And therefore one who ticks all the boxes you think is important.

And do you think age, gender, sex ( male or female ) etc make a difference ?

I usually automaticaly tend to favour female at the start of a series and look for older housemates ( 30 + ). And once I have established my favourite it is rare for me to change my mind.

And once my favourite has been evicted ( which they usually are given that they are normally female ) I never choose another.

I did have one male favourite who I wanted to win - JonTickle - and he did not win either !

I don't look for it. It finds me.

A list of some of my favourite hms...

Anna BB1
Cameron BB4
Nikki BB7
Lesley BB8
Freddie BB10
Lauren BB13
Dexter BB14
Chris BB15
Eileen BB16

....would suggest my answer would be no !

Yes - the words "look" on my post was not the best of wording

I suppose what I meant by that was that people who tick certain boxes I usually warm to automatically.

One year I may be in the same appreciation thread as another poster, the next we may be in entirely different camps. It can't be that we were both ticking boxes as we've come up with different answers.

A favourite housemate just happens.

It's also been the case that a favourite from one year will appear on BOTS and completely slag off my favourite from the next series. So what can they have in common?

someone who creates drama, helen/marc types, keeps me wanting to see the next episode

A nice personality. Someone to relate to. Someone funny, humour goes s long way. Basically, not a crazy or argumentative goob.

I don't follow a pattern. I just support those who I like at the time. So from one series to another, my select in is extremely erratic.

Just a selection. .. Helen BB2, Alex and Kate Bb3, Jon BB4, Science, Aaron bb12, Deana, Gina, Ashleigh, Joel and Marc. With CBB...Chantelle, Jermaine, Alex Reid, Shannon twins, Luisa, Gary Busey, James Hill.

No actual pattern. Just a combination of likeability, people who enjoy themselves, entertainment and other stuff. Next year I could support a villain or a quiet one. never know

You have listed 8 of my favourites with Helen and Deana being the top two.

A normal person without a giant sized ego about themselves. Marc and helen were idiots as far as I'm concerned. Chloe deserved her bb for being normal, for not having an ego about her, having a good record in tasks, being polite to ppl, she was unassuming as well and had integrity too. Obviously the daily star addicts who post here would disagree with me, but I'm stating my side of the coin.

Basically not a richard Desmond sort.

I just look for the person I don't vote for but the person id like to win.

I disagree with you and I am certainly not a 'Daily Star' addict.

Chloe is exactly what I don't look for in a Housemate, nothing genuine about her at all, a spoilt little princess with a nicey nice act - eugh !

She was unpleasant in the first week (her DR regarding Aaron, 1 example), then she played the 'normal girl next door'. None of the girls that I have ever lived next door to take several £6,000 holidays and buy designer items regularly, she was a hypocrite regarding the money, I'm tired of the excuses for her. Even threw a glass close to someone (Farrah-style). Mean to Jack. Very poor winner.
=================
Anyway, I tend to be drawn to the quirky characters, doesn't mean I will stick with them till the end, dry wit is always an attraction for me, male or female.
The shouty obnoxious HMs are great for the first week or 2 to get others to open up but need to be booted not saved in twist after twist.
Panto-villians are fun for the long run but not genuine nasty people.

My side of the coin too TP.

Apart from Chloe, I thought she was a manipulative little madam who's mask slipped a few times.

My favourite HM's are the sarcastic (but not on the verge of of insulant) ones who don't take themselves too seriously, enjoy the process and get jiggy with Faye.

I don't buy that chloe was manipulative at all, in actual fact I thought she had the most warmth about her. Take it you wanted Joel to take it instead? Joel I thought didn't have enough charisma to take it. The majority of viewers found chloe a lot more charismatic and not a show off with it either.

Chloe was manipulative but yes, she was more charismatic than snivelling little tory boy, Joel. Basically, she was the best of a bad bunch and it's the first BB that I didn't give a damn who won.

Chloe charismatic. She was dull and a hypocrite who constantly played the "I'm normal" card, and brought on the tears to gain sympathy. She only came to life in Cash Bomb week and treated her so called best friend in the house like cr@p.

This, this, this!

The person that I would want to be friends with if I was in the House.

This. The HMs that are my favourites are the ones that I genuinely personally like and would get on with if I was in the house with them.

I also like seeing normal, everyday people who behave in exactly the same way in the house as they would if they were in the outside world, with nobody watching them. I hate seeing fake, contrived people who are only saying and doing things purely for effect and to gain popularity with the viewers. I know that it's "a game show", but I don't like the fakeness and insincerity that goes with it. You can still "play the game" and be yourself at the same time.