Nasty But Nice!
FORGET OXFORD'S HOME grown version: the real Nasty Nick was in Oxford on Tuesday, and agreed he had definitely made no mistake when he took a copy of the Oxford Student home with him.
In an exclusive interview Nick Bateman took time out from his book signing at Borders to speak to our reporters, and loved the OxStu so much he even asked for his own copy.
Borders was just one of many stops on Nick's tour to promote his new book, "How to be a right bastard". With a record turnout for the shop of over 200, mainly pre-pubescent female fans, a personable Nick chatted to each person and smiled broadly as his imminent royalty cheque grew and grew. The general impression was that of a nice guy much maligned and manipulated by the media - though, as Nick told us, you'd have to be stupid not to accept the risk before going into something like Big Brother.
Nick also revealed to us that his favourite people from the BB house were the lovely Thomas and Andy, and that Caggie and Nichola wouldn't be on his Christmas card list. He still keeps in touch (predictably) with Tom and Andy and even Darren, more surprisingly considering Darren the gimp's angry farewell; but, as Nick says, Marjorie's biggest fan has realised it was only a game.
When the OxStu questioned Nick on that famous evening when his hard exterior cracked and he buried his tear-stained face in his pillow, Nick's response was less than convincing. Viewers assumed that the unintelligible shouts from outside the BB complex were outrageously harsh - though ultimately fair - insults against the man himself. But Nick claimed the crowds baying for his blood were in fact "five year olds" condemning co-star Big Daddy Darren as a "chicken hater". Obviously this pierced Nick's hard boiled exterior to the core on hearing the slurs on his "good friend".
As for his future, Nick has no plans to go back to his job in the City. He is due to present TFI Friday this week, and has his own series lined up with Channel 4, which he "can't speak about" at the moment. Nick is on a roll, and he knows it. He doesn't even care how much better he is faring than the others.
To explain his behaviour on the show Nick told us "like all things it was a game" and any sportsman would have done the same." And the final word on Big Brother: "At the end of the day, it was just ten people sitting in the house". As he posed for his picture with our copy of the OxStu, Nick was engrossed and told us it was a "brilliant read" - he even took a copy with him on the ride back to London, cementing his top bloke status. Sensibly, Nick also declined to comment on the Cherwell. It seems that though the delectable Mr Bateman has found his niche being nasty, he turns out to be very down to earth and not nasty at all - dare I say even rather nice.
16th Nov 2000