AND THE WINNER IS... TERRI!

52 year old Coles deli manager Terri Munroe has taken home the $250,000 reward for winning BB08, and winning our hearts.

She was the first one through the doors all those 85 days ago, and was also the first out of the doors 84 days ago when she was voted out, by one vote, by her much younger fellow HMs.

BB was not about to let his biggest asset for the year go so easily though. He had a backup plan. With the arrival of Corey Worthington on Day 7, Terri re-entered the House after a week in lockdown as Corey's chaperone. Terri failed her mission to keep Corey under control, finding it impossible to get the 17 year old to go to bed at a "reasonable hour", and he ended up holding a grudge against his temporary-nanna, purposefully ignoring all of her requests. So it came down to "Plan C" for BB to keep her in the House. When Corey refused to choose 2 of the viewer-voted WebMates to be evicted, Terri was given the responsibility, and after swiftly booting Michael and Barney, keeping Nathan in the House, Terri was granted full HM status again.

Terri lived a relatively Nomination-free life in the House. She did not once sit in the Nomination HotSeats in the Eviction Room during the initial weeks when the public nominated and the HMs evicted. In fact her first taste of Nomination wasn't until Day 56 when Nobbi's FNL Twist left a total of 6 HMs facing eviction.

Terri was originally talked up as the racist Pauline Hanson lover, which was only exacerbated when she chose the Asian guy to be banished to the backyard and sleep in the Combi Van. But when it came down to it, she was nothing like that at all. She had a few non-PC things to say, but polical correctness and racism are confused too often these days. She told Nobbi he had "slits" for eyes, which isn't racist at all-- it is just not politically correct to point it out. Terri was just a patriot, and a little bit old fashioned, but you can't say she hated anyone.

Early on Ben told Terri that he being in the House was like being in there with his mother. A statement I'm sure he soon regretted, both for hisa mother's sake, and because Terri did a fantastic job at fitting in with the young HMs. She did very well during Friday Night Games, played a few games of Truth or Dare, and told her fair share of sex stories-- some that even grossed out the kids, like lactating during sex. Sometimes the others became a bit rowdy for her and she knew when to give them their space. Luckily she had level-headed Alice there who was always cooking or cleaning, and later Terrence came along for a bit of a yarn.

Terri took it in her stride when the tables were turned and she got banished to the Combi Van with Terrence for a week. She even quite enjoyed a bit of time away.

When it came down to the end, Terri survived a fake eviction by the HMs and a real eviction by the public, both over the other expected finalist, Travis, proving her support from both camps, and her competition, Ben and Rory, both knew their elder was likely to take out the grand prize.

While the final win was a little controversial (that's for another post), it was the right HM that won the big prize. Terri's plans for the cash windfall were to take her partner and see what they hadn't seen of Australia, and the world. She plans to keep her job at the supermarket but just reduce her hours a bit to take some of the stress off and spend time with her grandson.

CONGRATULATIONS TERRI!