Big Brother is entering the half-way stage so here is a short round-up of four of the nine established characters and how they fair in the betting market.

Pete
Current Odds: 1/2

Pete has remained the undisputed favourite to win Big Brother ever since he fell down the stairs to mark his entrance. His odds-on status is justified since he appears to be the nicest and most genuine person incarcerated in the house and he has proved there is more to him than his Tourettes outbusts and nervous ticks. Pete is the unlikely romeo of the house, with Lea, Lisa and Nikki all falling for his unique charms although he claims not to be interested in any of them. At the halfway point, it is difficult to see past Pete as the winner of Big Brother, since the producers love a journey and a slushy story about Pete being accepted for who he is is being played out right now. Its all predictable and contrived, but its what mainstream television is all about, right?

Nikki
Current Odds: 11/2

Even though Pete is the likely winner, Nikki has been the best ever contestant on Big Brother bar none. Do people like her really exist and if so, how on earth do they survive in the wider world? Nikki is 24, but behaves like someone well short of hitting even their teenage years. Everything upsets her. She cries when shes nominated, she cried when her fellow housemates had to wash her for a task and she cried when she couldnt get her MP3 player to work. However, her constant grizzling is amusing rather than annoying and her Diary Room monologues have become compulsive viewing. Remarkably, shes knocking out these TV gems seven nights a week on the highlights show. Nikki survived three successive eviction nights which will give the other housemates reason not to nominate her so often. Nikki and Pete in the final two no question.

Glyn
Current Odds: 9/1

After a few weeks lurking in the background, Glyn has emerged as a strong contender to win the show. Hes awkward, lacks social skills, cant take his drink and fancies the pants off any woman in the same room as him. Much the same as any other teenage boy, then. Glyn is seen as harmless by the other housemates and is funny without meaning to be, which is why he has received just one nomination in five weeks. Glyns lusting after older women Lea and Suzie is quite entertaining, while he also said there werent women like Aisleyne in Blaenau Ffestiniog. Lucky boy.

Mikey
Current Odds: 14/1

Mikey has done very little in almost 50 days in the Big Brother house apart from talk about biiiiiiirds and who fancies who. There is very little to his character apart from looking a bit like Vernon Kay and trying to get off with Imogen now Grace has been evicted. However, he was the only housemate that tried to help paralytic Glyn after one drink too many. Mikey doesnt really do anything to offend anyone else so he could well make it until the final day.