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| 10 June 2002 |
| 10 June 2002 Party Girl Steals Our Hearts By Kylie Keogh NO ONE thought she was replaceable but there's a new high-maintenance blonde on the box. Instead of bunny-ears, her long locks are violently fashioned into two poodle tails sticking out the side of her head. Forget the bum-dance, a juxtaposition of contemporary dance and anarchic jazz is her thing. She is Jess, the once-maligned housemate of Ten's Big Brother II who, like last year's cultural icon Sara-Marie, has warmed the icy hearts of cynical viewers who had her pegged as a fraud. According to the official Big Brother II website, Jess's popularity was sluggish to begin with, around 7 per cent and reached a low of 2 per cent about three weeks into the house. Now, with less than a month to go and only five housemates remaining she's just under 30 per cent and according to Centrebet, is fourth favourite to win, narrowly behind the maudlin Peter. Even on the website, nasty speculation that she was pregnant and has an eating disorder as well as general hate mail has slowly subsided, with hard-headed fans begrudgingly admitting they had changed their opinion. But this is not unique to Australian Big Brother. Last year, the vivacious Sara-Marie, a Catholic-educated young woman from Perth who managed a strip club, only just missed being evicted the first week. Although she was consistently nominated, each week fewer and fewer viewers wanted her out. She remained until the end - sacrificed by the public to keep best mates Ben and Blair in. And the word this time around is that the final two will be Jess and her favourite farmboy, Marty. So what has this ditsy chick from the Gold Coast with a desperate desire for fame done for the audience to embrace her? For Sara-Marie Fedele, watching BBII has unearthed a whole heap of memories and understandable comparisons between her and Jess. "I didn't like her either. People compared me to her early on and I was like 'no way!'. But I've really warmed to her," Fedele said. "She annoys people, which is like me, but we have a similar energy where everything is about having fun." "But recently we've seen a different side to her. Housemates talk to her about their problems or issues and she listens. She's calmed down a bit but has showed she can be serious. I think it will come down to her and Marty." According to University of Sydney anthropological lecturer Dr Stephen Juan, who is also a Big Brother II convert, the seismic shift in favour of Jess isn't surprising. "At first, she seemed to be silly, offensive and awful but now we see her as lots of fun, inoffensive and good company," he said. "She'd be the type of person who would be a great passenger if you were planning to drive across Australia. She's very easy to meet and easy to get to know and that appeals to a lot of people. "But at first, I think a lot of people thought she was a fake, that she was this 24-year-old playing this 12-year-old little girl and people thought 'oh grow up'. Now that image seems real and people embrace that." The recently evicted Nathan Morris described his former housemate as "a nutter" who was nothing but genuine. "Like everyone else, I thought it was an act but that's the whole thing, she is an act and that's real," he said. "Jess is a beautiful person who is the first one there if someone is hurt to kiss it better, but she is also a running skit that keeps going." What else Sara-Marie and Jess have in common is the dumb blonde cliche and a penchant for naughtiness. Sara-Marie thrilled us all with her thesis on "inies and outies" (and she wasn't talking about belly-buttons), while Jess came up with a questionable nickname for Marty to call her. And maybe that's why, after a time, we like them. They're everything many of us can't be - a combination of a loud party girl who just wants to give hugs at the end of the day. Article from Daily Telegraph |