Housemates' mother of an ordeal

WITH just weeks left of the Big Brother contest, some face time with family would be the reassurance the housemates need to keep going.

Housemate Ben

WITH just weeks left of the Big Brother contest, some face time with family would be the reassurance the housemates need to keep going.

But in another cruel twist, BB will order contestants to ignore any new house guests before sending in the loved ones they are longing to see.

The parents and partners of the final seven began arriving at the Dreamworld set at the weekend for their part in the latest TV mind game, in which housemates will risk losing their group challenge if they let down their emotional guard.

Throwing another spanner in the strategy of those manipulating their way to winning the $250,000 prize, family and friends will share nomination duties with related housemates.

For the mothers of bubbly BB favourites Ben and Zoe, keeping their emotions in check as they make their TV debut will be a task in itself.

Ben's mum Jane Needham said her gregarious son inherited his extroverted personality from his late father Graeme.

"He took me out to dinner on our first date and ended up jumping out of a cake and hosting a TV game show, so you can see where Ben gets that from ... I just have to try not to cry," Mrs Needham said.

Both parents have become schooled in the BB series, watching their offspring entertain and engage in the experience.

"It isn't busting IQs but it's been really good. We're extremely proud of Zoe," her mum Lyn Westgarth, of Warren said, adding she thought she was in Sydney at a 21st birthday party before being informed she was a contestant on the Channel 9 reality series.

"We see more of her now on Big Brother than we did when she was away (at university) in Armidale," Mrs Westgarth said.

The BB winner will be decided in a two-hour finale on November 7.