Thomas leaves Big Brother

Thomas is the latest housemate to be evicted

Thomas has left the Channel 4 gameshow Big Brother and discovered that he has become a heart-throb.

The quiet Ulsterman was greeted by crowds of screaming female fans, but disappointed them by admitting he will miss Melanie the most, out of his former housemates.

After weeks of flirting Thomas tried to kiss Mel just before he left the house, but only got a quick peck on the lips for his pains.

Melanie cried when Thomas left the house

"I can't kiss every boy who leaves, can I?" she told him.

Thomas was kicked out after grabbing 30% of the votes cast by the 1,237,328 viewers who phoned in.

"I am so excited," he said after he left.

"It is so good to come out and see what is happening."

Darren was the second most popular choice for eviction with 29%, followed by Anna on 22% and Craig on 19%.

Thomas follows Sada, Andrew, Caroline, Nicholas and Nichola out of the house.

It was the first time four contestants faced the threat of being booted out of the house in east London after six weeks of the show.

It was the second time Thomas had faced the threat of eviction.

After three weeks of the show he was up against Caroline but won the support of the viewers.

Hugs

He took the news calmly and smiled as he was hugged by his fellow contestants.

Craig, the Liverpudlian builder, has now survived the nomination process for two weeks running.

He is enjoying a spell of popularity after his showdown with "Nasty" Nick last week.

The newest arrival to the show - Claire - was spared the trial of nomination as it was her first week.

Thomas could now follow in the footsteps of the former evictees by cashing in on his TV fame.

He has already been offered a week's holiday in Jamaica to recover from his six-week experience by an internet travel site.

Former contestant Andrew Davidson has landed a job as a presenter on Channel 5 show Exclusive.

Growing popularity

"Nasty" Nicholas Bateman signed an exclusive deal with a national newspaper and PR man Max Clifford has predicted he could earn up to £1m.

Big Brother's popularity keeps on growing with 4.3 million people tuning in to Monday and Wednesday's shows this week.

From next week, Channel 4 will capitalise on Big Brother's success by moving the late evening shows on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to 2200 BST.

Big Brother has also become the most requested search topic for internet users of msn.co.uk.

Bookmakers William Hill now make Anna and Craig 2-1 joint favourites to win the £70,000 prize.

Melanie is third favourite at 7-2 and Claire and Darren are 6-1.