CBB - More Addictive Than Codeine

If you've been following my Twitter feed you'd know that I recently sprained my ankle and have been moaning about it ever since. On Wednesday (15/1/14) as I was starting to get bored of Celebrity Big Brother (CBB) I finally relented and took some codeine for the pain. Coming from the same family as morphine and heroin codeine is mildly addictive. That means once one dose has started to wear off it is really tempting to reach for another one. However on Thursday (16/1/14) I managed to stay strong and stuck to ibuprofen despite limping up to the barbers for a haircut. Sadly though it was much harder to steer clear of CBB.

This was perhaps fortunate because Thursday's episode which showed events from Wednesday through to early on Thursday morning focused on a massive argument between Jim Davidson and Linda Nolan. As Jim and Linda have known each other for a long time this has always been bubbling along in the background. However what brought it to the surface has been the tension created by the resumption of the relationship between Lee Ryan and Jasmine Waltz at the expense of Casey Batchelor.

The argument began in the early evening when Linda, Liz Jones and Luisa Zissman were discussing Luisa's experience as a single mother. In what seemed like a clumsy but genuine attempt to join in the conversation Jim asked if Luisa missed having a husband in her life. This prompted Linda to blow up at Jim accusing him of being a misogynist, sexist and general women hater. Jim responded by walking away and complaining about it to a group who were outside smoking in the garden. Linda overheard this and called Jim back into the kitchen to have a further go at him. Having had a drink by this point Jim responded by telling Linda that she should grow up and go to bed to get some sleep before walking away again.

After Linda had gone to bed Jim was discussing the argument with Luisa and others when he suggested that Linda's hatred of him stemmed from a mysterious incident that happened in fellow comedian Frank Carson's dressing room many years ago. Jim said this in the hope that Luisa would then go and ask Linda about the incident. Perhaps being slow on the uptake or not that easy to manipulate Luisa waited until Jim specifically told her to go and ask Linda about the incident in Frank Carson's dressing room. Still not being Jim Davidson's biggest fan Luisa immediately then went off to wake Linda up to tell Linda that Jim had told her to ask Linda about the incident in Frank Carson's dressing room nod doubt in the hope it would cause trouble for Jim.

Although neither Jim nor Linda told the story so none of the other housemates know about it the "incident in Frank Carson's dressing room" refers to a theatre in Blackpool, UK which had been experiencing a spate of thefts from performers dressing rooms and was just down the road from a theatre where Linda Nolan was performing during the mid-1990's. In response to the thefts the theatre installed surveillance cameras in the dressing rooms and one - in Frank Carson's dressing room -  caught Linda Nolan's husband and manager, Brian Hudson stealing GBP20 from a wallet. Although the other thefts were never solved Hudson plead guilty to this petty theft in Court and was fined. This incident occurred at a time of extreme financial hardship for Linda and her husband which led to Nolan being declared bankrupt a few months later. Brian Hudson died in 2007 so although everything he was saying is true this was a particularly heavy blow for Jim to land on Linda.

Linda obviously reacted to this by leaping out of bed and confronting Jim in the garden calling him all sorts of names but generally accusing him of being a small and cowardly man for sending Luisa to bring up the incident rather then saying it to her face. Linda then went back off to bed in floods of tears to be comforted by other housemates. This tension between Linda and Jim is leading to the formation of two distinct camps with the girls - Luisa, Casey and Sam Faiers - rallying around Linda and the boys - Dappy and Lee - rallying around Jim.

Obviously the ferocity of the argument has created a very nasty atmosphere in the house with the mystery of what it is all about only making things worse. The obvious solution to this would be to further goad Jim and Linda into a big, air-clearing argument. However the history between Jim and Linda seems so long and acrimonious I'm worried about how big that big argument will be how long it will last for. An alternative could be force Jim and Linda into a room together for an extended period as part of a task. Perhaps a better alternative would be to let the secret slip so other housemates know what the argument is about and let the group self-regulate. However the issue is not exactly clear cut so this could lead to the deepening of factional divisions. Therefore it might be an idea to guide the group by having it be seen that Jim was in the wrong by issuing him with a formal warning about bringing up Court cases involving people who are dead.

Although it has been dwarfed by this argument the Lee/Jasmine/Casey/Luisa saga is still causing tension. Realising that there is now no way on earth Casey will take him back Lee has moved on to Luisa. Basically this involved Lee telling Luisa that Casey had told him that that if they pretended to be in a relationship that would help them win the show in order to tempt Luisa into a relationship. Casey has said nothing of the sort and this idea had been implanted in Lee's mind by Jasmine. Unfortunately for Lee the idea was only in Jasmine's mind because Luisa had planted it there. Needless to say this left Luisa staring at Lee as if he was mentally disabled meaning that he is now the house's least eligible bachelor behind Dappy which is one hell of an achievement.

So with all the housemates - except for Linda and Casey - up for eviction tonight it is quite clear that Lee has to go because he's just in the way like a bit of furniture the other housemates keeping bumping into.


17:25 on 17/1/14 (UK date).