Big Brother / Editor / 21 May 2008 / Leave a comment Bet Now

Being banished to a kombi van in the backyard of the Big Brother house hasn't hurt Nobbi's chances of taking the mystery cash prize, writes James Heffield.

Commerce student Nobbi, who was banished to the kombi van by evicted, and since returned, Terri's housemate hand grenade, seems to be popular with housemates and TV audiences alike.

He is paying $4.60 to win, slightly ahead of abattoir worker Renee, paying $5.10, and marketing coordinator Travis, $5.30.

Nobbi, who fancies himself as a stirrer, may have benefited from his confined environment away from house politics. Both Saxon and Rebecca were eliminated from the house after confrontations with other housemates in the lead up to Sunday eviction shows.

Saxon lost favour with his over-zealous views on aliens and UFOs, while Rebecca earned the ire of her housemates after they accused her and Brigitte of hiding beers on Rebecca's birthday.

Early in the season, Renee expressed concern that nobody in Australia would vote for her because even her mother had said she wouldn't be spending money voting to keep Renee in the house. But after a hot-and-cold relationship with 27-year-old virgin Nathan, Renee has viewers voting to keep her on the show to watch how it pans out.

This week Renee won a shopping trip to New York with fellow housemate Dixie after she was voted most improved by celebrity Carson Kressley after the housemate makeovers.

Dixie, who like Renee hails from Dubbo, NSW, is at long odds to win the competition and her departure could give Renee a monopoly on votes from the Dubbo region.

Standing out since day one with his "possumistic" attitude and high-pitched voice Travis is also at good odds to take the competition. His popularity with punters comes despite an appearance in the bottom three at last week's eviction, and being labelled "most irritating" by the majority of housemates at Wednesday night's family dinner.

Professional belly-dancer Rima remains an outside chance in the Big Brother betting race. After leaving the house with a broken leg during the first set of Friday Night Games, Rima has been offered the opportunity to return to the house on her recovery.

A spinoff of her stay in hospital is that other housemates have not been able to vote her off, and while her return is far from a sure thing, the broken leg could pay off in the long run.