Aisleyne then went to report from the camera runs where she observed the housemates sunning themselves (just like the balmy BB7 summer of '06!). We were especially taken by the BBLB caption "Ghetto her back into the house" - we certainly wouldn't argue with THAT sentiment. She told us that she had seen Shabby hugging Ben, but that the overall tension was "palpable" (which seems to have been Aisleyne's Word of the Day - she also used it later).

A few minutes afterwards George, Emma Willis and Aisleyne were sitting in the evening sunshine for an interview.

George immediately wanted to know if Aisleyne would be going into the BB All-Stars house following BB11, but as with Kay Burley's similar questioning on Sky News, Ash refused to be drawn. "I know nothing" was all she would say.

When asked about her BB7 arch-rival Aisleyne said "I love Nikki" and said that there would now be no problem with them being in any house together.

They then discussed current BB11 matters of note reflecting on nomination tension ("palpable" said Aisleyne!) and housemate John-James wanting to leave.

Aisleyne was then asked "What does 'Know Yourself' actually mean?" She gave a full and fluent reply, and that led on to a little game called "Do the housemates know themselves?" Aisleyne had to give a thumbs up or thumbs down on that score for Govan, Sunshine, Shabby, and finally Ben - who, George revealed, Aisleyne had tweeted about rather admiringly.

At the end of the programme it fell to Aisleyne and her fellow guest Danny Young (Corrie/Dancing on Ice) to announce the four housemates nominated for eviction, as follows:

Danny: Govan and Shabby.
Aisleyne: Ben ("I'm devastated") and Dave.

George quipped that Aisleyne might therefore just be getting her chance to meet Ben by the weekend and wound up the show - another excellent and professional performance by our Ash.

They first had a look at the new set. "That's our sofas from our year!", Aisleyne cried. "I get so jealous and think 'that's my house' when new people are invading."

Kay then explored with Aisleyne the feelings of being in such a confined space, living so closely with other people, and under the eye of the cameras 24/7.

Aisleyne went on to describe the paranoia created by nominations and evictions, of gameplans and wondering what the housemates and public think of you.

"Are you glad you did it?" asked Kay. "Completely. Best thing I've ever done." said Aisleyne. They then spoke about being manipulated and edited by the producers. Aisleyne pointed out "You know they do that when you sign up. If you don't say things they can't edit it."

Kay then asked a series of questions about the whole Big Brother experience, from "What will the housemates be doing right now?" through the entrance, getting on with difficult people, the boredom and eventual coming out back into "the real world". Aisleyne said that she still can't go to the shops without being recognised.

After a little banter about housemates' motives for going in, Kay commented that, since BB7, Aisleyne had been successful, and Ash listed a few of her accomplishments, including her fashion label, her autobiography and her work with Charlie Brooker. She had a few small regrets about some of the things she had done, but doing BB was not one of them.

Her summary advice to housemates was " Be true to who you are."

Finally, and mindful of that day's announcement of a BB All-stars immediately following BB11, Kay asked "Would you do it again?" Aisleyne paused VERY thoughtfully and eventually said "Perhaps, but this time I'd wear more make-up".

Well it's obvious to us that Sky News know which housemates will be recognised by their viewers and will make good television, so we
are perfectly clear in our minds that Aisleyne is a true Big Brother All-Star, so she definitely belongs in that house.

Do you hear us, Endemol? Do you hear us, Aisleyne?

Clearly such an event would not be complete without the presence of Miss Horgan-Wallace, who turned up suitably dressed in black (though somewhat less suitably perhaps very short black hot pants!).

A wide assortment of housemates from all series were also present, all in black, but in a wide range of styles to suit their various personalities, from Craig Phillips as a Blues Brothers trumpeter to Kemal as - well, words fail us.

Students of the complex web of relationships between BB7 housemates (both during and since the summer of '06) will take great delight in speculating about the coming together at one event of Aisleyne, Nikki, Pete, Grace, Imogen and Glyn. However, pictures and reports seem to indicate no particular problems, though there ARE reports that Aisleyne DID have some "issues" with a certain Italian housemate from another BB series. Let's call him Federico - which isn't what Aisleyne called him in an magazine interview!

When the trailer finally came to be aired to publicise the start of BB11, naturally the whole day of filming was edited right down such that any housemate only appears in very brief flashes. However, if you watch carefully near the start you will see a close-up of a very shapely derriere in black hot pants which are being "adjusted" by their owner, followed by another rear view of blonde locks and a black trilby. Guess who?

The two stars taking on the task were Vanessa Feltz and Antony Costa. Each was given £500 to fund the evening, and each was to asked invite a few celeb friends to be guests, the remaining diners being members of the public provided by Living TV. The public in each "restaurant" included an anonymous food expert to review the meal. Each competitor could also enlist the aid of family or friends to staff their restaurants.

Vanessa's home is a converted Gothic Church in St John's Wood, while Antony lives with his mum, dad and sister in a semi in Barnet. Vanessa opted for a menu with a Caribbean theme (inspired perhaps by her fiance Ben Ofoedu) serving 28 covers, and Antony ran a Greek Cypriot themed evening for 30 covers.

We hear Vanessa and Ben discussing which of their celeb friends they should invite. The first name on their list is Esther Rantzen, and then they jointly say "Aisleyne!". Shortly afterwards we see the beginning of a phone-call by Ben to Ash inviting her along. Other guests at the two venues included Shane Lynch, Anthea Turner and Lizzie Cundy, though we would say that it was Aisleyne and Esther who got most screentime among the guests on both teams.

After showing the general preparation, cooking and laying of tables, including the inevitable crises and panics, we see the guests start to arrive at around 6:30 on a cold dark evening in mid-February. At that time of course Aisleyne had only recently returned from her holidays in Gambia, so she was looking healthily tanned, and was wearing a black dress, her hair down and a pair of large-loop earrings.

Late arrivals were Ben Adams (of boyband A1 and 2009's Celebrity Big Brother) and his girlfriend, the then Miss Norway Sara Skjoldnes, who were placed at Aisleyne's table.

Vanessa's menu included West Indian orange soup (which everyone said tasted of orange juice - Shane Lynch is seen mentioning it), risotto, and home made desserts (which went down particularly well).

There's an amusing scene with Aisleyne asking the waitress who brought her risotto if it contained cream - she is seen telling the waitress she doesn't eat 'dairy'. We suspect that figure-conscious Aisleyne was counting the calories ready for her next Living TV appearance at Pete's wedding, which was due to be filmed a couple of days later.

The waitress takes the plate back to the kitchen. A stressed Vanessa says the cream is already in all the risotto and tells the waitress to go back with the dish and to pretend that the new serving is without cream. We see the waitress do this and Aisleyne then happily eats the food. You won't let on to her, will you?

Everyone had to leave by 10:30pm, leaving what they each thought the meal was worth in a collection box by the door. Vanessa won, with her more satisfied (or more generous?) guests leaving an average of around £40 each.

Outside on the way out, sound bites were collected from the experts and a couple of the celebs. Aisleyne said that Vanessa's menu "wasn't restaurant standard - as in Michelin star, but it was restaurant standard - as in better than a caff". Now would Vanessa see that as a suitably "diplomatic" reply, or as "damning with faint praise"? We suppose THAT can best be judged on whether Ash gets invited back to dine Chez Feltz again!

An important part of the BBC's promotional effort is a series of Roadshows up and down the country, which include interviews and Q&A sessions with celebrities who recount their experiences and pass on their advice to those who are looking to enter the competition. Others appearing with Aisleyne in Middlesbrough were Blue Peter legend Peter Duncan, TV agony aunt Denise Robertson and The Apprentice's Lorraine Tighe.

Just getting to the event had in fact provided an Aisleyne with some extra "stories". On her train journey North the evening before, a crowd of rather noisy squaddies had joined the train, then on a very blustery Saturday morning when Aisleyne got into the car taking her from her Hotel to the venue, the force of the wind against the open doors blew the car forward.

Shortly after she arrived, Aisleyne gave a radio interview to Look North, who were broadcasting live from the event. Unfortunately it had to be cut short as the sound crew needed to set up Aisleyne's radio mike, ear piece etc for the rest of the day. The highlight was a 30 minute interview on stage with the BBC's newsreader/presenter Asad Ahmad, in front of an audience and TV cameras, amidst a full-scale BBC Outside Broadcast set-up.

These days, of course, Aisleyne is a seasoned performer in front of the TV cameras, so she took it all in her stride and made an excellent impression on both the public and on the BBC production staff, who were all highly complimentary. "She's really nice, lovely." said one BBC reporter, as Aisleyne was talking about writing her autobiography. She recounted that while her spelling and grammar weren't very good, she had found the writing experience very therapeutic. Which was of course an ideal message to get across to those who were perhaps nervous about sitting down to write "their story".

While the interview proceeded, large monitors around the compound had images of the full cover of Aisleyne's autobiography "Surviving Guns, Gangs and Glamour". And when there was a Q&A session after the interview the members of the public seemed very knowledgable about her. The first questioner asked about to her appearance in Dead Set, in particular about her "zombie" make-up for that programme.

She certainly got on very well with interviewer Asad Ahmad, finding that they share a common interest in tackling the problem of guns and knives in London.

At end of a long day, a tired but pleased Aisleyne headed off on the long journey home.