Occasionally I used to watch Channel Five’s Big Brother.

That’s the programme where housemates live together in one big house for a few weeks and even share a bedroom!

I was always intrigued how things could quickly spiral from a friendly, joyous, bubbly atmosphere to such an explosive one in such a short period of time.

However, having just returned from a house sharing weekend in Skye, I soon got the sense of how things can turn rather tetchy over the simplest of things.

To set the scene, there were 20 of us plus a German family with two kids sharing a bunkhouse, which had a large kitchen, living room, dining room, four bedrooms and a large communal bathroom.

Day one in our very own Big Brother house, and just like the TV programme everyone was laughing and joking and evaluating their new surroundings before settling down for a few drinks before bed.

Day two, 6.50am and the peace was shattered by a very loud female housemate who was in the echoey communal washroom.

Jumping out of bed, my attempts to quieten her were futile.

And there began the tension in the Big Brother house.

Now awake, most housemates got up and started making breakfast when a rather irate Margaret returned to our bedroom.

“Eric, I think the Germans have stolen my fresh blueberries from the fridge.”

Apparently there was no sign of Margaret’s blueberries, and as she passed the German family having breakfast, she spotted one of the kids tucking in to a bowl of fresh blueberries.

“Do you want me to have a word?” I offered, as Eric had suddenly scampered.

“Oh no,” replied Margaret.

“I don’t want to cause any trouble.”

“Margaret, it’s your breakfast they are eating, so I’ll have a word.”

And just as I was about to confront the thieving Germans, Eric appeared.

“Em Margaret," he sheepishly pointed to a container.

“I must have left these in the car.”

“Thank God Eric,” I shook my head.

“I almost started World War three with the Germans.”

But when I went in to the kitchen to see how Jim was getting on cooking our fried breakfast, the German dad was having a word in Jim’s ear.

“You need to remove your meat,” he requested.

And I wondered what he was referring to.

Apparently, the German family had bread rolls heating in the oven and Jim had placed his tray of fried Lorne sausage on the shelf underneath to keep warm.

Being vegetarian this was a big no no for the Germans.

“Meat is not good beside our bread.”

Jim’s face was a picture as tension rose in the Big Brother house.

However, after some United Nations peace talks all was well and we carried on with our breakfast until……

“Did everyone sleep well?” One of the group politely enquired.

“Sleep,” squawked three housemates in unison.

“Sleep.”

“Apart from being woken at 6.50am, our roommate (who will remain anonymous), got up four times during the night for the toilet.”

And sure enough, some of the group looked a bit bleary eyed.

“The best bit was,” she snarled.

“He put the bloody big ceiling light on every time he got up.”

Day three, and yet again our loud housemate was up at the crack of dawn.

Her voice boomed around the bunkhouse wakening the housemates again and my bunkmate Raymond had had enough as he stormed to the washroom.

“Do you realise this is the second day in a row you’ve woken everybody?”

Everyone lay in their bunks listening to the argument that ensued and sensed that before we had even put our feet on the ground the stress levels were rising in the house.

The usual hustle and bustle was in full flow in the kitchen when another group of bleary eyes roommates entered.

“You lot OK?” I asked.

“OK?” One snapped.

“No we certainly are not.”

And I wondered if the big ceiling light switcher had been up to his nocturnal antics again.

But no, apparently it was much worse than that.

According to three very itchy and blotchy roommates, one of their clan had the bright idea of opening the bedroom window through the night as the room was rather stuffy.

Now normally that wouldn’t be an issue, but on Skye at peak midgie season, this was a disaster of biblical proportion!

The roommates were now covered in ugly midgie bites and their belongings infested with the irritating beasties.

A whole host of other goings on made my stay a memorable experience.

Tension, tears and tantrums?

Yep, I think we had it all.

But I loved it and will be doing the same thing again in a few weeks’ time in Arran.

I’ll keep you posted.