Those are: Noirin, Sree, Marcus and Halfwit, a foursome that are rescuing BB10 from being a BB4-style dud. The first three are part of a bizarre "love-triangle" that makes you feel sorry for object of affection Noirin. She's easily the most likeable girl in the house (as Sophie and Karli are bimbo cartoons), but for some reason the Irish honey's only attracted the attention of Mowgli, Wolverine and a Russian lesbian.
Man-child Sree is besotted with Noirin, but the fact she isn't interested never gets through. He seems obsessed with having reconciliatory "chats" whenever his flirting crosses the line, or he's irritated her into giving him the cold shoulder. He's always there; grinning in denial when faced with her frosty response, dancing with other girls in an effort to make Noirin jealous, following her around like a lovesick puppy, or having tête-à-tête's that are ways for him to get a hug at the end.
Marcus is likewise infatuated with Noirin, but seems determined to keep things on a matter-of-fact level. Or else he's just incapable of pushing the issue into a serious realm. He just likes to remind her that he thinks she's the Sexiest Girl In The House every few hours. I think he half-expects her to ravish him at the slightest compliment, but Noirin has no feelings for Marcus either.
A side problem is the fact Noirin's admirers hate each other's guts. Marcus has a form of Tourettes that makes him say things like "now don't fuck it up, you little shit!" to Sree, immediately after a new task is issued by Big Brother. He then wonders why Sree gets upset and can have an argument about why he's within his rights to speak to him like that.
Admittedly, Sree does have the attention span of a gnat. Marcus gets frustrated when he's forced to work with Sree during a task. Really, I think Marcus is a control-freak who knows he can't exert control over any of the guy's around him beyond boyish Sree, because he's essentially a rather tragic bully. So, Sree bares the full brunt of his beserker outrage.
And now Russian lesbian Angel has apparently fallen head-over-heels for Noirin, after drunkenly snogging her one evening. Suddenly, Sree and Marcus look rather palatable as would-be boyfriends. Angel is crazy but in a dull way. Her most interesting moments have included "starving" herself (with egg-juice and spaghetti sauce her only sustenance), skinny-dipping in the pool, and snogging Halfwit. Mind you, the prospect of her trying to turn Noirin's head has its appeal, as she's bound to be more forthright and experienced when it comes to such things. Noirin can avoid Marcus' flirts and ignore Sree, but how will she cope with an infatuated lesbian eccentric?
Moving on, Halfwit (aka Freddie) is a comedy caricature I can hardly believe is a real person. He must be Sacha Baron Cohen's latest stunt, surely. He's a posh hippy with a face that mixes Derren Brown with James Dreyfuss, and is the biggest tit we've had in the house since... well, last year's tit. He's also harmless, unintentionally amusing and blissfully unaware of his annoying traits (moaning in orgasm while eating, launching into a show tune for no apparent reason.) He's a spaced-out grinning tool, certainly, but he's at least embracing the experience and (in his best moment so far), decided to keep his BB-imposed nickname of "Halfwit" and instead let Noirin remove the glasses and moustache she's been forced to draw on her face. Don't ask.
Everyone else has only made a minor impression on me. Kris is the bland hunky-boy, mightily pleased that he's wooed big-boobed Sophie for poolside smooches; Charlie's likeable and goodhearted, but also an exasperating himbo; Lisa's just a normal Brummie beyond her pink Mohawk; Scottish lassie Karli's unable to pronounce the letter "t" (I particularly cringe when she says the word "any'hing"); Rodrigo seems to have escaped into the real world from a Disney cartoon; Siavash is more amiable than I expected, with a hairier arse than Chewbacca; and Sophie is sweeter than sweetex, if consequently a little tedious. You can see her mentally spending the money she'll make from her inevitable lad's mag photoshoot.
Channel 4, various
