DAY ONE. TIME – 7pm
"And the last to join our Big Brother house is...Matt!"
As the announcer's voice echoed above me, I walked through the tunnel, opened the door at the end, and blinked heavily as my eyes adjusted to the bright lights in the new room.
It was a huge living room, with couches against all the walls. 4 coffee tables and a dozen beanbags were scattered around the middle of the room. Cushions rested on every sofa. Sitting randomly around the room, on couches, beanbags and even on the tables were 11 strangers. My housemates for the next two weeks.
All of them were staring at me. By their body language, they were all as nervous and uncomfortable as me.
"Hi" I said, trying to act as confident as I could. "I'm Matt. I'm 30, and I'm from Brighton, England."
They echoed 'hi' back, before a young lady with dyed blond hair came and hugged me. Her skinny arms and larger-than-average boobs made it hard for her to put her arms around me. "Hi! I'm Candy. I'm American, obviously." She pointed at her stars+stripes top trying desperately to keep her boobs from escaping. "I'm sure we're all going to be the best of friends!"
I sat on the nearest sofa as they went in a circle, introducing themselves.
First were the ladies.
There was Candy, 19, from California.
A 20-year-old Indian woman called herself Maria. Her skin was a beautiful light brown. She had dark hair in a ponytail. She was average in height, wearing an Indian sarong wrapped tightly around her.
A slightly chubby red head called Sarah. She was a Brit, like me, although from much further up north. She was 26. Several tattoos were visible under her t-shirt, and as she spoke, I thought I saw a tongue piercing.
The next to speak was a Swedish woman with naturally blond hair and pale skin called Ivana. She didn't open her eyes, and I realised she was blind. She didn't say her age, but she looked 28 or 29. ,
The next to speak spoke with a ridiculously strong Russian accent, and announced herself as Lena from Moscow. She was 19 like Candy. Though nobody else had talked about their jobs, she was very keen to tell us she was a model, back in Russia. She really did have the body for being a model.
Finally a small, quiet Japanese woman introduced herself as Shuko, age 20 from Tokyo. Her black hair kept covering her eyes, and she kept having to brush it out of her eyes as she spoke. She was the smallest of the girls, and seemed a quite flat-chested. She was only wearing black, in a modern Goth type of way.
Next came the men.
There was a Pakistani man called Praveen. He was 30, just like me. He was dressed in a brown tweed suit, complete with red tie, and looked extremely out of place.
A man with extremely dark skin introduced himself as 28-year-old Kenyan Davide, giving a confident wink to Japanese Shuko, who blushed a deep red, and allowed her hair to cover her crimson face. He was the most confident in the room out of all of us. He was the tallest too, though not quite basketball levels of tall.
Next was a blond guy with a tank top revealing huge forearms. In a think Australian accent he said his name was Jeff, and he was 18. With his hair in curls down to his shoulders, he looked like he'd just come in from surfing.
After him, reclining on the sofa was Giuseppe. Though he had an Italian accent, he said he was from Brooklyn in the US. He had short, died blond hair, a deep tan and a permanent smile. I was surprised when he said he was 26, as he looked older than me.
Finally came 24-year-old Henry, a German with a thick accent who spoke the bare minimum needed. He was clearly a man of few words. His hair was cut very short, and he had a wiry build.
And just to remind everyone, I introduced myself again.
Six men, six women. One house and millions of worldwide viewers, watching our every move. What could go wrong?
"I'm sure we will all be super good friends," said Candy, loudly as she sprung to
her feet. "Now let's go exploring our new house!"
––––––––––––––––-
Davide led the way out the room as I made a point to hug or handshake everyone before following the group. There were two doors out of the big living room, one to the left, the other to the right, as well as the thick black door to leave the house. The door I had just used. Davide led everyone to the right. Giuseppe took Ivana by the arm and led her carefully, describing everything for her.
Next to the living room was a large kitchen, complete with several ovens and microwaves, and a fully stocked fridge. There were two large dining room tables in the room also, giving space for all 12 of us to sit.
It was evening, and I, like everyone else, had been given a big meal by the show's producers before entering the house. So we just poured ourselves wine, beer and other drinks, before moving onto the next room.
There was a gym, full of exercise bikes, rowing machines and other bits of equipment. Jeff sat down next to a set of weights and started using them, trying to show off his muscles to the girls. Only Lena seemed to notice him however, as most were either following Davide into the next room, or admiring the gym equipment for themselves.
The next room was a second living room, slightly smaller, with a huge TV on one wall, and a karaoke machine attached to it, as well as a Blue ray player and a large collection of movies.
We walked back into the main living room, already talking to each other about how good everything looked. Taking the other door this time, into a long corridor.
The wall on the left had lots of doors. 12 to be exact. The right hand side only had 2 doors, evenly placed along the corridor. As we walked through the long passageway, we saw our names on each of the doors. Mine was one of the first, after Maria's. There was a fingerprint lock on the door, and it only opened to me.
Inside was a wardrobe, a bedside table, a mirror and a small, single bed. I was instantly disappointed. So was everyone else, by the way you could here them grown. I'd been used to a double bed, and to be honest, was hoping that I might be sharing a bed with one or two of the lovely ladies before the show was over. The wall opposite the door had a strange, small metal window. It opened from the top, and just seemed to lead to darkness.
"It's for your dirty laundry," commented chubby Sarah, from the half-open doorway. She pointed up at the bedroom ceiling. There was a small door above the bed. She pulled a pillowcase off one of the pillows and put it down the window-hatch. About 10 seconds later, the ceiling door opened and a new, clean pillowcase dropped softly onto the bed. "Neat isn't it" she said, "I was hoping for a bit of a bigger bed though". She jiggled an arm, showing her larger proportions. I laughed. "You and me both. I need space when I sleep." I replied.
She was about to comment something else, when a shout was heard from the corridor. "Hey guys!" It was Candy again. "You have to come see this!"
Sarah and I went out of my room, to try and see where the noise was coming from. We tried the first door, but it was only toilets. So we tried the other door, at the other end of the bedroom corridor. Others from the group joined us as we walked.
The door let to a small room, with towels and benches. This room had 2 glass doors, with the words 'SAUNA' and 'SHOWER' engraved onto the glass. Beside each door was an electronic sign. Beside the shower, it said 'MINIMUM ONE', and beside the sauna was 'MINIMUM 2'. Candy was already in the shower room, still fully clothed. We opened the door and walked through. It was a large room, about the size of a school classroom. The ceiling in the shower room had water pouring out of it in 12 different locations. Some were pouring gently, while others looked like a waterfall. I put my hand out to feel the water. It was a perfect temperature for showering. There was also a bench in the middle, and a few more around the edges of the room. One wall showed the controls for each water stream, and held dispensers for 25 different types of shampoo, conditioner and body wash. It was the shower of my wildest dreams. It almost made me want to get naked right away, but I held off, planning to get a shower before bed instead.
"There is only one shower?" Asked Shuko, quietly.
"YEP!" Answered Davide, a little louder than was needed. "So you'll either have to wait your turn, or you can always shower with me." he said, leering slightly at her. One of his hands held his crotch suggestively. She was clearly uncomfortable, so I stepped into the conversation. "Don't worry," I said. "There will be lots of time for each of us to shower PRIVATLY". The last word was said as I locked eyes on Davide. His eyes widened for a moment in anger, before calming down. He laughed it off. "I prefer the sauna anyway" he said, and walked off into the other room.
