Housemates pass chopstick challenge

Mario, Rachel and Luke passed their "chopstick challenge" this afternoon.

The challenge was part of this week's Japanese culture shopping task. Two hours before the challenge began, the housemates were supplied with chopsticks and immediately began practising picking chickpeas and potatoes out of a bowl of water.

Later, Big Brother gathered the group on the sofas and informed them that the chopstick challengers would have to use the implements to pick up noodles being washed down a bamboo pipe and deposit them in bowls. They would have five minutes in which to fill the bowls up to a red line, and would have to complete two out of three in order to pass the task.

All of the housemates gathered in the garden for the task, which began when a gong sounded. Luke and Rachel immediately began using their chopsticks to scoop up the noodles and their bowls filled up quickly, with encouragement from their fellow housemates who clapped and whooped.

Luke soon finished filling up his bowl and began scooping the noodles back towards Mario. "I hate noodles," he complained. Alexandra told them to "just keep going", and all three of the participants continued to fill their bowls until the five minutes were over to ensure that they passed.

When the time was up, all three had managed to complete the task. The housemates clapped, cheered and hugged as Kathreya squealed: "Very good! Very, very good." Dennis added that they had all given "one million percent".