It's ironic (and somewhat appropriate) that on Valentine's Day we have to report that the love train on Big Brother 9 has been derailed. If you've seen the first two episodes of the show you may have already gotten an inkling of trouble, but when you see the next episode it's all going to change BIG TIME.  Jack Manly has wanted to keep our blog entries relatively spoiler free when it comes to Big Brother 9, but it's pretty impossible knowing what's been happening. SO...if you want to avoid learning about what's been going on the last few days (and it is a lot) then we recommend skipping this blog entirely. For those who want to get the dirt, here goes....

  First, forget everything that has happened already. It's all been flipped upside down and scrambled. The last few days have seen arguments, tears, alliances broken, alliances started, and partnerships shattered and reconfigured.
Most importantly there is no gay couple anymore, making this show even less attractive for us to follow.

 Let's get right to the easiest, albeit most painful story to tell. Yesterday, Neil, the gay realtor went into the diary room for a lengthy period and although nothing was said directly to live-feed viewers, he left the show. Apparently there was a family emergency that the producers told him about and he left the show. The producers told Joshuah
that he now had the option (if you can call it one) to bring back either Jacob or Sharon back to be his partner. Talk about a lousy choice! He chose Sharon. We can certainly understand that given Jacob's previous behavior and the potential for Bible-based homophobia. It was an emotional time for all. Joshuah literally cried for hours because he and Neil had bonded, become friends AND had shared a kiss in the kitchen. And he didn't get a chance to say goodbye. Even though several houseguests have expressed hope that Neil would return if and when his family crisis was attended to, Joshuah is stuck with loud-mouthed Sharon (and yes she is a talker!)

 The big complication and worst kept secret was Jen & Ryan being a couple. It's now out and both Parker and Allison (who are their BB9 partners) feel like they're getting thrown under the bus by these two. Jen and Ryan have been arguing and each is trying to campaign against each other. You see, these are the two couples up for eviction.

 Once Sharon came back into the house the girls were ecstatic. Sharon went on a warpath claiming that Jacob's
remarks that got him booted out were said to protect Jen. Uh-huh. Unless we missed something, Jacob made up that whole thing about Ryan dissing Parker. She seems to be working Jen as the villain in the whole thing. After all this the best thing you could say about Sharon is that she's finally started strategizing and professing loyalty to her new partner, the loveless Joshuah.

 The couple that seemed like lovebirds, Alex and Amanda seem to have cooled. Alex was telling the guys he can't stand her voice anymore or her looks or attitude. Seems like the bloom is off the rose or he's faking. Chelsia and James seem to be cool with each other, Matt and Natalie seem to be the low profile almost non-existent pair and
Sheila and Adam are finally being civil to each other. Ok, more than that--she made him a Valentine's Day breakfast in bed! And he was polite! And he kissed her on the cheek! 

  We'll see exactly how all this is edited for TV but the bottom line is that with Neil being gone, Big Brother won't be so gay watchable as it promised. Too bad.  If the rest of the season works as badly as the first week then maybe it's a good thing it's a short season.