Could the 4 out been planned from day one?
Is this going to be the return of previous housemates that was mentioned at the start?
Chuck em in together get the right ones in it might just work
just a thought....

I doubt it otherwise there wouldn't have been all this fannying about for the last 48 hours.

They are making it up as they go along as per normal.

Out of interest, if four housemates from previous years did enter on Friday, would that change your mind about this being a knee-jerk?

How long would it take for the producers to call a few ex HMs and invite them on the show?

48 hours is plenty of time.

If it was pre-planned they would have announced the twist(manipulation) straight after the nominations.

they are just trying new big things to see if they can pull of a miracle

If they bring in 4 ex HMs I won't be watching the rest of the show, it's unfair to have 4 that the public are so familiar with vs the HMs we know little about.

I actually agree with you that this was a panic move. Though my mind remains open.

The only things i would say are:

A) The early press release heavily hinted at the time bomb resulting in the return of old housemates.

And

B) In storytelling terms (and as basic as a show like this is, it still utilises that) you wouldnt announce what your twist is directly after nominations, you'd drip feed the narrative throughout the weeks arc. Tease the twist is coming but only give you it in instalments.

So basically for me, if four ex housemates arrive on Friday I will be of the opinion that this was always planned to play out this way. If they don't, then I wont.