Marco was surprisingly calm when he was told he had to go

He smiled and nodded his head when he was told by presenter Davina McCall that the public wanted him out.

Marco, 21, embraced fellow nominees Nadia Almeda and Michelle Bass, and said: "It's cool, I told you."

Earlier viewers saw Ahmed Aghil, 44, the show's eldest housemate, break down after he was rebuked by Big Brother in the diary room.

Nadia and Marco had received five nominations each from their fellow housemates, while Michelle was picked by new arrival Becki Seddiki.

Bad behaviour

Would-be glamour model Michelle, 23, threatened to walk out after she heard she had been nominated.

Ladbrokes had offered 5-1 odds on 27-year-old transsexual Nadia being voted out - but a surge of support has now given her 8-1 odds of winning the show.

South African student Vanessa Nimmo, 26, evicted in the first proper public vote of the fifth series, was the favourite to go last week.

Outspoken Kitten Pinder, 24, was the first to leave the house after annoying producers with her bad behaviour in the first week.

She was followed by 20-year-old Emma Greenwood, who was separated from the rest of the group following a drunken brawl during which police were called.

After the row, involving several of the housemates, ratings for the show shot up to nearly 7m viewers.

They have since steadied to an average of 4.8m for the week night broadcasts.