Big Brother was one of the original reality television shows when it burst onto our screens in 2000 on Channel 4, hosted by Davina McCall. We were all captivated by the first series, watching on as ordinary people lived all together in a huge house.
There was drama galore and millions of people tuned in every night to watch it all unfolding. Many of those who appeared on the first shows went on to achieve mainstream fame afterwards, but others are now living relatively normal lives and have full-time "normal" jobs.
From "Nasty Nick" to Craig Phillips, the series featured a number of characters. Here we take a closer look at where they all are now and what's happened in their lives since the show…
Born in Liverpool in 1971, Craig's family moved to Newport in Shropshire when he was 18. He entered the Big Brother house in 2000 and went on to win.
He began as a building company owner and went on to carve out a career as a DIY expert on television- he even hosted 60 Minute Makeover.
In a heart-warming move, he gave his £70,000 prize from the show to friend Joanne Harris- this paid for her heart and lung transplant.
Since the show, Craig has also married wife Laura and runs YouTube channel Mr and Mrs DIY with her. They married in 2018 at Peckforton Castle in Cheshire after dating for two years.
The couple have two children: Nelly, four, and Lennon, two. Craig also has a production company creating makeover programmes for the British Forces Broadcasting Service.
Anna was a nun before finding fame in Big Brother, part of the Sisters of Loreto. Speaking to the Sunday World, she said of her time there: "I loved the nuns and the work they did. They were the coolest group of women."
Runner-up of the first series of Big Brother, Anna has continued working in showbiz. She's landed presenting jobs with the BBC and RTE and also hosts the Great Irish Bake Off.
He came in third on Big Brother and appeared in several television shows afterwards. Although he had dreams of working as a model and dancer, Darren now has a full-time job as a researcher.
Darren is dad to Shanice, Nuviea, and Zahnae with his ex-girlfriend Tammy. Before appearing on the show, Darren said: "My friends have advised me to do this so they can laugh at me for once.
"My friends all say I'm a flirt, a ladies man and that I'm a big over-grown girl 'cause I change my hairstyles frequently and carry a backpack wherever I go."
One of the more misunderstood characters on Big Brother series 1 was Melanie. During her time on the show, she kissed Andy Davidson and Tom McDermott.
Since the show, she has hit back about how she has been presented and said she regrets deciding to be in it.
She said in 2002: "Over and over again was the sight of my bottom – in a bikini, in knickers, being squeezed into a pair of shorts, in the shower – or of me kissing all the boys."
"No wonder women everywhere loathed me and men thought I was easy. I had been portrayed as a total flirt, someone who was completely self-obsessed, a bit of a shameless hussy."
Since Big Brother, she's stepped out of the spotlight and trained as a barrister. She's gone on to embrace family life with partner Glenn and son Otis and describes herself as part of a “family of 6 humans and 2 dogs, living in London, on a zero waste journey and addicted to vintage.”
After the show ended, the farmer and computer engineer, who was 31 at the time, dated another contestant, Claire Strutton.
They went on to get married and have a baby together in 2001 and moved out to Spain. But their relationship wasn't to be and he now lives in Cornwall and has his own property company.
He has remarried but still keeps in touch with Claire who said in 2020 that they WhatsApp each other and look after their son Pierce McDermott.
Claire said: "Tom's still cool, but I do feel that he really wanted to move on from [Big Brother and fame] immediately after he was done with it."
The florist was a late replacement for Nick Bateman, who was given the name "Nasty Nick". She was remembered for her relationship with Tom and has stayed out in Spain since their split.
Claire has married again and has a luxury beach resort in Marbella alongside nightclubs in Gibraltar and Essex.
Before entering the house, Andy said he wanted: "To do as much crazy stuff as possible until I want to stop. Then I want to teach people using my experiences of the world/life. I would love to go to space."
He grew close to Mel during his time in the show as both had gone to the University of Sussex and they regularly flirted.
Andy's brother Anthony is a commentator on BBC radio who found fame as an F1 driver in the 2000s. But he's not followed in his brother's footsteps.
Now, Andy is head of client strategy at insight and brand consultancy firm Flamingo and was previously at MTV.
Her time on the show was short, as the British public didn't seem to be fans of "Caggy"- she left after three weeks. Caroline wanted to be on Big Brother for the fame, money, self-discovery, friendships and "as a experiment".
She described herself as: "Energetic, open, truthful, great sense of humour, perceptive, and tolerant until pushed then apparently I'm scary."
Little is known about what Caroline is up to now but she was the oldest Big Brother housemate, going into the house when she was 37.
The free spirit was friends with Claire Strutton, Sada Walkington and Darren Ramsay while in the house. The artist also used materials that housemates had access to like magazines and flour and water to decorate the walls.
Nicola ventured into the world of music after Big Brother, after applying to the show as a joke. She released her song The Game, which reached number 72 in the charts.
She's not in the public eye anymore and lives in Bolton with her daughter. She told Fabulous in August: “I made TV history. “I pioneered the way for thousands of contestants who came after me.
“I had absolutely no idea what I was getting myself into, the experience changed my life for better and for worse.”
She was the first person to be evicted from the Big Brother house and now has a much quieter life. The actress is in Argentina working as a yoga instructor.
Sada is now called Guru Amrit Dev and is married to Argentine musician husband Sat Man Swaraj. She shares twins Indigo and Padma, 18, with him.
One of the most infamous housemates was "Nasty Nick", now 55, who was kicked out of the series because he encouraged people to put certain contestants up for eviction by using notes.
He never got nominated for a single eviction because of his tactics. Nick was on plenty of shows after his controversial Big Brother stint, including GMTV and Through the Keyhole and he also wrote columns for papers.
He's moved over to Australia since and lives in Bondi Beach with his wife Carol. He works as a freelance writer and social commentator.
Source: Read Full Article
