Nick's Big Brother mind games

Goodbye, farewell: Nick leaves the house

The scheming tactics of "Nasty Nick" Bateman prompted a wave of hatred among Channel 4 viewers following the antics in the Big Brother household.

While viewers had the insight provided by 24-hour camera footage of the purpose-built house, his housemates have taken five weeks to discover his devious ways.

He realised who everyone wanted to be and he allowed them to be just that person

Dr Linda Papadopoulos

The programme's psychologists have been scrutinising how the now evicted ex-stockbroker managed to get away with it for so long, before being evicted on Thursday for breaking the rules.

Dr Linda Papadopoulos, who analyses contestants on the Channel 4 game show, said he was very skilled at flattering the other participants' egos.

She said Nick worked out what everyone aspired to be then let them believe it.

Mind games

Her comments follow his disqualification on Thursday for cheating to win the £70,000 prize.

"People love talking about themselves," she said.

"It's a control thing, the more you let someone talk about themselves the more you know about them.

Bateman entering the house last month

"He realised who everyone wanted to be and he allowed them to be just that person when he was with them."

Dr Papadopoulos said the strategy was neatly illustrated by his confession to housemate Melanie that he had lied about his secret wife dying in Australia.

"It was as if he was saying "you know what, I'm telling you this because you're smart", she likes to see herself as smart, so he let her in on it and verified her opinion of herself," she said.

"He also played an important mind game. He was almost saying "you can trust me"."

Constant companion

Nick conducted all his scheming conversations in intimate surroundings away from the group, working one housemate against another.

Dr Papadopoulos, speaking on the Big Brother website, said another reason for his success was that, unlike the other house members, he was consistent.

Nichola's tearful argument with Darren showed her inconsistancies

"Nichola, who probably has a much better heart than him, is inconsistent," she said.

"She screamed at Darren but she really likes him.

"Nick never did that kind of thing. He was much more in control of what he did."

She said the consistency made people see him as reliable and dependable.

"He was their constant."