In over 20 years of Big Brother there have been few housemates as impressive as Trish but her remarkable strength is being used against her.
The full-time mum, 33, effortlessly gives advice a therapist would be paid thousands for and has won every argument she’s been confronted with.
The last week, however, she’s started to look defeated for the first time all series.
After Paul was evicted, his group – consisting of Jenkin, Tom, Chanelle and Olivia – blamed her for his boos outside, determined his behaviour and their behaviours had nothing to do with his exit.
She’s been ostracised, nominated and underestimated time and time again (subsequently viewers complained to Ofcom) but this week when the housemates were given the chance to see family members, it was decided Trish wouldn’t see her sister over Olivia seeing hers because, given her strength, she’d be able to take it.
The next day, Trish was put up for nomination after it was revealed Chanelle broke the rules and indicated who she would be voting for which, to no one’s surprise, was Trish.
In the latest episode of Big Brother’s Big Body Language, Metro.co.uk’s Big Brother body language expert Judi James explains the ‘curse’ of the strong woman.
‘Anybody with any ounce of empathy and understanding would know that the real Trish is there underneath, the one that is doing all those amazing behaviours.
‘I can’t tell you how much I admire Trish, I could not have done a quarter of what she’s done and all she’s got as a reward is everybody turning around and saying, “Oh, you’re a strong woman, you’re a really strong woman.”
‘It’s become the curse of the strong woman because they’re using it, they’re weaponising it to not allow her to have any benefits.
‘She’s got a child, did they not think that she might want her sister to come in and update her about the child? Everybody complained, “I haven’t seen in my father for ages.” Oh, get over yourself. You’re an adult but a parent will want to hear about their child, but “Trish is a strong woman.”
‘Partly what they’re saying is “if I’ve got to make this decision, and I go back and tell everybody, the one that hasn’t got the visit, if it’s one of the other groups, they’re going to absolutely freak out; they’re going to make me feel guilty, they’re going to make me look bad. They’re going to be sobbing and crying but Trish will probably suppress her emotions, be brave and I won’t look and feel as bad and that means that they’re being cowards.”
‘They should stop this strong woman label because nobody’s strong all the way through. She’s human and she’s very warm, she’s empathetic and trying to do the right thing in there.
‘She’s been probably the most active housemate on everything, she must be exhausted. We’re seeing a tearful side of her, we’re seeing how isolated she’s being.
‘I loved that phrase when she walked out, “I think I’ve got more enemies in here than I have out there. That was a truth the others didn’t want to see so that will bring more attacks on her.
They should stop this strong woman label because nobody’s strong all the way through
‘We saw her there when she was waiting to hear who was going to be up for nomination and she was doing what’s called a pit bear gesture where she had her hands behind her head.
‘Now, that’s often seen because you’re bearing the armpit area, that’s often seen as a sign of arrogance or aggression in the animal kingdom – when we’re scared, we collapse up.
‘That gesture probably would have been made her to the other garden group look like a warrior or she doesn’t care but in actual fact, what she was doing was she got her arms, embracing her entire head and that is such a gesture of distress – that’s what they should be seeing.
‘How often does anybody do that? It’s such a hard gesture to do.
‘I would love people to try it for themselves. You do that when you really are under pressure and really feeling distressed.’
Also in the latest episode of Big Brother’s Big Body Language, Judi highlights the signs Jenkin is the most selfish housemate, Matty’s distress over his boyfriend (no, not Jordan), Yinrun proving she’s got a hidden strength and Chanelle’s game is up.
Big Brother’s Big Body Language episodes drop every Thursday at 6pm on Metro’s YouTube channel.
Big Brother continues tonight at 9pm on ITV2.
MORE : Big Brother fans demand Olivia gets punished more severely after electric shocks
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