Nobodies and Problematic Somebodies

One of the reasons why people agree to participate in shows like Big Brother is opportunity for nobodies to turn into instant celebrities. But it seems that those in charge of Croatian version of the show have rather liberal definition of "nobody".

It turns out that one of the serious candidates for the show was Lidija Šunjerga (Lidija Sunjerga), woman who is far from being completely unknown to Croatian public. Lidija Šunjerga enjoys reputation of Croatia's best known porn star and she had appeared in Nightmare Stage – controversial talk show by Željko Malnar (Zeljko Malnar).

Šunjerga's dreams of becoming first Croatian winner of the show were shattered following an interview to http://www.kupus.net/. In the interview she announced that she would start "orgies during the show". This was apparently too much for RTL Televizija whose representatives promptly sent her disqualification notice.

Whether this decision is right or wrong, it brings attention to the first Croatian Big Brother scandal – the one that erupted even before the start of the show. Despite being two years older than Big Brother's 35 year limit, despite her notorious past, Šunjerga managed to pass through RTL Televizija psychological and other checks.

In the latest twist, RTL Televizija explained its decision with the words of psychologist. Šunjerga is denied access to Big Brother because she is "bad mother". She has a 7-months old son, and, according to RTL psychologists, mother should spend "at least nine months" with her child.

Scandal or not, this story is going to increase RTL Televizija ratings.