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Like any good season of Big Brother, series nine has seen tears tantrums, tensions and truces. Here are our favourites, with video.

20. Rex, Rachel and Scrabble

It was cruel, it was uncalled for, but, by God, it was accurate. After an argument about audition videos, Rex summed up the dull Rachel’s contribution to the series in one harsh but fair jibe: “I’d swap you for a game of Scrabble.”

19. The electric shock task

It was the task to end all tasks. Big Brother wired housemates up to a circuit and charged Denis and Rachel with keeping their fellow competitors from harm’s way.

They failed repeatedly, shocking housemates through the buttocks and even bringing a frown to the notoriously happy Kat's face. Cruel? Yes. Worth it for the resulting visual spectacular? Absolutely.

18. Mario’s health and safety obsession

The nation thought David Brent was a fictitious character, born of Ricky Gervais’s first-class imagination, until they met Mario. The body building, Lisa-loving, fame-hungry contestant took every opportunity to bring health and safety issues to the fore.

He ignored all eye-rolling, insisting he was only thinking of blind Mikey’s safety. After the universe called to him, Mario was evicted on day 37. Mikey remains in the house and is yet to maim or injure himself.

17. Mikey eats the world’s hottest chilli

Given a basket of exotic fruits and vegetables, Mikey opted to eat the Scottish Bonnet – one of the world’s hottest chillies. Needless to say his eyes turned red, he panted like a dog and his housemates, and indeed the nation, rolled about on the floor with laughter.

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