Nevertheless, Alex managed to keep me constantly amused. Even when he was 'going off on one' he brightened my day!! (grin) In the latter stages when he was often wandering around for hours on his own, it was fascinating trying to figure out what was going on in his mind.

Mr. Perpetual Motion never seemed to do one trip, if he could make three or more instead (grin). Presumably this was his way of getting in some 'exercise', or finding a way to 'fill in' the aeons of time.....?

He was the real grit in the Oyster. We never knew from day to day which side of him we would see. At times the tension between him and the other housemates was palpable, edge of the seat stuff.

He clearly was not supressing or hiding the negative aspects of his personality. It was all out there. One minute he was the confident experienced mature man of the world, the next he could be strangely boyish, naive and humble. Sometimes he spouted a load of rubbish other times he made a great deal of sense.

He was tolerant and intolerant, patient and impatient, kind and bitchy, sympathetic and unsympathetic, cold and warm, loyal, polite and rude, moody, stubborn and easygoing. He could demonstrate an insightful intelligence and also act like a total twat (as he admits 'alcohol is not a friend of his').

At times he could come across as take-charge and arrogant, loud, moany and extrovert. Other times he was strong minded, sensitive, enthusiastic, vulnerable, introverted, quiet, anxious and pensive. What a glorious intriguing mixture!

He was inherently honest and funny with a sense of humour that could be witty, surreal, dry, sarcastic, cutting and mischievous. He would just come out with things or do things that kept me grinning, smiling, chuckling or laughing out loud. No doubt most of the time he didn't even realise how amusing he was.

If he had been evicted in the second week, we would have lost the 'pleasure' of getting to 'know' and experience him. Without Alex, and to a lesser extent Jade, the final two weeks of the show would have made appalling viewing!

In every way I found Alex to be the most watch able of the housemates. WOW, what 'eye candy'. He was extremely hard working and competent without an ounce of male chauvinism in his little finger. How enjoyable and unusual to be able to watch a good looking guy -

Unloading a shopping trolley,
cleaning windows,
hand washing his clothes,
mucking out the chickens,
scrubbing scum lines off the swimming pool,
cleaning the oven,
brushing his teeth,
washing his hair,
taking a bath or shower,
cooking,
eating,
washing up,
sunbathing,
wearing 'cool' clothes,
not wearing clothes,
playing darts, croquet, frisbee,
learning to play the accordion,
making puppets until all hours,
thinking,
sleeping,
breathing!

Let's face it to see ANY man doing this lot, is a treat. If he also looks spectacular when he's doing it - well, that's just gotta be a huge bonus (lol)!

Boring? Nonsense. He was the only housemate that could retain my attention even whilst he was asleep (grin).

When he said he intended to 'walk' I nearly had a heart attack. I went into a severe depression and virtually held my breath for hours until he was 'persuaded' to stay. (just as well I held off on the cyanide pills, eh!) My whole dependence was on the Karate Kid's mentor being able to persuade him to stick it out....

I think he was much too hard on himself when he said he didn't like the person he had become in the Big Brother house. Perhaps he had feelings of guilt at his collusion with and treatment of some other housemates, notably Sophie and Jade. He knows what it's like to be on the receiving end.

But, like all of us he is human and by definition imperfect. Alex's imperfections just made him more endearing to me. Someone who's too perfect can be intimidating and is often too good to be true. (grin)

That's what being heroic is all about. Surviving in the face of adversity - despite the odds against you. A character that has not been challenged rarely develops any real strength.

Alex was obviously raised with decent principles. In recent years he had come to terms with the world sufficiently to acquire a degree of happiness. He obviously had problems with himself when he believed that he was not living up either to his principles or the experience and 'life lessons' he had learned.

The very fact that he was that self-aware says a lot for his honesty and integrity. His parents can be proud of him and I wish him well in the future.

I will continue to follow the progress of the lovely Alex to see whether his experience in the Big Brother house ultimately proves to be a curse or a blessing for him....