Morning Kevin

Tarquin here. Mario going well and not just amongst TOWIE fans

Never watch Towie but loving @Mario_Falcone on #CBB I think he could win

other thing to note is, GS herself saved mario in that fake eviction last night
which ultimately means it will cost her even more of her own support by doing so

if GS likes mario - her fans will as well - some will even stitch camps coz hes so hot

Fat bastard?

everyone under 21 knows it's Chazza for the win

they've been the ones lumping on in the High Street

21 YO's lumping on

Jedward had nearly a million and they were lunatics.

Amy Childs had over a million
Plenty of the others from TOWIE have similar numbers and I bet far more MEMs watch TOWIE

Blocker gone on Mario

CHARGE!!!!

And GS is getting less than a 3rd of it

From what's been shown on the HLs show he seems to be a nice, decent down-to-earth guy. He's also good-looking which always helps get a few extra votes.

Why my money is now on Mario to win Celebrity Big Brother

ADMITTEDLY, I don't have any statistics to back this up, and I sure as hell can’t be bothered to go and find any, but I think I’m safe in saying that early Big Brother favourites, celeb or otherwise, tend not to actually win.
   
   
   
By Mike Ward/Published 4th September 2013



Which is why, a couple of hours before this latest live eviction show, I went and staked a whole mad tenner on Mario – who, at the time, had what I figured were pretty generous odds of 10/1.

OK, call me a dozy twonk – I’m well aware of the guy’s lousy reputation from TOWIE – but if you just put that minor concern aside for one moment, ideally pretending you’d never previously clapped eyes on the bloke, I think you’d have to agree he’s come across pretty well so far – and even quite unscumbag-like.

Yes, he’s been impressing on several levels for me, has Mario.

For one thing, he’s shown us he’s smart. All right, I doubt we’ll see him on University Challenge anytime soon, but remember how he saw straight through Big Brother’s first scam of the series – the one where Lauren, Louie and

Sophie were secretly sent next door for the first 24 hours, to spy on the other housemates’ every move?

When they finally swanned into the main house the following day, Mario not only figured what had really happened (been staying in a hotel, my arse) but he also correctly guessed that this late-arriving trio had made the first eviction nominations (rather than the viewers, as Big Fibbing Brother was claiming).

That’s pretty shrewd, you have to agree. Exactly the kind of shrewdness you’d develop, I suppose, by living your life on another big reality show – developing a gut instinct for how sh*t-stirring producers’ minds work.

Also, he’s a slow burner. Which, is a handy thing to be on a game like this. Obviously, no housemate wants to be so nondescript that the producers panic and send in paramedics to check for a pulse (“hello, Abz, can you hear me, er, bro…?”) but at the same time it doesn’t help to have the whole nation adoring you from day one. We’ll only start to find fault, trust me. We’re dead fickle that way.

Way better to tuck yourself in behind the front runners, and then sprint like mad for the finishing line in the closing lap – just as CBB host Emma Willis’s hubby Matt did when, having made little impact at first, he beat the odds to win I’m A Celeb in 2006 (God, I’m tragic, I actually have an encyclopaedic knowledge of this stuff – they should have me on Mastermind…).



    “With little more than a week to go, Mario, for me, is now the dark horse”

Also really important, Mario speaks his mind, which ensures he doesn't come across as just dull and pointless. But he speaks it sparingly, that’s the thing. He doesn’t pick a petty fight at every opportunity. He chooses his moment. And the points he makes whenever he does take a pop at someone, you’ll have noticed, are usually spot-on. The guy is actually showing himself to be an amazingly good judge of character. Who knew…?

What all this adds up to, I guess, is that Mario Falcone is surprising us. Surprising us big-time.

Like them or not, most of the other housemates – Charlotte, Louioe, Bruce etc. – are just acting true to form. They’re pretty much what we expected of them. Whereas Mario is showing us whole new elements to his personality, nearly all of them positive.

So yeah, forget what I was saying the other day about Charlotte. Or at least most of it. She’s still a hot contender, and perfect for the show, but she’s by no means the guaranteed winner I thought she was.

With little more than a week to go, Mario, for me, is now the dark horse. And dare I say it, the way he’s mending his image could, long-term, make him the new Mark Wright. Lucky him.

Not that I’m personally that bothered where he goes from here, career-wise. So long as he wins me my £100 next Friday night, that’s all I’m really bothered about.

And then I can stake it on the Hairy Biker fella to win Strictly.

Yep, I really know my stuff.

you're welcome Kev

Deliberately

but she’s by no means the guaranteed winner I thought she was.

Clueless casuals gradually waking up.