The trouble with the way the producers have done the Stephen storyline is that they left no room for the 'hero moment'.

Being the antagonist he's faced no adversity, in fact he was the adversity. They played the redemption arc relatively well at one point but the thing that would have sealed it would have been a big moment where he stood up to someone and told it like it was.

At that point you have his long term fans already in the bank and convert the majority of the others into voters for Stephen.

Unfortunately the producers didn't allow enough airtime for anyone else for the viewing public to really dislike. There was no giant to slay.

It's a shame (for bear) that it was Aubrey who had the hero moment. However she hasn't done enough outside of that to win.

(and yes she spat in some food, for goodness sake people, get over it!)

The only other option for him now is to have a realisation/mini breakdown, come out with a sob story about his life and see the error of his ways. That would be it, done deal. He's fast running out of time and I'm not sure he's done enough for most people other than be a malcontent. He's placed himself at the center of all the crap he's generated which has garnered some fans (for reasons beyond me). It's all the others he needs to win over to secure a win.

Try and behave like grown ups in this thread please. You know who you are.

any vulnerability he shows now would just be seen as fake, he's shown all series he only has one dimension, he's not going to convert any right thinking, non-gullible person

he seems to have enough fans though

I honestly don't think he could pull it off.

Interesting post and I do wonder if there might be a self-realisation in the pipeline. It would be as fake as **** and I don't think Mr Bear has the acting ability to pull it off. But it would be something a bit different, instead of aggression and abuse.

What storyline? Its not a soap

I don't think he needs a hero moment to win, Lee.

He'll carry on prankstering and rowing and making howler monkey noises and jumping on the zebra right up to and including the final. People are voting for him because he's disruptive and rambunctious - they don't want to see him experience an epiphany.

That's exactly what it is. We had the producer on here years back znd and he admitted as much. Each housemate is designated a role, without their knowledge, and the show is edited to give whatever impression they want.

Well, yes of course every housemate will be different and will have different personalities. However, I doubt that they are given a specific role. I knew that Bear would be the most talked about as I've seen EOTB, I knew what he was like. I knew Lewis Bloor would be a drip who would rely on a showmance to get screen time. The rest I didn't really know much about.

Who let the kids in?

Spare has no self awareness, no boundries and no brain. His hero moment could have happened a 1000 times in this show by being the bigger man and changing his behaviour towards his fellow housemates, he just doesn't have it in him.

Good word!

Maybe he's got enough support from being an asshat, maybe plain-jane, professional flip-flopper and self appointmed life guru Ricky will take it.

I feel like if Stephen could have finished with something big it would seal the deal for him and actually scrape back some self respect and integrity.

Who wants to remembered as an antagonistic, nasty housemate?

Go out with a bang and flourish!

Im a kid for not thinking BB is like a soap? He doesn't need a "hero" moment, he has his nice moments like the beach club party. I like when housemates stay true to their character so I don't want to see a reformed Bear. IMO, no one has had a "hero" moment. Infact what is a "hero" moment?

Exactly and we see a different person filling each role every year. Same character, different face. It's a formula they think works for them.

They also knew what they were signing up for with Mr Bear and would have planned accordingly.

It was back when we had live feed and you could see where they change the footage to suit a s/l. One young bloke was only ever shown miserable when we knew it was far from the truth. He was gay and they were trying to show him pining over another housemate often using footage from a completely different scenario. Another bloke we knew to be spiteful was only ever shown in hi more benevolent moments...he came second. All those who only watched the highlights thought he was a great bloke. You could be as happy as the day is long but if you've been designated the part of the grumpy one then that's all they'll show.

Not everyone will remember him as that though, even if the majority do atleast he will be remembered. For me his beach party was a nice moment, it was a good episode of peace and fun. I don't get what a "hero" moment is in BB?

I don't doubt that he lacks the initiative (and the intelligence, self-awareness etc) to script it for himself, but the sad thing is that he is being manipulated by the producers. They just might be giving him a bit much to do, and someone else will win. But then again maybe not.

I will be elated if someone other than Bear wins!!!!!

The last series didn't really have a Bear. Gemma Collins had a few moments but she wasn't on Bears level.

He does play a character though, I want to see some actual reality from Stephen. That moment when he thought Sam took his mask was real, it wasn't pretty but it was real.

I honestly think he could have had a lot to offer this series, there are elements of his personality that could have really worked within the house but he was so caught up on playing to type and being the villain that we still, only a few days from the final, have yet to see the actual person behind the mask.

I'm neither pro bear or anti bear but I think he may try the tactic at some point during the remaining hours but I doubt he can pull it off.

When they select "contestants" for BB I'm sure they treat it as casting for soap "characters" in that in most soaps you see similar formulas:

They will want a touch of glamour, a bad boy, a wise elder, a diva, a vulnerable soul, someone everyone loves to hate, the sympathy vote, the clown, the opinionated etc..

It's that "mix" that makes BB entertaining and knowing that potentionally they have concocted a volatile cocktail...

What if this is Bear though? I have seen on 2 shows and he is exactly the same.

Well no, no one's been on his level of ugliness, I agree. Marc got close, Helen was ballpark but not the same. This is a new level of antagonism and it ruined the series for me. I don't place all the blame at Stephen's feet.

The producers owed him a redemption IMHO and it would have served their product well.

I do sort of agree, Im not sure we have seen the real him enough but he has entertained me. I think if he had of been in the house with more controversial housemates then we would of seen more of his vulnerable side. Maybe we will see it in the all star series...

Agree, and anyway it's way too late for a epiphany even if he fancied testing out his acting skills and giving one a go. A credible epiphany takes the one thing he hasn't got - time.

I found the LF interesting last night....

Renee and Ricky both said that they love Stephen, hes kind and hes all about making people happy. However they said they hate Bear, they obviously feel like that side of him is purely for Tv.

However we have only see Bear not "Stephen". He has obviously had nice moments otherwise Renee and Ricky wouldn't have said that.

He's playing a version of himself, a caricature, a 'turned up to 11' character and it's worn everyone down, inside and outside the house. It hasn't made for a pleasant series.

I suspect the real person is more relaxed and easy going but being an asshole is earning him money so that's what he's doing.

Like Aubrey said there's only so long you can make money from that tactic and it's a small window.

I have liked a few of his windups but the side I like most is when he is just having a laugh. I like Bear and Ricky are getting on better, they will never be good friends but its still good to see.