Charlie v Rodrigo

Have I mentioned yet how much I dislike Charlie?

I'd rather Bea won than Charlie. Easily. At least she doesn't disguise her horribleness. This of course, is because she doesn't think she's horrible. But Charlie... the worst thing about him is the way he reverts to his impish, innocent "what me?" face whenever he's gone too far.

Last night, for example, he spat water in Bea's face. Well, we've all been tempted. And, much as I am also tempted to big this up as Spitgate II, it wasn't really. He was pranking around as he does, took a mouthful of water and breathed it out into her face. So it wasn't quite up with the long forgotten Dennis.

But it's typical Charlie. The little troll scurries around, playing all these practical jokes on people, with half an eye on the camera, half an eye on the fact that other HMs are watching, then it goes too far. Then he goes half apologetic but insists that "I was only joking", and "I didn't mean anything by it".

Oh yes he does. He means an awful lot by it.

Which is why Roddie got upset when Charlie cracked that he only has one friend on the outside. This is a typical Charlie trick. Needle someone that throw his arms up in mock horror. "What have I done?" he pretends.

Picking a fight with Bea might be a step too far, though. If Bea can gather a swarm of sympathisers she might fight back. The post-Freddie fallout has led to a frenzy of activity with everyone ( except Siavash ) thrilled that the favourite has gone. Anyone can win it. Meanwhile there's a nomination tomorrow, and they've still all got to pick a couple of names. David is the obvious easy choice, and Marcus might get a week off as a wasted vote. They are presumably savvy enough to assume that he must be pretty popular right now having seen off the previously invincible Fredster. And Bea will be working in overdrive to make sure it isn't her.

It's been an interesting ride for Charlie. He was told the day he got in that he was going to win, by more than one person. On leaving Noirin said she wanted him to win. Angel said she wanted him to win. As did Saffia. Marcus said he thought he'd win and that he always had.

It must have been gutting when the newbies arrived and told them all that Freddie was the favourite. That must have hurt. Since then Charlie was spoiling for a fight with Freddie, and "Me, I hate arguments" got into as many as possible with him. Charlie saw him as the man he had to take down.

Now that Freddie's gone, it's game on. There will be a part of Charlie that thinks it was because of him that Freddie got evicted. New, bruising, confrontational Charlie is what the public like.

So Charlie has a new gameplan: attack, attack. It suits him anyway, and Roddie, who he's been baiting for weeks will get a lot of the grief.

It will be telling to see how BB deals with the spitting incident. If he gets a dressing down, it might rein him in. Otherwise, if it's just accepted that this was nothing significiant he'll up his game. Charlie knows how to press Rodrigo's buttons and if he can show Rodrigo in a bad light he will do so. I can see more of these Rodrigo tantrums in the diary room and elsewhere to come.

Of course, forgetting the game side of things, I suppose they do fancy the pants off each other, and most of these rows end up with a big hug and a kiss afterwards. But Charlie is in it to win it.

It's the biggest thing I hold against Rodrigo. I wish he decided once and for all that Charlie was a bad'un and that the friendship was over.