BAD BOY WINS SYMPATHY OF NATION: NICE NICK (NASTY TROUSERS); It was only a game. I want to see all the others again Anna will win. She has the brains..and staying power It was nice to take a pee without 5 million watching.

BIG Brother bad boy Nick Bateman won the sympathy of the nation yesterday after his sacking from the show.

TV's Nasty Nick became Nice Nick as messages of support poured in.

Amazed Channel 4 chiefs dubbed the about-turn "Sympathy for the Devil", after the classic Rolling Stones' hit.

In his 34 days in the fly-on-the-wall flat in East London, stockbroker Nick was bombarded by 2,000 emails - mostly expressing hate for his cheating ways.

Yesterday as another 1,000 came in to the Big Brother website, 80 per cent were backing Nick

A spokeswoman said: "The site was deluged with messages of support and condolence.

"Lots of them were saying how sorry they were to see Nick go. And some were even declarations of love from female fans.

"Other notes were full of admiration for Nick, saying things like 'We think you're really clever'."

Last night 33-year-old Nick boldly came out of hiding - in an even bolder pair of trousers - to admit he is "over-competitive" and add: "It wasn't a garden party - it was a game show."

He said it was "incredible" how the show had taken off - confirmed by audience ratings and the bets waged on its ins and outs.

Nick's apology to fellow contestants - screened on Thursday night - drew 6.2 million viewers, making it the station's most popular show in that time slot.

And Ladbrokes said pounds 500,000 worth of bets had come in for Big Brother, more than for any TV programme in history.

Nick, from Egham, Surrey, spent Thursday night at a Hertfordshire hotel after being fired for "persistent infringement" of the rules.

He passed notes among fellow contestants, "tactically" giving different names for those he had put forward to leave the show.

Viewers vote each week on the cast's two nominations. A pounds 70,000 prize is on offer for the contestant who lasts longest.

Yesterday Nick denied he was a Channel 4 plant and said his dirty tricks campaign was all part of the series' competitive spirit.

He also claims he was given below-the-belt ideas by a mate on the production staff of Big Brother's BBC rival, Castaway 2000.

At a London news conference, he said: "I'm really just an ordinary guy who agreed to take part in a very unusual experiment."

Nick reckoned fellow contestants were wrong to be so angry with him after his nomination notes were uncovered early on Thursday.

He said: "When this blew up, people were quite aggrieved. Cigarettes were running low and food was running low.

"If I had been in their place, I wouldn't have wanted me out.

"Being in the house is not like one big garden party, it's not as easy as people might imagine.

"It isn't just sitting around in the sun all day playing cards.

"Everyone is under a lot of pressure. I feel on edge right now, but that's probably because I've only had about 100 hours sleep in the last month."

Nick confessed he was finding it difficult to adjust to the outside world. "It is a real shock seeing so many people in the one room."

He added: "At the beginning when I was first in the house, I had to get used to the cameras.

"Every time you go for a pee, there are five million people looking at you. It was interesting this morning taking a pee without that."

He denied he was playing to win the pounds 70,000 prize. "I was playing to participate, I never thought I would win.

"These days pounds 70,000 really isn't that much. It's really not relevant. If it was half a million, maybe."

Nick, who pulled a string of stunts before his final trick too far, hinted his housemates had been a bit daft for not noticing what he was up to. "I did it in a very overt way. Other people saw what I was doing."

Nick now believes Anna, a 29-year-old office manager, will win.

"She had a very wobbly moment two weeks ago, when she wanted to leave the house.

"But now I think she's got the staying power and the intelligence to ride the waves and ride the boredom that sometimes we suffered from."

Nick insisted his tears on leaving the house were real.

"I will definitely see the others again," he said. "After all, I haven't committed a murder."

One of Nick's four older sisters - 38-year-old Henrietta Lywood - said he was "silly not nasty". She added: "We all love Nick and feel very sorry for him that he's been portrayed in a scheming light.

"He's fun, but he does have a side to him as you can see. But he also has a vulnerable side, an innocence."

PR guru Max Clifford said of Nick's future: "If he is as devious and ruthless as he comes across, there's a career for him in PR, or politics obviously.

"In the next year, I believe he could make up to a million pounds." It might come from deals with Sunday newspapers, advertising contracts, or even panto appearances.

Last night Ladbrokes had contestant Anna at 7-4 to win the pounds 70,000, with flirty Mel at 9-2.

Littlewoods have taken 50-1 bets on Nick to take over from Johnny Vaughan as Big Breakfast presenter. The firm said the volume of internet betting on Big Brother was "absolutely astounding".

Show executive producer, Ruth Wrigley said it was in no way rigged. "It's a very, very honest programme. Everything the contestants do is filmed."

Last night Nick was at a London apartment, with butler service and spa. He has been offered "a week's refuge" there.

He chuckled at the Max Clifford suggestion, saying: "I haven't really thought about what I'm going to do next. Perhaps if you could give me his number, I'll wait and see."