After watching Nikki freaking out about eye make-up removal and bottled water and Shahbaz’s frequent rants, I’d be inclined to say Big Brother is a bit too indulgent of the housemates!

If I were Big Brother, I’d have the Diary Room rigged with traps and torture devices. What about a trapdoor in the chair that dumps whiners into a crocodile pit? Or a machine gun attached to the camera? How about lethal gas coming out of recessed vents to end the ceaseless complaining?

Actually, I suspect that this year’s Diary Room is also an incinerator. Just a hunch!

That said, some mental health agencies are concerned that the BB crew aren’t doing enough to care for the housemates. The Guardian has a good debate about whether Big Brother/Endemol actually cares about any housemate. One of the commenters sums the Shahbaz situation up pretty well:

Shabaz is clearly a vulnerable individual who is getting more and more deluded with each episode, while the others are using his mental distress and remoteness as a bonding exercise.

His own world of living alone in a Glasgow council flat is at odds with the others’ view of him as a flamboyant and self-centred queen diva. It’s clear he saw the whole BB experience as his salvation. Alienated and evicted, I think he’d be a danger to himself.

Its irresponsible and degrading but agonisingly addictive viewing.

I agree. When the dust settles, ultimately Shahbaz will be remembered as an eccentric who couldn’t hack it in the house, and the madness will be a distant memory.