The downfall of Nobbi

The character assassination begins

Well, Nobbi’s certainly had an interesting week hasn’t he? Over the course of a few days, he seems to have gone from producer favourite to target practice. It all started Sunday night…

Sunday, Day 35: Nobbi vs. Terri

As a large group of HMs chatted in and around the Kombi van, a drunken Nobbi made a joke about Terri, saying she “rubs herself in the toilet”. Terri took great offence at this, which Nobbi failed to understand. Even the jovial Terrence was put off by Nobbi’s remarks, but Nobbi said that Terri’s age meant nothing and he treats her as he would any other housemate.

Nobbi’s point of view was essentially that as Terri had previously been open in talking about her sex life and sex-related topics, a joke like this was completely harmless. He also thought her offence was a sign that she was trying to act differently in front of the new arrivals. He expressed this point of view repeatedly by shouting at Terri.

Terri found the joke disgusting and out of line, and did not think it was the same as other sex topics they had all discussed in the house. She was offended that he made a joke like that in front of everyone. She eventually walked away as Nobbi continued shouting at her.

Later, the two resumed the argument away from the group. Nobbi said that it was a joke and everybody knew that. Terri disagreed; she didn’t see it as a joke and didn’t think some of the others had, for example Terrence. They also disagreed about how offensive it was to make a joke about masturbation.

Throughout the argument, Nobbi continued to put down Terri’s view, saying it was a joke and she has “no common sense at all” if she thinks otherwise. At no point did he seem to understand or acknowledge that she could be offended by what he said, despite her repeatedly telling him so. “Terri, I have said so many things, that are so much more offensive to you…. it’s not offensive, because I was joking.”

Decide for yourself - full video available here

The incident received no coverage on TV, except briefly during Terri’s nominations as she gave one point to Nobbi. When questioned about this on his blog, Mike Goldman said the producer opinion was that it was “just Nobbi being a smart arse and not much of a fight”. Or maybe producers didn’t want to hurt Nobbi’s reputation as one of the more liked characters in the house? We won’t use the words ‘cover up’, but– oh wait, we just did.

Thursday, Day 39: Nobbi vs. Alice & Travis

In a group spa session, Travis is asked which HM he dislikes the most. His eventual response is Alice, because he had been told by others that she had expressed a strong dislike for him. Alice is surprised and wants to know who told Nobbi that (it was essentially the boy’s club - Nobbi, Rory, and Ben). What follows throughout the night is a series of events that essentially exposes Nobbi and the other boys as liars and manipulators, with Alice and Travis completely turning against them. You can read extensive details of the night in our Fan Diary - many thanks to paulyt, Medusa, Jesca and JanaFL for following everything that went down.

Friday, Day 40: The audience reaction

These events were the dominant storyline on Friday’s Daily Show, and, more interestingly, continued on Friday Night Live as the hosts attacked the actions of the boys. Bree said “no redemption”, and Fitzy called him a “rat.” It didn’t stop there - whenever Nobbi was mentioned throughout the night, and especially when he won, the audience booed, certainly a first for the kiddie-friendly FNL. It’s doubtful they would have done that of their own accord - suggesting BB producers have decided that there’s no point trying to hold up Nobbi’s reputation and are now pushing him as the bad guy. We’re not trying to imply that it isn’t deserved - there are few that could approve of Nobbi’s actions throughout the week. It’s just interesting to see how things have unravelled over the past 24 hours.

Our guess is that the character assassination of Nobbi will continue on Sunday’s programming. We hear the boys (Nobbi/Rory/Ben) were given a stern talking to in the Diary Room today, and were called up on their bullying behaviour. Look to see how events are edited and presented in the Daily Show on Sunday, and then again if it’s brought up by the hosts during the Eviction. If Nobbi is nominated next week, eviction would have been a near certainty - except that as FNL winner he has the power to save himself. Alas, the ‘target practice’ will continue.

What are your thoughts on Nobbi? Did he have this coming to him? Discuss in our forums