Usually I don't watch reality TV programmes like this; I prefer to immerse myself in a contemporary drama, but pretty much every year for the last few years I've given myself over completely and utterly to the draw that is CBB. Why?
Time Limited - I don't watch the full Big Brother show because now it goes on for about 3 months, and I've not got time in my life for that sort of daily TV watching. However, the celebrity alternative lasts for a month, and what makes it even better is it's on in January – the most depressing dark and miserable month, when nothing seems like it'll improve. The fact that CBB is a short sharp burst of reality celebrity TV is what makes it perfect to indulge in.

Conflict – I love how the producers keep injecting conflict into the house by dividing them into groups, giving them games to play, making them nominate face to face, whatever. I really enjoy seeing how some people go into meltdown at the smallest thing, especially when you remember it is only a game show. Tiffany in this year's show had a meltdown when others nominated her face to face -after it has to be said, she had been a very difficult house mate to live with and deserved everything she got – but meltdown she did. With spectacular results.

Relationships – at its most basic level, I am interested in people, and their relationships with one another, and how they change and grow. I like observing this in real life with strangers, with friends and family and myself too. So watching a group of people go through this over a month is brilliant viewing as far as I’m concerned. I like to see how friendships are formed and broken and formed again, alliances made and shattered, best friendships are discarded, and all often in the space of 24 hours. I love it all.

Celebrity Warts and all – we think we know celebrities as we read about them in magazines and newspapers, see them on TV shows, but most of that is at least partly curated for our expense. Yes, even the expose about a celebrity's cocaine shame hell, or a picture of them taking the bins out in their pyjamas. However, in the BB house there is nowhere to hide. Although it is curated and we only see 40 mins of what happens in 24 hours, the producers pick the most interesting pieces and these are often when the celebrities show their true colours. Often with fantastic amusing results.

What is celebrity nowadays – while I'm talking about celebrities I may as well go onto my next favourite thing about CBB. How it shows, without even trying, the difference between traditional type celebrities – actors, models, presenters and the new type of celebrity – people who have been in a reality TV show. There's some kind of meta self referential shiz going on by having a person who's been made famous by being themselves on a reality TV show, actually on another reality TV show. Usually the house falls into cliques and often these are at first based on this divide in celebrity – each type of celebrity often knows others who circulate in their world of celebrity. For instance this year, Daniella, John and Darren are all actors and they bonded by being in the box at the start of this series. Scottie T, Megan and Gemma bonded early on too – all reality TV stars. But this isn't the interesting bit, that's how the work ethic of these two types seems to differ. Some of -not all – the reality TV stars complained about doing the tasks for days on end, saying it was such hard work and it went on and on. The actors of the group were speechless; as would anyone be who'd actually done a day's work in the celebrity arena. Actors learn lines, sit on set waiting to be called, for days on end. They don't simply turn up with a blow dry and talk to their friends with a camera shoved in their face. This divide was also apparent during some arguments – Stephanie, an actor, had a row with Gemma, a reality TV star, and she shouted, 'You're from TOWIE, what's your talent, who are you, Gemma?' Of course, later, they were besties, and all that was forgotten, but was it really? Can you ever forget something someone's said to you in anger? I think not, because you can't un-say something.

Positivity – finally, another reason I love CBB is that at the end it's so relentlessly positive. The final few celebs left in the house all talk about how they've had a great experience of being in the house, how they've learned so much, how it was the hardest thing they've ever done -and I believe them on this as it must be like living in a pressure cooker / prison. This positivity and how they all claim to have learned and grown through the process is something I find very satisfying to watch as it happens. It's like good character development in a novel or film I suppose.

So those are the main reasons why I love watching CBB, and why, come summer, I'll probably be back there again for another batch of 'celebrities' and celebrities.

Do you watch it? Would you dare, or do you think you'd lose to much time to it?

Here are some gems from CBB 2016.
Gemma Collins
Best bits of the series

Megan meltdown
Gemma Collins on what she learned on being on CBB.

Until next time, Liam Livings xx

The rest of the world was in black and white but
We were in screaming color (Out Of The Woods by Taylor Swift)

Dear Nick,
It has been a year to the day since your death. However, instead of remembering your flowerless funeral, the Jewish cemetery in Hertfordshire overflowing with mourners, the queue of your friends and family getting their hands and shoes dirty, digging the earth to cover your coffin, or your husband at the Shiva unable to speak when I knelt to hug him. Instead of that, I choose to remember you as you lived your life in screaming colour and in the things you did and said while we were friends.

You would have mercilessly taken the piss out of me for quoting Taylor Swift, although, you did ‘allow me’ Girls Aloud, since NME had deemed them cool, but I remember your views on Steps as being ‘ineffable’ and 'something to forget' despite me finding a picture of you on Facebook with blond spiky hair and standing next to H from Steps. And how you regularly told me Enya was inferior, with your cheeky laugh, a smile and a wink.
I would love to share pictures of you here, but I’d need to ask your husband if that was OK, and I don't want to bother him with. Instead, I’ll try to describe my two favourite pictures of you.

1. you at a music festival wearing a purple and white checked shirt, rolled up jeans and leather braces, holding your hand in the air waving at whoever was taking a picture of you, a broad smile across your face. The background is brightly coloured fairground rides and the ground is covered in mud. You joked that it made you look like a gay farmer when I mentioned it to you
   
2. your last day at the place we worked together, a black and white photo of you kissing your boyfriend at the time, shortly afterwards he became your husband, both wearing stripy shirts and you in a black waistcoat. Both of your eyes are closed as you kissed with your mouths half open.
   

I worked with you for just six months and we stayed friends after you left. You made such an impression on me because you lived your life in screaming colour. Well, I say worked together, but we didn’t even work in the same team, you simply sat three rows of desks in front of me, returning to your desk in a variety of natty waistcoats and suits, holding a bowl of freshly popped microwave popcorn, filling the office with the buttery smell, your irreverent chatter and laughter.

I remember thinking to myself, I want to get to know him. I want to be his friend. So I made a concerted effort to gently best friend you, inviting you to someone’s leaving drinks, introducing you to everyone I knew, then afterwards suggesting maybe we could go for a drink together. We became each other’s work husband, going for lunch together most days, having drinks after work. We had all you can eat pizza at Pizza Express and really did eat until we could hardly move. And talked about my book, Best Friends Perfect, I’d asked you to read, and we talked about some difficult life stuff you were going through at the time. 'We cover a lot in our lunch breaks,' you said to me afterwards as we walked back to the concrete tower block where we worked.
We went shoe shopping for 'ridiculously impractical and showy' shoes to spend your Selfridges birthday vouchers.
We watched Death Becomes Her when you stayed with me at Mum's house in November 2011. I will always think of you when I watch that film. We watched Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolfe, one of your favourite films, which I didn’t quite get, but I did eventually enjoy. That weekend you explained how Hanukkah worked, elaborating on your statement that you were culturally Jewish, but religiously didn’t believe in God.
On an anniversary of you receiving some life-changing bad news, in 2012 you came round my house. We walked in Epping Forest with Guinness, your dog, and had lunch in a pub, ham egg and chips. We ate Viennetta with chocolate chip cookies broken in, drank tea and watched Nighty Night quoting our favourite parts, back at my house. Afterwards, you left at five-ish, saying how the day had taken your mind off the anniversary and thanked me for it.

At your wedding at Islington Register Office you wore matching claret and blue suits and ties, red heart sunglasses, with the other wedding guests, posing for a picture on the steps – I smile when I see that picture as I walk up the stairs at home. You and your husband stared at each other as the register said the vows, and I knew you'd got found someone right for you. How you held each other at the reception, with your dad saying he was pleased that two so complicated, demanding people as you two had found each other, because no one else would have put up with you! Your wedding was in screaming colour too. It was a perfect expression of your and your husband's love for each other.
In December 2014 we spoke on the phone, both holiday boasting to each other, me about going to Australia with my boyfriend, and you about going to New Zealand. The last text you sent me said: Good lamb. Good wine. Scenery. Wale watching xxx We said we’d see each other when we were both back in March.
That never happened because on 10 February 2015 you died of a heart attack while kayaking in New Zealand with your husband. I can't make sense of this, as I have tried so hard to do so. Which is why all I have is my memories of you living your life in screaming colour and how glad I am to have been friends with you.
Lots of love, L xxx