists - arrrgh!

[Kaz]

Thanks for the links to all the articles, James.

I would like to say that what was written in the paper was a load of rubbish, I am tommys mum, and not once have I said I was shocked, nor have I said channel 4 are irresponsible for showing the programme, I have no idea where that came from . .

Hi, internetsusie. I really appreciate the fact that you and Animal/Insider have decided to join this forum.

We unfortunately have to rely very much on information gleaned from the newspapers for all our Big Brother 'news', and we are aware that lots of things written have to be taken with a huge pinch of salt. My loathing of the tabloids is well documented throughout the forum .

I think you've been treated terribly by these so-called journalists - they really are the scum of the earth.

Thank you so much for giving us the truth behind the 'headlines' - it's very much appreciated.

[James]

It's awful that journalists can just invent quotes out of nothing. There should be a code of conduct or something that they have to follow.

Though I guess tabloid journalists just write what they think the public wants to read, even if it's true or not. They're basically in the entertainment industry not the news industry.

[internetsusie]

There is nothing you can do about a news story they print, whether its true or not, you can go to the press complaints commission, but by the time they do anything about it the news is forgotten about, I have been told by channel 4 that the press dont usualy want nice, they only want scandal, so its just not worth saying anything at all to them as if its not horrible they wont print it, still over the next few days I expect more stuff will be written but we have come to expect only the bad stuff to be printed. I am very excited and nervous about this week, the waiting is over now and we will have to see what the critics make of the programme, I am hoping now they will see that Tommy and Jade did more than THAT in the house and will just write about something else.