Did anyone else realise the clever option for the housemate who won the darts challenge...

The winner could simply have elected to go on the poor side and take no-one with them. That way they would have become a martyr to the group, and would have picked up less (if any) votes at the end of the week. For Alex it would have been hard to pick this option (if he even realised it was an option), because it would have meant being poor with no-one to share it with (at least you would have had the bedroom to yourself though).

I think that would have been a good idea too. I was thinking thats what I'd do. Then I doubt anyone would feel they would vote for you and it would guarentee (depending on the task) that you were on the rich side next week. Then I bet they would have let the new housemate into the poor side. Good company for Alex

It may be a clever idea, but you'd probably need to think about it a bit first before you could realise that. Also, I think they had to pick at least one housemate to take with them.

An even better choice, would have been to take the three from the rich side to the poor side. It was too much tempation for him to wallow in luxury though. He's not playing to win.

I like what he's done. Great conflict.

Nice idea to just be on your own on the poor side (would make you popular at first but also be seen as such a suck up and really who in the house hasn't voted for him?) but despite all that Alex said he wouldn't have wanted to stay on the poor side.
He might not have been hungry but it's not about being hungry is it!

I personally think that Sophie shouldn't have been chosen as she had already been on the rich side and then the only decision would have been to leave Spencer behind (as Alex said he would have done if he had to choose.)
Explain this by saying about him smelling (a fair enough reason if he's actually bothered to use it!) and then everyone would be ok about things! I think anyway.

I'm just waiting fotr PJ to lose it in the garden and smack Alex in the face. I wonder if they would try and hide it as if PJ did that he would be kicked out and they'd need to bring in yet another person!

I (and others) have pointed this idea out in other threads...the comment by someone that "you'd need to think about it a while to realise this option" doesn't really hold as it's a pretty obvious choice given that they pointedly ask which side you want to live on. I don't think the rules said he had to choose anyone to be with him either as someone speculated.

I think being on either side on his own would have suited Alex best of all too as he really doesn't seem to like anyone in his space.

a totally unfair decision, especially regarding Sophie. He could have used dart scores (which he looked at just before he left that room)

Being totally selfish will lose him lots of votes from the public

Do you think he'd actually get much support from the public if it came to a vote?

That would have been me. Are you, and everyone else, honestly saying that in the heat of the moment you would have said "I'll go on the poor side" when you could choose either? I can't say that I would have done, without having a chance to think about it.

I may be wrong about how many housemates he could choose but I interpreted the rules as being he could pick one, two or three of them.

I also fail to see how his decision is totally selfish, and even if it was, why that is such a bad thing?

As I said last night, in a couple of topics, wouldn't the grumbling from the poor side have been just as bad, if not more, if he had left one person behind? I know, and they know, that he couldn't have taken them all over.

I like the decision he made

The reason I think I may have chosen to stay on the poor side alone (or with one other if the rules meant that) would be that otherwise I would have spent the whole week feeling guilty about not having done that and not enjoyed it anyhow. If I'd done the honourable thing then regardless of the physical situation I would have felt good about myself and therefore could have put up with anything.

I suppose as a vegitarian, non-smoking, tee-tottaler I'd not really miss much with being on the poor side anyhow - except chocolate, and some other luxuries...but nothing major.

How would I have chosen 1 person to be on the poor side with me in this case if I had to? I'd have picked Jonny I'm afraid as the only guy on the rich side...I'm also sure he'd have been the one most likely to have appreciated the gesture of sacrificing myself....and I wouldn't have been surprised if it had been him choosing if he wouldn't have made that decision himself.

...selfish not bad? Seems that's the attitude today that's at the bottom of many things wrong with society today...and I thought the selfish 80's had long passed!

The rules said "up to three people," so he could have stayed on his own. Alex also had nearly 10 minutes to make up his mind and think things through, but it was obvious that the thought of living on the poor side was never an option. The task was a lot more subtle than I think any of them thought.