Big Brother 2012: A series review
Big Brother 2012 had it all.
It had laughter, sadness, softly spoken words of love and furiously shrieked statements of anger. More of the latter than the rest, perhaps - but nobody could claim it didn't have drama.
Let's take a look at all the pertinent events of the seventy-day period that saw 17 housemates bicker, banter, battle and bond with more gusto than we could ever have foreseen. It was a vintage year, so let's relive it in text!
Week 1
One of the most memorable moments of the series came within its first hour. Before she’d even unpacked, Deana was told to select three of her new housemates to face eviction. Up went Victoria, Conor and Lydia and down went Deana’s in-House popularity.
On Day 2 came another corking revelation. Luke A told most of the housemates individually that he was born a woman. He received acceptance across the board. Good show, housemates.
Victoria got a lap dance from Lydia and a snog from Benedict on Day 3, which was nice because she was the first housemate to be evicted on Day 4. Cue potentially the most memorable entrance in Big Brother history as Wildcard Becky came charging into her new home yelling, "C’mon, you b******s" before leaping into the pool fully-clothed.
Week 2
Week two was the one that saw housemates forced to stifle their giggles as Big Brother challenged them not to laugh for two days in order to win a luxury shopping budget.
Big Brother dressed Arron in a series of comedy outfits before bringing out the big guns, sending in a bunch of comedians including flightless bird and master, Keith Harris and Orville. They sniggered and chuckled but housemates managed to contain their 'lols' to a degree deemed acceptable by BB meaning they got a big budget – not big enough though, they overspent by £137.
Chris and Arron were up for eviction and romance between our house lovebirds – Luke S and Ashleigh – stepped up a gear with a bit of bonding in the bathroom and some snogging on the sun lounger. Ashleigh had the first of her wobbles over the relationship but she got over it.
It was task-tastic in Week 2 with' The Risk it for a Biscuit' task', 'The Time Bomb' task' and 'The Dance Off' task. BB challenged Caroline to convince fellow housemates she was related to the Royal family. She did and won a cream tea for herself, Lauren and Sara complete with a opportunity for Sara to belt out the national anthem again. God save BB.
Chris left the House after losing the public vote, Caroline poured bile on his exit,
complaining about their 'date' earlier in the week.
The 'Timebomb' task saw Adam wine and dine Shievonne while wearing giant hands, Conor, Arron and Adam enjoy a karaoke party and Luke S and Ashleigh got physical in the garden.
Week 3
Who could forget the sight of most of our housemates dressed up like lab rats – with Lydia, Benedict and Luke A in white coats? Perhaps the most memorable part of this highly memorable task was Luke S desperately keeping his eyes trained on protein while burlesque dancer, Miss Banbury Cross, acted out a male fantasy. Shievonne proved herself in the same task by not flinching at the sight of a gigantic python (not a euphemism).
Lydia’s 26th birthday came and, after a few tears, she was rewarded with a phone call from her fiancé, the one and only Andy Scott-Lee. The housemates wore Lydia masks for a stretch, which was very weird.
Seventeen days proved to be the length of time it took for Benedict to get his sass on, he spiked Luke S’s protein and told off Caroline and Ashleigh. It was as if he knew he’d be leaving the following day. But never one to walk alone, he evicted a chair to keep him company meaning that housemates awoke the following day to chair-free House, a creative punishment from BB.
Ashleigh’s 21st hailed the second birthday of the series and keeping the double theme going she got two parties.
Week 4
Remember the table football? This was the week housemates won and lost le babyfoot.
Lydia and Deana were up for eviction – Deana took it in her stride while Lydia called the housemates sheep and acted as if it was all some kind of tragic accident.
BB had enough of the nominations discussions and gave housemates a four day booze ban. Relations between the two factions – The Insiders and The Outsiders – improved for a time as they bonded over garden games.
The food budget was decided by 'The 100' task where the housemates would win or lose points depending on their actions. Luke A turned down the chance to chat to the missus, Lauren gave up a few minutes with her sister and Luke S wrestled with his conscience for an hour and a half about whether to watch his fellow housemates' nominations – who could forget that.
Lydia and Deana got their revenge by fish-gut-gunging the housemates they thought had nominated them, Scott let Conor cut his hair and Lauren kicked off over her lack of fags.
The fabulous Mrs Andy Scott Lee was shown the door leaving housemates to uncover the identity of her famous fiancé. What do you mean who?
Week 5
A foursome saw themselves up for eviction this week with Arron, Becky, Conor and Deana facing the public vote. Turf Wars dominated Week 5 and never had the House been more divided. The Blue Team battled it out against The Green Team to take possession of the different areas of the House. The Greens lauded it over The Blues with control of the kitchen, bathroom and bedroom while The Blues camped out on the floor with just the living area for comfort.
A few housemates picked up punishments for stepping into enemy territory including Lushleigh who canoodled across the barricades. The Greens lost the kitchen putting them on basic rations and their noses well and truly out of joint.
We waved goodbye to Arron and his lovely torso as the public failed to save him. Deana was over the moon, crying out, "Good has finally triumphed over evil." A touch insensitive perhaps but there was no love lost between the pair of them.
Shievonne’s birthday saw her smile as she received a cake from Big Brother and a message from her family. Unfortunately Adam put a stop to her merry mood, answering a series of questions in the Diary Room but transmitted into the living room in which he was pretty blunt about Shiev. Turf Wars rolled on regardless...
Week 6
Remember when Luke S thought he had been selected for the big time and sold out his girlfriend in the process? That was Week 6.
Turf Wars ended but the animosity remained with The Insiders and Outsiders regrouping. Conor and Shievonne were facing possible eviction.
Our tan fans were rewarded with a spray session in the garden and a Hawaiian themed party, despite doing pretty badly on the Hot Topics task.
Housemates failed the Rules are for Fools shopping task although Luke S was crowned employee of the week for his excellent warden work. He chose a pamper hamper over protein powder and gave it to his girl Ashleigh.
Shievonne shipped out on Friday after losing the public vote, which resulted in a little private revelling from Luke A.
Luke S had his vanity exposed as BB played the mother of all pranks on him, leading him to believe he had been scouted by an agent before revealing most of his embarrassing interactions to the House – but not how he sold Ashleigh down the river...
Sunday saw the start of the Gold Rush shopping task, which ended with a hoedown showdown and a barn dance enjoyed by The Good, The Bad and The Very Ugly
Week 7
The Gold Rush Task ran on into Week 7 culminating in face-to-face nominations. The Good - Luke S, Sara and Scott triumphed in the final showdown scoring immunity from noms. Lauren received a hail of nominations and Luke A didn’t fare much better meaning they were both facing the public vote.
Housemates tried to iron out their differences with Lauren in particular swallowing a big spoonful of pride to pitch herself as a potential ally of Becky, Scott, Caroline and Lushleigh. It didn’t last.
It became clear than Adam had the hots for Lauren, whether his love was requited, remained to be seen. For one of The Outsiders it was about to be game over and they spent their final evening in the garden together, chewing the fat into the wee small hours.
A sweet task - the marshmallow-in-the-mouth one – lightened the mood before it all went sour for Lauren who became the seventh housemate to leave the House.
The Dilemmas task led to Caroline tucking into her second fish eye and Deana missing out on a letter from home because Ashleigh couldn’t keep her language clean.
However, there was a party where Ashleigh was dressed as a clown and forced to entertain the House, which meant Deana’s letter from home was finally delivered.
Week 8
The super sunny weather perked up our housemates at the start of Week 8 – and a good time was had by all in the Exploding Watermelon task. But the jolly mood was not to last – Big Brother announced that any housemate in receipt of one or more nominations would be up for eviction. Only Becky and Scott were safe.
The 'Party Animals' task suited our housemates down to the ground and they bounced, pillow fought, dined and raved their way to luxury shopping budget success. Ashleigh let it slip that she thought Luke S smelled of onions, which briefly worried Cupid’s bow, although the pair never like to let the sun set on an argument and they soon made up.
Harmony was short lived. This was the week Caroline had a good old wheeze with the shopping budget – filling the store room with hoards of chocolate rather than the housemates’ requested items. Foul play lost her a place in the House and she was shown the door on Friday after losing the public vote. Friday was also Conor’s 25th birthday and housemates partied with a football theme.
The 'Standing on the Shoulders of Prizes' task saw Adam prove he had staying power, standing on top of a box containing a telly for 12 and a half hours, beating closest contenders Deana, Luke A and Luke S. The latter said he’d quit for Adam’s sake – shame he didn’t uncover his selfless side 12 hours earlier.
Big Brother gave housemates a chance to absolve themselves of House sins on Sunday with a confessional in the garden and Ashleigh ended the week in style by trying her hand a cooking. What a treat.
Week 9
Friends and family upset the Big Brother apple cart during Week 9 by relieving housemates of their nomination duties. The majority took fairly predictable paths but there were a couple of surprises and one or two clangers dropped. Sara's mum nominating Scott and Becky's sister revealing a comment Luke A had made about Becky’s BMI were two such awkward moments.
The White Room dominated this week with Luke S, Sara and Conor battling it out in a colourless compound. White food, white clothes and a series of white tasks provided the entertainment. Sara was first to crumble leaving arguably the House’s most competitive pair, Conor and Luke S. All action within The White Room’s four walls was overshadowed by the task climax – you remember that bit right? Luke S certainly does.
Becky’s departure was slightly overshadowed by Conor’s exit. Our Derry man walked out of The Big Brother House with a case full of cash - £50k to be precise – and Lukes S was left licking his beautiful wounds. His now infamous quote which ended, "men want to be me," had never been more ironic.
The House charged their glasses and sipped cocktails, and all was temporarily brushed under the carpet - until Deana asked Luke S why he wasn’t quicker to ‘press the button'. Oops.
On Sunday, Big Brother treated housemates to their launch night pofile videos, which was a laugh for all, although Luke S went to bed early, weighed down by his whopping £50k loss
Week 10
And so seven housemates found themselves in the final week. Luke S, cocooned in the knowledge he had a free pass to Day 70 was the only one not on edge as Big Brother revealed our final nominees – Deana, Adam, Scott and Ashleigh.
Scott duped fellow housemates after following Big Brother’s instructions to make them believe he was a mole, winning a party complete with butlers in the buff for all bar Ashleigh, Luke S and Deana who had chatted about noms, the fools.
Big Brother flung open the doors to the Museum this week with another super duping task – this time security guards Scott and Sara were to be the victims with the remaining housemates playing the part of exhibits. The task - to convince the guards that they were standing like statues when they were actually having a rum old time in the secret room. Singing at the silent disco lost this one for the exhibits meaning the last shopping budget was a tight one.
Housemates got a chance to slip on their glad rags with The Nommy Awards on Day 65. Luke S swept the board with the 'Nemesis', 'Close Shave' and 'Broken Record' award. He was rewarded with a slap-up meal cooked by a Michelin star chef with Ashleigh, Sara and Scott.
Before we knew it, it was eviction night and after a series of 'pampering sessions' from Mr Snuggles, it was time to wave good bye to one...make that two housemates. Scott and Ashleigh bit the dust. This was the night Bit on the Side invaded the garden and broke the aforementioned 'batchelor' news to Ashleigh. She took it in her stride and Luke S pecked her picture goodnight before bed (as well as picking his nose).
As the final day drew closer, BB stepped in with Nina Myskow’s Media Training. Housemates took her advice on board and star pupils Deana and Luke s won a dinner date.
The penultimate day in the House saw the housemates cook a last supper Sunday roast and speculate on life after BB...
The Final
After 70 days, we had our final five and it's no surprise they spent most of their last day in the House getting ready for one of the biggest nights of their lives. There was an in-House hairdresser and beauty treatment team on hand to get our finalists ready for their date with Brian, so our reduced pool of housemates were in good hands.
Before you knew it, we were there. The live final.
Luke S was the first to leave the building, taking fifth place. He was closely followed by Sara who scooped fourth position, leaving the 'Soldiers' in the top three positions.
Deana was the first to be relieved of her duties and she left with the bronze medal. Following her was our runner up, Adam who narrowly lost out to a chap who was his best friend for the duration of his stay.
Luke A took the top spot, winning the public vote after winning our hearts with his honest, softly spoken approach over the course of ten weeks. A worthier winner you'd be hard pressed to find.
What a final. What a series. What a winner!
I see you're putting in some overtime instead of enjoying some well earned time off 
old habits die hard don't they cos here I am catching up on the latest news 
it will be strange not having BB on tonight although I won't miss BBOTS lol.
