THE tension mounts as the day of the big eviction approaches and for joker Jonny, it's all getting very serious and giving him sleepless nights.

He was awake in the early hours, eventually slipping out of bed after failing to get back to sleep and into the lounge. Sitting on the sofa, bent almost double, he stared at the floor for several silent minutes.

Then he resorted to his usual insomnia-beating formula of a snack and a cigarette. His tried and tested mid-sleep routine worked a treat and, 45 minutes later, he was ready to hit the sack again and stay there until at least noon.

This followed his star turn at the housemates' Big Brother Seaside Show where Alex played the accordion, Kate did a plate-spinning routine and Jade became a ventriloquist.

Jonny's task was to master magic as Dirk the Berk the Diabolical -"probably the crappest magician you'll see in the land" - in top hat and cape.

For his first trick he passed a needle through a balloon without bursting it. Spurred on by this success, he changed the colours of a yellow and purple cloth.

He did a rope trick and another involving Chinese rings. He poured a glass of milk into a cone of paper and made the liquid disappear.

With a final flourish, he produced a bunch of flowers from under his robes and presented them to fellow housemate Kate.

"For the beautiful lady before I go," he concluded.

He was less respectful at four in the morning as Kate attempted to go to bed. Jonny and Alex paired up to torment her, stealing or removing her bed covers, pillows and even her mattress every time she looked the other way.