I was really glad when Jade finished fourth. Not that I had anything against Jade, it was just that the Mirror (in its perverse way), the Star, and the Sun (in a big about-turn from its "Get the Pig Out" days) all campaigned for Jade to win in the final week and let's face it, those papers have the biggest circulations.

But people were not swayed.

I avoid buying the Sun (I think every copy comes with little microbes attached that kill a few brain cells, and the cumulative effect can be quite nasty) but I have read the BB articles on line, and, yes, there have been some naughty goings on in the house, but, that said, they are exaggerated, and they are the only bits the Sun seemed to find worth reporting.

I read the Star once or twice during BB (note: read, not bought!) and I thought that it was so sex-obsessed that even innocent japes were given a sexual spin.

And as for the Mirror, I really think that Jonny and Kate probably have grounds to sue them for libel. The Mirror's obsession about Kate boiling knickers early on in the show was more obsessive than Alex's problem with Jonny pee-ing in the shower! And the constant name-calling of housemates, especially Jonny was disgraceful. First it was "cheating weasel" because he got his foot on the line in the basketball task. Then it was "sex mad molester" because he tried to pick Kate off the floor when they were both absolutely plastered, under her shoulders, and her body was so loose due to the drink, she slipped through and he ended up at one point pulling her up by the boobs. There was no evidence to suggest that it was any more than a drunken accident, but as any journalist will tell you, don't let the truth get in the way of a good story.

Still, the Mirror's "anti-Big Brother" stance was so transparent that I don't suppose anyone took a blind bit of notice.

Oh and then there were the Polls. Weren't they all wrong in the final week! The only "poll" which correctly picked a winner were the bookies' odds (the Sun lied that Jade was favourite -- she wasn't it was Kate right through the last week). Even they got second all wrong, as Paddy Power had Jonny odds on to be out first on the last day.

Once the last night TV coverage started, I got the feeling from the crowds outside that it was going to be Kate and Jonny's night. It suddenly became clear that they were the fans' favourites. TV and newpaper polls reflect back what they say to the people and the sort of people that watch that program/read that newpaper. That's why a RI:SE poll and GMTV poll taken on the same morning gave totally different results.

I am also coming to a conclusion about why so many "celebs" backed Alex on BBLB. Could it be that, as a model, and therefore in a glamourous job, these "celebs", consciously or otherwise, saw Alex as one of their own.

Back to the result. Perhaps the people got sick of being told who to vote for, saw through the hypocrisy of all the tabloids over Jade. Perhaps they found that, whatever Alex's qualities (and I'll leave that to others) it got a bit boring hearing celebs as different as Tara Hyphen Poshbird, Nina Wadia, and even Kathy Burke give no other valid reason than they fancied him.

And perhaps the constant accusations levelled at Kate and Jonny of performing to the cameras, perhaps people thought: So what, it's funny! Particularly when C4/E4 kept showing Alex doing just that (That's the Way I Like It), and Jade espousing her own qualities non-stop for the cameras in the last week.

So, the people ignored the hype, and thought for themselves. It restores my faith, as they say!

Now if only the record-buying public could be persuaded to ignore the hype and buy for the music, or is that too much to expect??

After writing the above I went to the corner shop. The Star and The Express (who have signed Jade up for her exclusive story) announced Jade as the "real winner" and hardly mentioned the other three at all! The "anti-Big Brother" Mirror was slating the public for voting for Kate (surely if they are anti-Big Brother they should have slated the public for voting at all and not backed anyone but anyway...).

Jade may make money from the newspapers but she is not the winner. The winner is the person who gets the public vote. The public has absolutely no control over who the media decide to throw money at!! Jade might get rich, but she didn't win because we as the public chose Kate.

In any case, Jade was backed by three mass-circulation tabloid newspapers and a number of celebrities and came 4th.

Alex was backed by a stream of celebrities on BBLB and RI:SE and came 3rd.

In comparison Kate and Jonny were backed by a relatively small number of celebs and did not have any programs or presenters or newspapers on their side.

Real winner? Or are Express Group newspapers trying to protect their investment?

[OwnedByCats]

I never listen to anybody when picking who I want to win. I have a mind of my own & can't be swayed. Obviously I'm not the only one as Kate won, & Jonny was second. It's nice to see that people do have minds of their own. Though some people are very easily led. It seems very sad, but it's true.

Just look @ Alex. Every time he made a new *friend*, he was easily led by them. Did we ever see the true Alex? I don't know, but he reminds me of someone who just has no mind of his own.

Thank goodness the British public came through for Kate and Jonny. If it had gone any other way, I would have been very disheartened.

[bananarama]

You make a valid observation there OwnedByCats. About Alex not having a mind of his own!!

To be nasty I could follow up by saying he had not got his mummy and dady there to tell him what to think. But I won't be that nasty.

Alex has a very confused mind and he knows it. To be fair he is a unique personality or should I say a split personality. The first Alex is the weak minded one submitting to the influence of someone that will do the thinking for him. The other Alex is a sophisticated intellectual with an over sense of self importance.

[jog2001]

Ah yes, my faith in 'the public' is restored because they agree with whatever my opinion is!

The vote winner is the person who people are prepared to spend the most money on, not necessarily the one who is most popular with the voting 'public'! While not wishing to be too contentious, I would suggest that Jonny's success was largely down to the fact that the cross-section to whom he would most appeal are those most likely to vote multiple times. Conversely, Alex was probably more likely to appeal to those unlikely to vote, or vote once. For exampe, I know quite a few people who watched the program, and a majority favoured Alex, but few of any of them paid to vote.

I would agree with The Express that Jade is a bigger winner than Kate. I think that Jade has probably learnt more about herself, grown up more and will make more money out of the event. I can't see her being around as long as Brian from BB2, but then Kate will be yesterday's news by mid-week.

I hardly watched the program for the last two weeks because the program became more and more boring. The remaining housemates were a tedious bunch, the only thing that people were interested in seemed to be when they got completely drunk. As has been said before, this is the sort of 'entertainment' that I can get by going down to the local pub, although maybe the appeal is for people who are too young to get in to their local pub.

[bananarama]

Yes. I would agree about the Jonny voters being more likely to vote many times for the reasons you state. Personally I am not a big fan of Jonny as I suspect he has been holding back a lot of his real self. So i believed we have been decieved in that respect.

I was happy to see kate win. I think it was more or less what you see is what you get. But once again I think there is a harder side to Kate which was well concealed most of the time.

Jade was Jade. She couldn't help being herself. Nice or nasty. so yes on that basis I think she was a deserving winner also.

I didn't find the last two weeks boring but they were certainly more manic. They had no "sensible" tasks to do. The roller sKate task for example was shear rubbish (can't remember what week that was as "yes" it was so boring at that point). Little wonder they drank, bitched and generally behaved like unruly Kids with adult games.

It's all water under the bridge now.

What evidence does anyone have that the cross-section that voted for Jonny was more likely to multi-vote than those who voted for Alex or Jade.

Actually if you look at the number of votes cast when Jonny was up against Lee and Sophie, then look at the Alex/Spencer vote, that would indicate that more multi-votes went to Alex. But it still proves nothing, and in truth I think that it was about the same for all of them, and probably cancelled out.

The fact is we don't know.

I think they should have a mechanism to prevent us doing that.

But they don't.

The simple truth is that Kate got most votes, Jonny got second most, Alex third and Jade the least. So that's the result, and if the papers want to pretend otherwise, they are merely protecting their vested interests.

If individuals on this site want to pretend otherwise, well either they believe the Mirror Sun and Star, or I dread to think....