Big Brother brawl 'was inevitable'

The Big Brother brawl which was witnessed by millions of shocked viewers was inevitable, according to experts.

Within hours of Emma returning to the house from the bedsit, she and arch-enemy Victor had to be pulled apart after threatening to kill each other.

And when Jason threatened to rip Marco’s head off, and Vanessa hurled abuse at Nadia, security guards had to be called in to restore order.

Police are now investigating the fracas, and the housemates may face criminal charges.

Experts say the brawling was an inevitable – and possibly planned – result of introducing the Big Brother bedsit.

When Emma came back into the house and told Nadia and Marco that Victor and Jason had been plotting against them all, it instantly divided the house into two camps.

Emma was bubbling with rage after watching Victor and Jason slagging her off - and as the booze flowed it was only a matter of time before she exploded.

Mike Fisher, director of the British Association of Anger Management, said the bedsit idea was bound to provoke last night’s outbursts.

“Ever since they entered the Big Brother house, the housemates have been fake and phoney with each other. They have been bitching behind each other’s backs, sarcastic and sniping, and that creates conflict.

“It meant that the atmosphere was tense, and a really terrible shock – like seeing Michelle and Emma come back into the house – pushed things over the edge,” he said.

“Emma had spent five days cooped up in the bedsit observing other people bitching about her, and the resentment had been building and building.

“Big Brother stoked it by getting Emma and Michelle to play their tricks on the other housemates. They were like two witches brewing mischief.

“Emma is a very aggressive, very hostile character, and the row with Victor had been a long time coming. The tensions were there, and when Big Brother supplied them with alcohol it was the icing on the cake.”

Fisher was not surprised by Victor’s behaviour: “Victor is a hooligan. The way he behaved last night was a display of primate behaviour.”

Professor Cary Cooper, professor of psychology at Lancaster University, agreed that the bedsit was the catalyst for the violence.

“Putting a group of strangers together in a tiny house is bad enough. Take some of them into isolation and show them what people say about them when they’re not there, and things are likely to explode.

“If you are locked up for five days you can’t confront people, so you just keep bottling up the anger and frustration. When Emma went back into the house she got her chance for confrontation, and she took it.”

Prof Cooper said the producers were playing a dangerous game.

“They have to be quite careful because someone could get hurt,” he said.

“But I don’t blame them for what they are doing. A lot of viewers will enjoy seeing this. The producers will be thinking, ‘shows like EastEnders feature confrontations like this, why can’t we?’

“They will love what has happened. It will get great ratings. This is just what they wanted.”

The housemates may be shellshocked today but Mike Fisher believes last night’s events will prove to be good for the house.

“Before this happened, everyone was being so bloody nice to each other, but it wasn’t genuine and it created this atmosphere,” he said.

“They can’t go back to being fake now – they have to start getting honest with each other. That will have a positive effect on the house.”