Celebrity Big Brother 2001

Comic Relief Day, Red Nose Day 2001, or whatever you like to call it, is now history. It broke the record for the most money raised by this event, and yours truly did his little bit.

However, the most talked about Comic Relief-related event this week had to be Celebrity Big Brother, the charity version of the television event of last summer.

Now, I know this is going to sound a little cynical of me, but something didn't quite seem right about the celebrities who went into that famous house in London. I think the great Irish comedian Graham Norton said it best on his show last week, that they weren't exactly what you would call A-list celebrities.

I agree with Mr. Norton, up to a point. My take on this is that only two of the celebrities in the house could be said to have some sort of career at the moment. Let's take a brief look at the house mates.

JACK DEE - The man who won the contest is probably the only A-list man in the group. Jack was playing the game just right. In short - he just wasn't taking it seriously. His escape attempts, and all the other stuff, was what made Celebrity Big Brother worth watching.

CLAIRE SWEENEY - Although not as big a star as Jack, she is the only other one of the group who is very much in the public eye at the moment. Her part in Channel 4 soap Brookside is the reason for this. Besides, she is an uberbabe!

CHRIS EUBANK - The former WBO Super-Middleweight World Champion has been retired from the ring for a couple of years now. His flamboyant, cocky, arrogant attitude really annoys some, including me at times. But to be honest, I was a little disappointed when he was the first manvoted out of the house. His manner, his way, was entertaining, and it was interesting to see him interact with the others. The look on Jack Dee's face when Eubank came out with the verbal diarrhoea was a sight to behold.

VANESSA FELTZ - Apart from his weekly newspaper column, the only thing she has done lately is lose vast amounts of weight. Her television career has gone nowhere since her BBC show was axed, thanks to the fake guests scandal. And her little tantrum after she was nominated for eviction showed that she isn't all sweetness and light.

KEITH DUFFY - The Boyzone member, who seems to be more famous for singing and dancing behind Ronan Keating, hasn't exactly had a great time of things recently. His famous Christmas record only reached the dizzy heights of number 35 in the British charts. Although he was entertaining in his own way.

ANTHEA TURNER - I'm going to be totally honest here - I have never really liked Anthea Turner, and I probably never will. Her career has gone nowhere since that chocolate bar thing at her wedding reception. For some reason, I still don't by her cock and bull story about that.

So there it was. Six celebrities, four of which had not been in the public eye for some time. Were they using this as a platform to re-launch their flagging careers? I'll let you be the judge of that. But at least they raised a lot of cash for charity!