[Red Moon]

HECTOR HOUSE
Bullying Pete: I've gone too far with Jodie
By Cameron Robertson And Fiona Cummins, Showbiz Reporter

13 January 2006

PETE Burns admitted he may have gone too far in his attacks on Jodie Marsh.

Big Brother viewers saw the former Dead or Alive singer slam the model over her refusal to take constructive criticism.

But he admitted: "It's like a smell in the air but all of us united can just ignore it.

"It may be being really cruel to her, though. But if we all turned hostile on her now, she could just walk and say, 'I was driven from the Big Brother house by 50-year-olds'. Everyone would feel sorry for her, sobbing on the top of the steps as she fled the building in two belts."

Since her confrontation with the entire group on Tuesday night Jodie has barely spoken.

Pete said he believes she cannot help but cause arguments and has an "addiction to friction". He told Michael Barrymore: "It's a lesson I'll take away from here - addiction to friction. At times I've had it.

"I'm agitated with certain people in my life, I know what they're doing wrong and I'll go down and start picking on them. It's ridiculous because you're going to isolate yourself."

But yesterday he was still mocking her. Doing an exaggerated imitation he said: "Everybody hates me, it's the anniversary of Mother Teresa's death. You know a bird died somewhere in the Carpathian mountains."

Channel 4 said 18 viewers complained that Jodie had been bullied but 18 more complained about her behaviour.

Bookies slashed the odds on Pete being booted out tonight from 16-1 to 6-1. Jodie was still favourite to go but improved slightly from 2-7 to 4-11.

Darren Haines, of bookies Paddy Power, said: "There's a bit of sympathy for Jodie. Pete's onslaught did not go down well.

Source: Mirror