Frankie Cocozza could be the winner of Celebrity Big Brother 2012, after closing in on favourite Gareth Thomas

 Well, we didn't see this one coming

Frankie Cocozza may have been kicked off The X Factor for being a little prat, but it looks like Celebrity Big Brother viewers are lapping up his wild behaviour, with the Brighton boy set to become the new favourite to win.

The 19 year old is cruising towards the Celebrity Big Brother final, with his antics in the house over the last few days winning the audience over.

By managing to strike a balance between being straight talking and quite sweet, Frankie has crept into the position of second favourite to win, behind Welsh rugby star Gareth Thomas.

Gareth is the only CBB housemate who isn't up for eviction this week

A spokesperson for William Hill said: “Gareth Thomas has been the favourite for a few days now but Frankie Cocozza has been the only person the people have been wanting to back in the last 24 hours.”

And with all of the housemates up for eviction apart from Gareth – who is pretty much the nicest person in the world – it looks like Nicola McLean will be getting the boot on Friday night.

Nicola annoyed viewers after pretending to kiss Frankie in the hot tub

The blonde glamour model is favourite to get the boot after being dubbed ‘fake’, with short tempered TOWIE boy Kirk Norcross and the sneaky Playboy twins also at risk of eviction.

There’s no way the brilliant Natalie Cassidy or admittedly quite funny Frankie will be leaving anytime soon though, with odds of 33/1 and 40/1 to go.

Tinchy Stryder signs up for Celebrity Big Brother

The 'Never Leave You' singer was approached by show bosses - who are desperate for a British rapper to take part - after Chipmunk turned down an offer, The Sun reports.

While the line-up for the show - which returns to Channel 5 in early January - has not yet been confirmed, several stars have been linked with an appearance, including troubled Hollywood actress Lindsay Lohan, footballer Ryan Giggs' sister-in-law Natasha Giggs, shamed former 'X-Factor' contestant Frankie Cocozza and comedian Freddie Starr.

Meanwhile, bosses at Channel 5 are bringing back the live feed when the show returns next month.

Although 24 hour feed - which was axed when the show moved from Channel 4 to Channel 5 will not be coming back - show bosses are planning to extend the air time for an extra hour on sister channel 5* whenever there is an eviction, a surprise task or a shock new housemate.

A source said: "Zooming in after they've just had a shock is the best thing to do.

"In the past we've had housemates breaking down in tears if someone they really liked got evicted and we've had bitchy bust-ups with people saying the wrong person went out the door.

We've also had melt-downs if they heard the crowds outside chanting about them."