Kirk and Natalie get Celeb Big Bro boot
The Only Way Is Essex star Kirk Norcross and former EastEnder Natalie Cassidy have become the fourth anf fifth housemates to leave Celebrity Big Brother following Friday night's double eviction. Kirk was the first to be shown the door, while Natalie - whose exit was regarded as a surprise as she had previously been the bookies' favourite to win the series - was given the boot later on Friday evening. The pair lost out following a vote which saw all the remaining celebrities except for Gareth Thomas nominated, as a result of a twist on Wednesday night which saw them all forced to nominate in front of each other. Despite his flirty relationship with fellow housemate Georgia Salpa, who was evicted on Wednesday, Kirk's mind was firmly on his ex-girlfriend Gemma Massey as Brian Dowling broke the news of his eviction. "I wanna see Gemma, that's all I want to do," the 23-year-old TOWIE star said. And afterwards he admitted he wanted to rekindle their romance. "I went in there single, but the girl I split up with I regret every minute of it and I realise how much I love her," Kirk said in his eviction interview. He added that he had been "ready" to leave the house, saying, "It was an emotional rollercoaster and today was a high." Meanwhile Natalie said of her own eviction, "It's a win/win, you've had a laugh and cried, and everything else would be a repeat unless you get to the final." Following her depature Gareth Thomas is now the bookies' favourite to take the series title.
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Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.
An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.