WITH the final countdown now well under way, bookmakers have been inundated with people placing bets on the eventual winner.Jade Goody might have been an unlikely candidate a few weeks ago, but, as Victoria Knowles reports – she might prove a deserving victor yet.

WITH the final countdown now well under way, bookmakers have been inundated with people placing bets on the eventual winner.

Jade Goody might have been an unlikely candidate a few weeks ago, but, as Victoria Knowles reports – she might prove a deserving victor yet.

IF Jade wins Big Brother the bookmakers stand to lose £500,000.

This just shows how the tide has turned. From rank outsider to one of the last remaining housemates Jade has entertained and horrified us along the way.

She is the loud, brash Bermondesy lass with a lesbian mother and enough malapropisms to write her own dictionary.

From East Angular to the little known race of the Portuganese Jade has made us laugh at her own stupidity.

She has been loathed, pitied and then come full circle to become poor manipulated Jade.

At 21 she is the youngest housemate and made this clear from the start. Indeed the Big Brother psychologists picked this out as one of her best survival techniques.

"By playing the baby Jade is making most of the housemates feel protective towards her. It also takes away any threat they may feel from her," said one of the psychologists.

But this baby act soon wore very thin and her allies turned in to her enemies.

They called her a back-stabber and a bitch. But surely she was just firing the bullets that they fed her. Adele was one of the first to pick up on how easy it was to manipulate Jade. A whisper of doubt about another housemate and Jade would confront it. Doing Adele's dirty work for her.

But watching Jade and some of her antics makes you wonder just how thorough the checks are before the contestants actually enter the house.

Jade revealed just how vulnerable she was when, in front of the rest of the group, she stripped naked.

In a game of strip poker with mates you have known for years behind closed doors this may have been quite funny.

On live television with people she had known only weeks it was a little worrying. What was worse was that no one actually thought to cover her up.

This was a prime example of Jade being manipulated in dramatic fashion.

Her lack of awareness of the cameras has led to her getting herself in a real muddle. With a good bitching session one of her favourite past times she may have a lot of explaining to do when Davina gets her in the interview chair.

Her perceived stupidity has also led to the question, is she really that stupid or just acting up?

It is with a certain amount of smug glee that we have been watching this silly little girl who seems to know nothing about geography and world affairs. Perhaps her popularity has increased because she makes us feel better about ourselves. How can we hate someone who we feel so superior to?

The poor girl has not only become the odd one out in the house but outside she has been the subject of a great deal of vicious and damaging press.

The Sun ran the campaign to Get the Pig Out and the picture of her yawning juxtaposed with the hippo will no doubt haunt her forever.

Yes it was funny and we all had a good laugh but can Jade handle it.

She has been dehumanised and for someone so obviously reliant on other people's reactions this will be very difficult to deal with.

It probably has not helped her having a mother willing to give an interview about her daughter and her love life at the drop of a hat.

But Jade is tough – she comes from a street wise working class background and is probably a lot stronger than we are giving her credit for.

So why has she got this far and why is the tide turning? The Mirror, who launched a scathing attack on the young girl is now backing her – claiming this was their plan all along. To get people to actually feel sorry for her.

She has brought drama to the house. None of the others do histrionics quite like Jade. There is also that feeling that she really does not mean to be as nasty as she has been. She has that permanent expression seen on the faces of groups of girls throughout our towns and cities. That-one-barcardi-breezer-too-many and ready for a fight look.

She is honest – she admitted she was cruel to Sophie and apologised.

When you watch her the others seem somehow sanitised.

She is foul-mouthed, not the brightest spark and can bitch for England – and she has my vote.