Big Brother 9: Meet the 2008 contestants

Rachel Rice

TV,reality tv,big brother Rachel Rice : Big Brother 9 contestants : handbag.com Age: 24
Home town: Torfaen, Wales
Occupation: Trainee teacher and drama student

Need to know: Rachel has appeared in 22 commercials and when she was younger starred opposite Hugh Grant in the film Night Train To Venice. She drew 98 smiley faces on her Big Brother application form.

First impression: Short, likes boobies and will drive everyone crazy with her incessant chatter.

Potential annoyance score out of 10: 10.

Michael \'Mikey\' Hughes

TV,reality tv,big brother Michael \'Mikey\' Hughes : Big Brother 9 contestants : handbag.com Age: 33
Hometown: Glasgow
Occupation: Radio producer

Need to know: Michael has a rare genetic condition called Stickler syndrome which left him partially sighted. He was left completely blind after an operation to remove a cataract went wrong. He is an amateur stand-up comedian. He likes dressing up in women\'s clothes.

First impressions: Seems like a good laugh. We look forward to seeing his inevitable transformation into a glamorous drag queen.

Potential annoyance score out of 10: 6.

Rex Newmark

TV,reality tv,big brother Rex Newmark : Big Brother 9 contestants : handbag.com Age: 24
Home town: London
Occupation: Executive chef

Need to know: Rex loves bling. He says "If it doesn\'t sparkle, I\'m not interested." Rex loves himself - he\'s taking a picture of himself into the Big Brother house. He says he\'d sleep with anyone for £50. He lives with his parents.

First impressions: We\'re not sure why, but it looks like Rex could be a hit with the ladies. A chef who doesn\'t cook for himself at home surely cannot be trusted.

Potential annoyance score out of 10: 5.

Sara Folino

TV,reality tv,big brother Sara Folino : Big Brother 9 contestants : handbag.com Age: 27
Home town: London
Occupation: Personal Assistant

Need to know: Sara is the first Australian to enter the Big Brother house. Often mistaken for Angelina Jolie, Sara used to work for MTV where she won an award for being the loudest person in her office.

First impression: Sara seems pretty nice, but we have an inkling that there\'s a complete nutter lying dormant within her, waiting for the right time to come out.

Potential annoyance score out of 10: 4.

Darnell Swallow

TV,reality tv,big brother Darnell Swallow : Big Brother 9 contestants : handbag.com Age: 26
Home town: London
Occupation: Songwriter

Need to know: Darnell arrived at the Big Brother house carrying an inflatable rugby ball and a small gold chalice. Born in Ipswich, but raised in the St Louis, USA, Darnell was deported from the States after getting involved with gangs. He has been arrested five times.

First impressions: We\'re not quite sure what to make of Darnell.

Potential annoyance score out of 10: 5.

Kathreya `Kat\' Kasisopa

TV,reality tv,big brother Kathreya `Kat\' Kasisopa : Big Brother 9 contestants : handbag.com Age: 30
Home town: Kent
Occupation: Thai massage therapist

Need to know: Kathreya loves cookies. She was born in Bangkok, Thailand but moved to the UK seven years ago and is now a British citizen. Kat is teetotal and a Buddhist. She believes in karma and is scared of the dark. She likes dancing and loves techno music. Kat wants to be reincarnated as a Poke Môn.

First impressions: We love, love, love Kat. She\'s as mad as March hare and has the most golden glittery platform boots we have ever seen. Brilliant.

Potential annoyance score out of10: 10.

Nicole Cammack

TV,reality tv,big brother Nicole Cammack : Big Brother 9 contestants : handbag.com Age: 19
Home town: Surry
Occupation: Student

Need to know: The girlfriend of fellow Big Brother contestant Rex Newmark, Nicole Cammack met her man at last year\'s Notting Hill Carnival. A self confessed spoiled brat, Nicole once went to Glastonbury only to call her parents after 12 hours to ask them to come and pick her up.

First impression: She seems very excitable. Rex doesn\'t seem very happy to see her.

Potential annoyance score out of 10: 5.

Mohamed \'Mo\' Mohamed

TV,reality tv,big brother Mohamed \'Mo\' Mohamed : Big Brother 9 contestants : handbag.com Age: 23
Home town: London
Occupation: Toy demonstrator

Need to know: Mohamed was born in Somalia. Before moving to Britain he lived in Kenya, Yemen, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Dubai. He says he not a practising Muslim, or a terrorist. Being woken up makes him mad. Mo says his life is like EastEnders.

First impressions: He\'s got the best hair, the best name and has the best job in the house by far. We think we\'re going to like Mohamed a lot.

Potential annoyance score out of 10: 4.

Lisa Appleton

TV,reality tv,big brother Lisa Appleton : Big Brother 9 contestants : handbag.com Age: 40
Home town: Warrington
Occupation: Sales rep

Need to know: Lisa Appleton - the other half of Big Brother\'s first couple, is a former body builder and once appeared on Gladiators as a contestant. Lisa has also appeared on the BBC show, Kitchen Criminals. She has an 18-year-old daughter and breast implants.

First impressions: Her hunger for fame has led her onto a show which is already testing her sanity by setting up her boyfriend of three years with the hottest girl in the house. Will she be able to keep it together? We don\'t think so.

Potential annoyance score out of 10: Alone? 6. As part of the crazy in love couple? 10.

Stuart Pilkington

TV,reality tv,big brother Stuart Pilkington : Big Brother 9 contestants : handbag.com Age: 25
Home town: Cheadle Hulme
Occupation: Property developer

Need to know: Personal trainer turned property developer Stuart Pilkington says he\'s never been in love, but he does have a five-year-old daughter. He says he\'s got no mates because boys don\'t like him, and he enjoys stripping off for people. According to the Daily Star, Stuart and fellow Big Brother housemate, Sylvia Barrie had a fling prior to the show.

First impressions: Stuart seems to love himself a bit too much and doesn\'t want to admit that he wears eye make-up - which he blatantly does - so although he\'s incredibly hot, we can\'t help feeling he might be a bit of a plonker.

Potential annoyance score out of 10: 6.

Dale Howard

TV,reality tv,big brother Dale Howard : Big Brother 9 contestants : handbag.com Age: 21
Home town: Liverpool
Occupation: PE student and part-time DJ

Need to know: Dale once had his sights set on being a professional footballer and had trials for both Manchester United and Wigan Athletic. Sadly for him, he wasn\'t good enough. A self confessed poser and ladies man, Dale decided to take his beaten up old teddy bear into the house with him, bless.

First impressions: He\'s definitely hot, but his arrogant personality completely kills any potential lust we may have felt for him.

Potential annoyance score out of 10: 8.

Mario Marconi

TV,reality tv,big brother Mario Marconi : Big Brother 9 contestants : handbag.com Age: 42
Home town: Warrington
Occupation: Former probation officer

Need to know: One half of Big Brother\'s first couple, self-proclaimed Italian stallion Mario Marconi was actually christened Shaun and is definitely not Italian. Mario once pawned his Rolex to pay for his girlfriend Lisa Appleton\'s boob job and has also admitted to being a Freemason.

First impressions: This isn\'t Mario\'s first TV appearance (he\'s been on Ant & Dec\'s Saturday Night Takeaway and a couple of adverts) so he must be pretty fame hungry. We\'re guessing he\'ll be up for almost anything. But how far will Lisa let him go?

Potential annoyance score out of 10: Alone? 5. As part of the happiest couple in the universe? 10.

Luke Marsden

TV,reality tv,big brother Luke Marsden : Big Brother 9 contestants : handbag.com Age: 20
Home town: Wigan
Occupation: Politics student

Need to know: Luke is a part time pro wrestling announcer who doesn\'t like swearing, drinking or drugs and is a member of the Conservative party. He loves wearing suits and raising one eyebrow at the cameras. His friends think he looks like Justin Timberlake. His friends are deluded.

First impressions: Hopeless. Let\'s hope the Big Brother experience does him so kind of good.

Potential annoyance score out of 10: 7.

Stephanie McMichael

TV,reality tv,big brother Stephanie McMichael : Big Brother 9 contestants : handbag.com Age: 19
Home town: Liverpool
Occupation: Maths and economics student

Need to know: Stephanie once dated Big Brother 6 winner Anthony Hutton. Stephanie has also appeared on a reality TV show before - in 2002 she reached the final 25 on Popstars: The Rivals but was ejected from the show when producers discovered she was only 13. Stephanie wants to be the most famous contestant ever.

First impressions: Loves herself. Has far too much fake hair.

Potential annoyance score out of 10: 9.

Sylvia Barrie

TV,reality tv,big brother Sylvia Barrie : Big Brother 9 contestants : handbag.com Age: 21
Home town: London
Occupation: Student and sales assistant

Need to know: Born in Sierra Leone, Sylvia and her family fled to the UK when she was 11 years old. She\'s studying English literature and psychology at Derby University. She doesn\'t like her wrists.

First impressions: In her audition Sylvia admitted she had a sharp tongue and warned that housemates should not mess with her. We believe her. She looks scary as hell.

Potential annoyance score out of 10: 9.

Belinda Harris-Reid

TV,reality tv,big brother Belinda Harris-Reid : Big Brother 9 contestants : handbag.com Age: 44
Home town: Hertfordshire
Occupation: Theatre director

Need to know: Bubbly Belinda was raised in East Africa, has two children and likes to collect mayonnaise lids. She has her own theatre company and has appeared on stage naked.

First impression: Fabulous.

Potential annoyance score out of 10: 7.

Rebecca Shiner

TV,reality tv,big brother Rebecca Shiner : Big Brother 9 contestants : handbag.com Age: 21
Home town: Coventry
Occupation: Nursery nurse

Need to know: Rebecca without doubt the most excitable member of the Big Brother house. She loves Coventry. She refers to herself in the third person as "The Bex" and says she knows she is very annoying. Enjoys screaming - a lot. Bears an uncanny vocal similarity to Little Britain\'s Vicky Pollard.

First impressions: Oh. Dear. God. Why?

Potential annoyance score out of 10: 10.

Jennifer Clark

TV,reality tv,big brother Jennifer Clark : Big Brother 9 contestants : handbag.com Age: 22
Home town: Durham
Occupation: Part time model

Need to know: A single mother, Jennifer is Catholic and believes in spirits. She has an irrational fear of tomato soup. Jennifer is a vegetarian and has strong views on abortion, hunting, fur, illegal immigrants and smoking.

First impression: Jennifer was one of the few Big Brother contestants not to receive any boos from the crowd. She\'s obviously too hot to be booed.

Potential annoyance score out of 10: 8.

Dennis McHugh

TV,reality tv,big brother Dennis McHugh : Big Brother 9 contestants : handbag.com Age: 23
Home town: Edinburgh
Occupation: Dance student

Need to know: Dennis bears a striking resemblance to celebrity blogger Perez Hilton. His ambition is to become a dancer and personal shopper. We think he\'ll make it.

First impressions: He wears far too much badly applied fake tan and needs to calm down.

Potential annoyance score out of 10: 10.

Alexandra De-Gale

TV,reality tv,big brother Alexandra De-Gale : Big Brother 9 contestants : handbag.com Age: 23
Home town: Croydon
Occupation: Accounts executive

Need to know: Alexandra is a single mother. She recently converted from Christianity to Islam. She says she is famous in Croydon and has ambitions to be a millionaire. She received the loudest boos and some major heckling from the crowd ("Who are ya?") when she entered the house.

First impressions: Alexandra may think she was born special, but we\'re not convinced. She has the worst pout we have ever seen.

Potential annoyance score out of 10: 10.

Maysoon Shaladi

TV,reality tv,big brother Maysoon Shaladi : Big Brother 9 contestants : handbag.com Age: 28
Home town: Hertfordshire
Occupation: Model

Need to know: A model for eight years, Maysoon wants to prove that girls in her business have more to them than just beauty. She is hoping that her time in the house will improve her career prospects as a model, actress or presenter.

First impression: We like Maysoon. She seems confident, sexy and has a bit of pizzazz about her. Hopefully she won\'t disappoint.

Potential annoyance score out of 10: 2.

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