The celebrity housemates received their first task today!

It’s called ‘Ego’ and it involves – for the first time ever, and for one show only – the CBB housemates appearing in the closing credits of an episode of Celebrity Big Brother.

So the famous housemates had to decide between themselves who should receive which credit and therefore, where they’d be placed.

One housemate will receive a ‘starring’ credit, two will receive a ‘co-starring’ credit, two will receive a ‘featuring’ credit, three housemates will receive an ‘extras’ credit and three poor housemates will receive no credit at all!

“I wanna be an extra” said scouser Tina. “Me, Mutya and Michelle will be extras” she continued.

“I’ll be nothing” said Ulrika. No change there then eh?

“Me too, said Tommy.”

But BB wasn’t going to let it be that easy…

What the housemates don’t know is that Head of House Terry is secretly watching their behaviour throughout the Task. Based on what he sees, he’ll have to decide which housemate has the most inflated ego and the housemate he selects will be secretly nominated for eviction.

In other news, BB was nice to the housemates earlier when he let them have two tokens but one was promptly taken back because La Toya broke the rules when she snuck into Terry’s private bedroom. Oh you bad Jackson you!

So will there be famous fur flying and burst egos everywhere? Call back soon and we’ll keep you posted!

Well the celebs are well and truly settled into their new pad now and this morning, they received their first shopping, much to their excitement. And who can blame them? After all, it’s literally… hours, since they last got any food!

Meanwhile, Terry’s been reluctantly settling into his role as Head of House but isn’t enjoying it much it seems.

The other housemates must wait on Terry hand and foot and last night, the new HOH was treated to biscuits and cocoa, served by Ben.

“These are for the Head of House” he announced on exiting the Diary Room with the treats.

“We have to bring him cookies and some cocoa.” Ben moaned.

“Oh wow” said an incredulous Lucy, adding, “Are you serious?”

“Shut up” said Mutya, for no apparent reason…

“So we have to wait on him?” asked Michelle, clearly not quite understanding the concept.

However, Terry wasn’t overly appreciative of the snack and told the housemates, “I don’t like milky drinks.”

“Well I’m not taking it back” said Ben as he shoved goodies through the door of the Luxury Bedroom.

Looks like Terry’s exalted position in the house might be causing friction already! Yay!

You can see Mutya and La Toya taking a quick and envious peek into Terry’s private room here

Celebrity Big Brother contestant Verne Troyer has told his housemates that despite being small in stature, “I’ve got plenty of inches where it matters.”

The diminuitive 2ft 8in Austin Powers star seems quite keen to impress Michelle Heaton and Lucy Pinder, and according to The Sun, he’s promised “they would not be disappointed.”

Verne, 40, told the girls, “I may be short, but don’t think I don’t know how to please a woman.

“I make up for it in other areas. Any models in the house? I love beautiful women.”

Verne has made a name for himself in Hollywood as a “womanizer” and isn’t afraid to show off his bedroom prowess, so much so that he’s starred in his own homemade porn movie.

Verne’s ex-wife, Genevieve Gallen – who’s 6ft tall – is quoted in the paper as saying: “Let’s just say, ‘Make no assumptions.’ I’m very satisfied.

Verne is currently the bookmaker’s favourite to win the show.

The first housemate rumour to come out after Big Brother launched tonight was that Mario, the cross between Matt LeBlanc and Sylvester Stallone, was previously in prison. He apparently featured in a Bravo show called Brits Behind Bars, and you can apparently see him in this sequence found on YouTube…stop your browser at 0.55.

It’s not confirmed what his stint in jail was, but I did read that it was to do with a domestic violence incident with his former wife.

This is all very interesting, because the overwhelming feedback on our forum is that Mario (who’s real name is Shaun) and Lisa are familiar faces. I’m personally pondering if Lisa is an actress or something, because I’m sure I’ve seen her on TV before…

Anyway, having watched the clip above, do you think the inmate in question is Mario? I’d love to hear what you guys think…

Admittedly, I haven’t been watching Big Brother much this year. Despite a promising start, the series just hasn’t caught my attention. I do know that BB isn’t performing to previous standards though and from what I’m reading in the papers, viewers are switching off in droves.

So naturally, on the night that Charley was destined to leave – an eviction so certain the bookies were paying out in advance – Big Bro has sent in the Big Guns.

That’s right, if the series looks like it’s bombing, send in the freaks.

The people who walked in tonight (I won’t pretend to know their names – yet) were the seriously wacked-out fame seekers. Worse than deal-seeking Shabnam? Oh yes people, much much worse.

As we saw from previous ‘halfway housemates’ Kinga and Orlaith (remember those oddities?), you get unabashed attention-seeking – walking into the house in your pants or wearing a spotty top that highlights the most underwhelming pair of breasts on British TV at the moment. Surely it’s only a matter of time before one of them has ‘relations’ with a wine bottle in the garden while the nation collectively falls asleep in front of the telly.

I’ve heard two schools of thought around various watercoolers: one that this series is better because it’s more low key, the other that it’s simply dull. In this climate, you have to feel for the producers – trying to attract a different audience with a more evenly paced Big Brother isn’t working, and for the last couple of years the format appears to be just crumbling.

How are you finding this year’s BB? What are the high and low points and what could the producers improve upon?