Big Brother housemates Sophie and Jonny were going head-to-head in the eviction battle tonight - with Sophie looking certain to get the boot.
The recruitment consultant from Marlow, Bucks, is the bookies’ favourite to be voted out.
Sophie, 25, entered the house as a replacement for trainee barrister Sunita, who quit the Channel 4 show after a week.
But she has failed to make an impact and in recent days has been the subject of frequent criticism.
She made herself unpopular by concentrating all her affections on housemate Lee, and found herself with few friends after he was evicted.
Yesterday she told Kate that she was hoping the public would not vote her out.
‘‘I’m not ready to go at all. I feel I’ve got so much more to experience,’’ she said.
She accepted that going head-to-head with Jonny would be difficult: ‘‘Because Jonny’s been up before and didn’t go, it’s tough. I’m half preparing myself to stay and half preparing myself to go.’’
Jonny, 29, from Co Durham, has been up for eviction once before but survived after viewers opted to get rid of Lee.
The Geordie firefighter has been very subdued this week since learning he had been nominated for a second time.
But according to a Ladbrokes spokesman, he does not have much to worry about tonight.
‘‘We have never had a housemate such a favourite for eviction as Sophie. The polls and the views of the other housemates show she is very likely to go today. It will be a brave punter who backs Sophie,’’ he said.
Essex model Alex, 23, is still favourite to emerge as winner of the reality TV show, with Jonny in second place at 7-2.
But recently more and more people have been backing Kate to take home the £70,000 (€108,000) prize.
As a result Ladbrokes have slashed odds on the 22-year-old from Kent, from 14-1 at the start of the week to 10-1.
The Ladbrokes spokesman said: ‘‘In the last two weeks punters have placed more money on Kate than anyone else to win it. She has become more popular.
‘‘She seems to be trying to get on with everyone, like being nice to Sophie this week while others are bitching about her.
‘‘She has not been seen getting involved in all the backstabbing and slagging off, and she’s playing it very cleverly.’’