Big Brother Dave : Mad, Sad or Bad?

If you have been following the current series of Big Brother then you will have seen housemate David Vaughn. In the opening show he entered the house dressed as monk, claiming to be 'drunk in the lord' as he laughed with something of a maniacal air. Outside of the goldfish bowl of reality television he is a christian minister from Pontypool who has achieved a certain notoriety by organising rave parties for believers, notably the 'Sloshfest' event of which he has said "We want to see fun coming back into the Church.”

Harmless enough, you might think. He's not all that different from the average nutter with a sandwich board that you might see in the High Street on a Saturday afternoon. However, I think that there are three possibilities to consider for his reasons for appearing on 'Big Brother'.

Firstly, is he mad? You don't have to go far on the internet to find videos of him acting in a very strange way - speaking in tongues, acting as if he were drunk on something stronger than the holy spirit. He has even expounded such far out ideas as UFOs being linked with fallen angels. However, the vetting process for Big Brother contestants is a stringent one. It involves numerous interviews with producers and psychiatrists to evaluate how the contestant will cope with the pressures of twenty four surveillance. Channel 4 and Endemol will be keen to avoid the potential bad publicity of somebody who is mentally unstable being harmed by appearing on the show.

The second possibility is that he is sad. Perhaps he does genuinely believe what he preaches and that by appearing on the show he will make his own modest contribution to spreading the gospel. Maybe he is happy to be ridiculed if he can metaphorically turn the other cheek and demonstrate the love of Jesus to his fellow housemates. In practice though, he has been shown as being rather mean spirited, arguing dogmatically with the others in the house and making his fair share of snide, bitchy and bullying remarks. When he was nominated for eviction he competed fiercely in a challenge and saved his place in the house by passing his nomination on to somebody else, showing himself to be as ruthless a game player as anybody else.

The final possibility is that he is bad. His own website describes his role on the show as a 'Glory Carrier' and his aim seems to be to generate as much media attention for his organisation as he can manage. He has made claims of curing diseases such as cancer, and even said that he could try to make fellow housemate Steve's amputated legs regrow. He has even gone so far as to pretend to be disabled and be pushed around in a wheelchair offering 'blessings from a real monk'. I think his role on the show can best be described as a cynical publicity stunt and at worst as an attempt to attract vulnerable people suffering from diseases into his church with a promise of healing that is not backed up with any evidence.

However, there is a reason for skeptics to keep an eye on the show. New contestant Andrew, a 19 year old student and self confessed maths geek has been seen standing up to Dave on a number of occasions, knocking back his arguments and assertions with the powers of rational debate and honest inquiry.

Who goes ... you decide!