Hundreds Hundreds of people gathered in Belfast on Sunday to audition for the latest series of Big Brother. The County Derry Post’s Patricia Devlin was among the eager wannabes. Here’s her diary of a very eventful day.

 
6.00am: It’s an early start as my alarm bleeps me out of bed. Auditions start at 8.30am and with a forty minute drive in front of me, I have no time to waste.8.35am: It’s the first time the auditions have been in Belfast for a few years so I’m expecting a big crowd. As I walk up to Queens Sports centre, I spot the trademark Olympus Security men guarding the entrance. As I walk up the steps one burly and slightly scary looking man steps forward. “Big Brother auditions?” I nod my head, “Follow me…” 
8.40am: After walking up a million steps, I’m led into a hall where around 60 people are waiting. The first thing I spot are a TV crew filming a familiar face, Seany, from last year’s Big Brother! Being slightly star struck I walk on up and join the rest of the applicants. It’s not long before the once half empty hall becomes full as more and more people come to audition for the most famous reality show in the world. 
9.30am: After a while I’m put into a group of 16 people, where I meet a number of big characters including Nick, 47, a member of a Rockabilly band. He’s told his family he was at work for the day, “My daughter would kill me if she knew I was here,” he laughs. We start the session with some warm ups, starting with the all famous Hokey Cokey and finish with a rib tickling session of Chinese Whispers. A member from the Big Brother production team split’s us into two groups of eight, we’re then whisked off to the first elimination round….  
10.36am: My group are led over to the other end of the hall where we line up in front of three women bearing Big Brother T-shirts. “Right, we want everyone to split into pairs and tell us three juicy facts about each other. And they have to be good or you’re out!” One of them shouts. I pair up with Aidan, a 22 year old arts degree graduate who once dressed up as a fried egg and brought an old man home. I think I had enough ammunition to get through to the next round… 
11.17am: After cruelly naming who we would evict out of the group and why, (I picked fried-egg Aidan) we are asked to hold out our right hands. If we get a stamp, we’re onto the next round, if not, well it was home time. I held out my hand and held my breath. And with a huge click I look down to see the infamous Big Brother eye staring up at me, I’m through! 
1.30pm: After getting my official Big Brother audition picture taken as well as filling out a lengthy application form, I’m now sitting outside one of three main interview rooms. Feeling nervous I get chatting to a very camp-looking man in a glitter shirt. His name is Gary and it’s his third year running for Big Brother, I asked him if he had any tips and he replied, “Darling, you just have to be yourself and if yourself isn’t good enough, well then just forget about it!” Door number three opens and a female crew member steps forward and asks me to come in. 
2.15pm : After being grilled by two Big Brother producers and an in-your-face TV camera, I’m back outside the interview rooms trying to evaluate whether I made a complete fool of myself or not. When I see an important looking man with a clip board walking in my direction, I knew this was make or break time. “Congratulations Patricia, you’re through to the next round.” After hugging the poor man, I’m taken into a huge room where around twenty other people were furiously filling out an inch thick application form. “Here you go, this should take you around two and a half hours to fill out, when your finished come back to me for your second interview.” This was going to be a long day. 
4.50pm : After over two hours of answering questions about my dreams, likes, dislikes, embarrassing moments and scenarios, as well as drawing a self-portrait, I’m now outside a bigger and more intimidating room, labelled THE DIARY ROOM. A young crew member whisks me inside where I’m placed inside a tiny boxed space with only a camera and a bright light in my sight. After waiting for five minutes Big Brother addresses me; “Hello Patricia, how are you today?” And so it starts - personal questions, house scenarios and 45 seconds to explain why I’d be an excellent house mate. After fifteen minutes of heated conversation I leave the diary room. After finishing the final interview I collect my things and leave the building, waving goodbye to Seany on the way out. I feel exhausted but I‘m glad I got the chance to take part in the experience.

And who knows, it might not be over just yet.