Viewers have voted former favourite Spencer Smith out of the Big Brother house.

Ski shop assistant Spencer, 22, from Cambridge, got 55% of the public vote after being put up for eviction alongside model Alex Sibley, 23, from Hornchurch, Essex.

I couldn't think of anything I'd done particularly wrong to anybody

Spencer Smith

Almost 2,750,000 votes were cast - the second highest ever total for a Big Brother eviction, excluding finals.

As he left, Spencer was met by crowds of screaming fans and said he was slightly surprised to have been kicked out.

"I knew I had as much chance as anybody else, but I was a little bit surprised," he said. "I couldn't think of anything I'd done particularly wrong to anybody."

He showed little emotion when host Davina McCall announced that he was to become the fourth contestant to be voted out, saying "it's me then" and asking for a cigarette and a cheese sandwich.

Alex Sibley is now favourite for the �70,000 prize

He described his two weeks in the poor side of the house as "terrible" and "awful". "I hated every minute of it," he said.

McCall told viewers that the "rich house, poor house" arrangement, which has seen bars split the house in two, would end on Saturday, 29 June if all the housemates passed their task.

Spencer had originally been the bookmakers' favourite to win the �70,000 grand prize. Alex is the new favourite, despite being a 50-1 outsider in the first week.

Spencer and Alex both received four nominations from the other contestants earlier in the week.

But bookmakers suspended all bets on who would be evicted after a flood of people backed Spencer.

On Thursday, bookmakers Ladbrokes said they had seen "a massive gamble" since Wednesday.

The house has been split into two "rich and poor" camps

There were reports of scams involving adverts that told the public they could win big prizes if they called a phone number - which turned out to be one of the Big Brother voting lines.

By the time the callers realised they had been tricked, their votes had been registered.

There have been fears of other organised betting "stings" in recent weeks. The two most recent evictions - of Lee Davey and Alison Hammond - also saw large, late bets.

Ladbrokes said Alex's intervention in a row between Jade Goody and Adele Roberts - and his continued flirting with Adele - seemed to have won him fans.

Alex has now been nominated 13 times, more than any other housemate, and has previously survived one other eviction scare.

Ladbrokes spokesman Sean Boyce said: "Even though Alex was the bookies' favourite for eviction when the nominations were announced, the tables have turned and the public clearly want to keep Alex in the house now."