Ex-HMs to be Publicly Humiliated Again

Sadly the last 3 years of BB have ended with producers assuming ex-HMs have talents other than popping each others pimples and thinking of creative ways to bribe BB to give them more toilet paper.

BB05 saw HMs stomp-dance in Blundstone boots to I Like the Way You Move.

BB06 let Danielle sing her no-hit wonder cover of Underneath the Radar while HMs danced along.

BB07 at least took the choreography aspect out of it and saw them perform a pantomime based on charicaturised versions of each of their in-House traits.

In BB08, dance is back, and their voices may be making an appearance too! After politely grinning through Mike, Bree and Fitzy butchering Farnesy's Playing to Win, photos have been leaked today, and a group-shot put up on the OS, of all BB08 ex-HMs rehearsing a dance routine for the Finale, and yes... microphones are present. Don't be too off-put by this-- they may just be miming.

Luckily Kyle will be there with his Idol scorecards to shoot them down before they get too full of themselves. Or maybe he'll be holding application forms! Oh dear.

Ben Assumes New Persona

Today Ben has come to the realisation that from tonight, he will forever be known as "Ben from Big Brother". And so he has been commentating his day referring to himself as "Ben from Big Brother".

Ben and Rory also seem to have spent the whole day singing almost everything they say.

Inaugural Winner Shuns Finale

Ben Williams, winner of BB01, has declined an invitation to appear on tonight's final Finale, reportedly saying he doesn't want it to affect his professional reputation-- in the business his BB winnings helped him set up.

All other season winners will be present.

With runner-up Blair presumably still overseas, BB01's second runner-up, Sara Marie Fedele, has been elected to "represent" her season, having already been involved in BB08 as a Big Mouth panelist. She's a much better choice anyway.

But it's not like Ben has always had a grudge against the series. He did appear in BB05's Launch Show along with all the previous winners. Let's go to the videotape:

From L-R: BB02's Peter Corbett, BB01's Ben Williams, La Gretel, BB03's Regina Bird, and BB04's Trevor Butler. At least 3, and at most 4, of whom we'll be seeing tonight.

FNL Cast Co-Hosting Backstage

Mike Goldman confirmed today that he and his FNL team will be "backstage" hosting the show with the ex-HMs. They will also have a chat with the final 2 remaining in the House, confirming there will be an eviction before the winner announcement. How things have changed since last week when he was saying he was so sad he was not invited to the Finale! I wonder if he's outside Kyle's dressing room banging pots and pans together, trying to bring on a migraine right now!

Gretel Confirmed for Finale: UPDATE (Or is she?)

9am with David & Kim this morning confirmed that 7-year host Gretel Killeen will appear on the BB Final Finale show tonight. Whether it is live or in a recorded message, or live by satellite, is yet to be seen. It is great she would come back for the last show ever, since she was there for the first show. It shows maybe there really were no hard feelings between her and producers.

UPDATE: Seems to still be some question about whether she will be there or not, and in what capacity. If she is there, will she just be interviewed, or co-host with Kyle & Jackie? If she's not there, will there be a recorded message, recorded interview, or live cross to her in Sydney? Or could it just be that her involvement will be clips from previous seasons?

Raking in the Voting Dollars

BB has set up a good thing for himself this year. Of course the final night of BB attracts the most SMS votes for the year. Probably many many times any other single week. So this year, having 3 finalists means if you want one of them to win, you have to vote for 2 to be evicted. Double the votes! Double the revenue! BB-- the entrepreneur!

HMs Spend Final Day in the House

For the last 3 years, the finalists have been locked away early in the day of the Finale, either in the Rewards Room, or Revenge Room, and not allowed out until the 7pm Launch, so ninjas can clean and prepare the House for the Finale show.

This year, thankfully, BB is letting them spend their final day together IN the House, which is really as it should be. Hopefully some footage of the final day will be cut together for tonight's show.

Ben Summarises Final Day

This morning, Ben summarised his feelings of being a BB08 finalist thusly:

It's the 21st of July and I'm in Queensland making scrambled eggs with a 52 year old!