Craig and Nichola face Brother vote

Orange fan: The future may not be so bright for Nichola

Craig and Nichola are the latest pair to be nominated for eviction from Channel 4's interactive TV experiment Big Brother.

The twosome are among seven contestants sealed from the outside world in a specially-built house in east London, with their every movement tracked by cameras and microphones.

Will it be bye-bye to Craig?

The seven - already whittled down from an initial 10 - voted secretly for which pair they would like to see kicked out.

Viewers of the programme, which has been a huge hit for Channel 4, will now vote for who they want to see kicked out of the house on Friday.

Last week saw former sex aid seller Caroline given the boot instead of Thomas - but this week the housemates have had mercy on the quiet Ulsterman.

Instead they nominated textile artist Nichola - despite celebrating her 29th birthday on Saturday with a big, orange-themed party.

Builder Craig, 28, blotted his copybook after a series of rows with former contestant Caroline.

House rules

The housemates nominate two of their number each week, and viewers then vote on which one to throw out

When three contestants are left, viewers will vote for a winner

If a contestant drops out, then producers will send in a fresh volunteer to replace them

If he survives the show's nine-week run, he is planning to give his £70,000 prize to a friend's cousin who needs to travel to the US for a life-saving operation.

On hearing the news, he looked shocked, but hugged Nichola and said: "Never mind, it's only a game show."

However, they had both nominated the other for eviction.

Nichola - also nominated by Melanie, Nicholas and Thomas - merely said: "It's no surprise."

Anna, Darren and Nicholas were the other contestants to vote Craig out.

Craig and Melanie also voted for Darren to leave, Anna and Nichola voted for Thomas to leave, while Thomas nominated Anna for eviction.

Still popular: "Nasty Nick"

Despite his notoriety with viewers, Nicholas is still the only contestant not to have been nominated.

Channel 4 have been forced to deny rumours he is an employee of the station, while producers searched him and his belongings after speculation he was carrying a tiny mobile phone to keep in touch with the outside world.

Last week, 1.5 million viewers took part in the show's phone vote, with 878,910 calling to evict Caroline and 546,295 calling to evict Thomas.

There was more drama in the house on Tuesday evening when a pan caught fire in the kitchen.

The shocked housemates rushed around open-mouthed not knowing what to do until a security guard rushed onto the set to put the blaze out.

A spokeswoman said: "They were all useless. They were left for a short while thinking they would know what to do but then the security guard had to rush in and put it out with a damp towel."