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| 23 April 2002 |
| 23 April 2002 Back to the Real Life By Jim Tucker DAMIAN Hoo, now free to trade in his brief role in Big Brother for his former life as a rugby halfback, won't be rushed into the Wests side for Saturday's clash with GPS at Sylvan Road. Wests coach Phil Mooney wryly insisted Hoo's nightly hi-jinks on the hit TV show for the past three weeks had not distracted clubmates enough to explain the Bulldogs' three straight losses over the same period. "That's had to do with not tackling, not trying to keep up with all of Hooey's win-on lines on the show," Mooney quipped. "I can't believe he got voted off the show but now he has I wonder what chance the club has of getting its ball back." Mooney said he was stunned when watching a brief grab of the show to see a football bearing a distinct WESTS brand being kicked out of the Big Brother compound. "The show did teach us a few useful things about Damian. The club has just put in a new medical room which we need painted," Mooney said. "Hooey didn't lift a paint brush on Big Brother so we know we'll have to look elsewhere for help. "I've left a message in the queue on his mobile phone message bank so we're expecting him back at Wests sometime soon." Hoo was Wests' first-choice halfback during pre-season trials. He'll have to win back his top grade spot from Tom Vincent when he does come back after a hectic round of media and promotional activities as the show's first evictee. Article from Courier-Mail 23 April 2002 Damian Plays Fame Game BIG Brother's first evictee Damian Hoo was lapping up his 15 minutes of fame yesterday as Channel 10 revelled in its increased competitiveness in the TV ratings. The first eviction show was the highest rating program for the day in Sydney, attracting 582,947 viewers and beating Channel 9's National Nine News, Location Location and Backyard Blitz. Nationally, the first eviction show rated 14 per cent higher than last year's equivalent show where dominatrix Andy was booted from the Gold Coast abode. If last year's BB ratings are anything to go by, Ten can expect audiences to become even more addicted to the housemates than they are now. But despite the huge interest Channel 9 won the TV ratings week (to Saturday April 18). And Nine's one-time close rival Seven repeated its dire performance of the previous week by coming in third behind Ten, repeating the yo-yo nature of the three commercial network's placings since the ratings resumed in February. In addition to parading Damian around town, Channel 10 would not guarantee that next Sunday's Big Brother eviction would not go over time, as it did on Sunday, when it spilled over an extra 15 minutes into the traditional movie slot taken up by all three networks. Article from Daily Telegraph |