Penny had said she was not bothered about being voted out

Penny lamented that "there was no one who was a cutie, cuddly type" in the house.

But she denied speculation that she might have wanted to get closer to fellow contestant Paul.

"He was just not man enough for me," she said.

Asked who she felt would win through to the end, she said: "Dean seems to have it sussed - he's a lovely, lovely man."

Verdict

Penny was nominated alongside Helen for the house's first eviction in the Channel 4 gameshow.

By Friday evening more than 1m viewers had phoned in to give their verdict, 42% (447,337) voting for Helen to be evicted but 58% (624,786) choosing Penny.

The evictions process has been creating tension in the household ever since the nominations were made on 1 June.

Friday was particularly tense.

Helen: 42% voted for her eviction

During Friday afternoon Penny made several approaches to Paul, when the housemates were preening themselves in the girls' bedroom in preparation for the night's show.

She engaged Paul in an energetic dance and sang him her own version of You're The One That I Want, but Paul showed little interest.

Optimistic

Penny is an English teacher at the Sarah Bonnell School in Stratford, London and has described herself as "eccentric and hyper".

Penny has said her teaching ambition is to make every teenager's dreams come true - but admits to being naive and optimistic.

Penny had already told the others that she was not bothered about leaving.

"It's really not a problem, the first person out and the last person out will be getting most of the media attention," she said.

Outside the house she has been ticked off by her headmistress who said she could face the sack after appearing nude in front of cameras - for setting a bad example to her pupils.

Favourite

Now housemate Narinder is the favourite for the next eviction, with odds of 9-4 according to bookmakers Paddy Power.

And Brian is now the favourite to win the series with odds of 3-1, ahead of Dean at 7-2 and newcomer Josh at 6-2.

Josh will enter the house over the weekend, but on Friday the Big Brother housemates were still unaware that there would be a new arrival.