Where all Big Brother's winners are now as fans await show's comeback
Fans are waiting for the latest batch of housemates to join the latest Big Brother series as ITV offers them a revamped space to live, but what has happened to previous winners?
TV viewers have loved Big Brother being part of our lives for decades - and Sunday sees the latest series return to our screens.
The reality TV show returns in this weekend for the second time on ITV, after a five-year-long hiatus from our screens after its Channel 5 axing. AJ Odudu and Will Best take up the hosting duties as the latest batch of housemates look to impress those watching from home.
As part of ITV's Duty of Care protocols, all Big Brother contestants will have an individualised support plan that includes sessions with the show's mental health professionals prior to, during and after their time in the house. Big Brother was first aired back in 2000 and was the kickstarters of the reality television boom that has since dominated the small screen.
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There have been quite a few winners over the years since its formation, from jovial builders to fake tan obsessives and also the first-ever transgender winner. With the new series of the show ready to begin, where are the previous winners now?
Series 1 - Craig Phillips
The first ever winner was Scouse builder Craig. In a touching move, he donated his entire £70,000 prize money to his friend with Down's syndrome, Joanne Harris, to pay for her heart and lung transplant. He went on to use his DIY skills and home improvement expertise on the small screen, and became the key builders on various TV shows over the past 20 years.
He also took on the hosting duties for shows such as Housecall, Housecall in the Country, Builders Sweat and Tears, Our House, Trading Up and more.
The builder returned to Big Brother on a number of occasions, including to celebrate its 10th anniversary. On another return, he helped housemates complete a shed-building task. Craig still makes TV appearances and showed up on Big Brother's Best Shows in 2020.
Series 2 - Brian Dowling
Brian went on to enjoy further reality TV fame following his impressive win. As well as a Come Dine With Me win, the Irishman win the Ultimate Big Brother in 2010. Doing so, made him the only winner to be victorious on the show twice. The second winner also took a turn presenting the show and has also tried his hand at DJing.
Following his hosting duties, he quickly got another hosting gig in 2015. Brian hosted The Real Housewives of Cheshire's reunion special since it started. In 2020, fans were delighted to see him in the Irish version of Dancing with the Stars. However, he was eliminated from the programme in the first dance-off of the series in February of that year.
Currently, he's narrating and presenting The Real Housewives of Jersey.
Series 3 - Kate Lawler
Kate Lawler became a household name almost immediately after her third series win. She appeared in several lad's mag spreads and also a campaign with Ann Summers. She has tried other kinds of modelling, but is now working in radio and currently has a show on Virgin Radio.
In 2008, she made a return to Big Brother as a hijacker for a day in Big Brother Celebrity Hijack. She later appeared on Celebrity Total Wipeout and later turned to radio as a new career. She joined Key 103 and was featured on Radio Aire, Viking FM and Rock FM. However, she left in 2015. She hosted her Kerrang Radio Breakfast show until 2016. She then joined Virgin Radio. In 2019, Kate started her very own podcast called Maybe Baby.
Series 4 - Cameron Stout
Since winning series four, Cameron has appeared on the BBC series Restoration as a spokesman for the Hall of Clestrain. He has also penned a number of national newspapers columns and performed in pantomimes.
Series 5 - Nadia Almada
Nadia became the show's first transgender winner and was catapulted into national fame when she left the house. She continued her efforts to get trans rights spoken about in the mainstream. She went back in on the 2010 Ultimate Big Brother series but finished 10th, after giving her best shot at launching a music career.
Nadia also had acting gigs, including a cameo in Hollyoaks. Despite being one of the most iconic Big Brother winners of all time, the Portuguese-born star was forced to take a career away from the spotlight after shooting to fame on the Channel 4 show.
Nadia has spent the last 10 years working as a hairdresser after revealing she wasn't offered the same job opportunities as her fellow housemates. Despite winning the £63,500 cash prize thanks to securing a whopping 74% of the overall final public vote, she said opportunities for trans women 'weren't out there'.
Series 6 - Anthony Hutton
Geordie Anthony became a hair stylist after bagging the sixth series crown, while also trying his hand at modelling. He returned to screens in 2010 for the ultimate series and went on a cheeky date with former fling Makosi.
He admitted previously that he fell into a dark place after being thrust into the limelight. “I may have won my series, but for each new season my fame dwindled," he confessed. "Even though I was making less money, that didn’t stop me from spending as if I was at the peak of my fortune. I knew I needed to get a job to make ends meet but I thought people would laugh at me if I did something more ‘normal’.
“As a result, I got into a really dark place where I was going out all of the time and drinking a lot. I was lucky to have a good support system which made me realise that getting another job wasn’t something to be ashamed of.“
Series 7 - Pete Bennett
Pete won the heart of the nation before winning the seventh series. However, he previously admitted on The Jeremy Kyle Show that had squandered all his winnings on an addiction to ketamine. He was forced to return to his day job but has since set up a cleaning business, charging £100 an hour to take care of people's dirty laundry.
He published an autobiography, Pete: My Story in 2006 and reissued it in paperback in 2007 as My Journey With Tourettes. He was also the lead singer in a band called Daddy Fantastic but left the group after agreeing with a label that he should become a solo artist.
Series 8 - Brian Belo
Eighth series winner Brian tried to bag himself a music career following his Big Brother success. However, it failed tom be fruitful. In 2013 he sued the makers of The Only Way Is Essex for allegedly nicking his idea for the show, and claimed he had been working with Sassy Films and Massive TV. He eventually agreed to a settlement with ITV.
After leaving the show, Brian made his stage debut as the Guardian Angel in The Vegemite Tales. He also had a cameo appearance in Hollyoaks and later became a regular on Harry Hill's TV Burp. He made a return to the Big Brother franchise for Celebrity Hijack. From 2009, he became a columnist for Heat Magazine's website.
In June 2015, Belo returned to Big Brother as part of a Time Warp twist. Brian was sent in with former housemates Helen Wood and Nikki Grahame.
Series 9 - Rachel Rice
Rachel used her winning for noble ends - to give to charity and pay off her student loans. Now, she is a headteacher at a school in Wales after training following her success in the house. The star is also an actress and took part in a few global television commercials.
She also had an appearance in Night Train to Venice alongside Hugh Grant. She later tried her hand at modelling before becoming a teacher at Abersychan School in Wales.
Series 10 - Sophie Reade
The ultra-glam Sophie appeared in Playboy after her win, and did other glamour modelling jobs after leaving the house. She gave birth to a son and became an Insta-mum, sharing all the details of what she and her bairn are up to, before performing in the indie film Barracuda in 2017.
The model often shares saucy pictures of herself with fans on Instagram and makes money sharing them on OnlyFans. Sophie took a break from modelling in 2017 after she gave birth to her son Walter, who she shares with footballer David Goodwillie. She met the ex-Dundee United ace in a nightclub in Manchester in 2012 but the couple went their separate ways when she was pregnant.
Series 11 - Josie Gibson
The eleventh series winner stayed in the television industry after her win, working for OK! in an on-camera role, as well as writing for Now magazine. Viewers know her best from her presenting work on ITV's This Morning alongside the likes of Holly Willoughby and Alison Hammond.
Josie appeared on many television series, such as Celebrity Wedding Planner, Celebrity Impossible, Let's do Lunch with Gino & Mel, The Wright Stuff, Silent Library, Wagons Den, Celebrity Juice, Live from Studio Five, The Vanessa Show, OK! TV, Big Brother's Bit on the Side, Live with..., This Morning and Loose Women.
She only joined This Morning in 2019 as a competition announcer but was such a huge hit with viewers that she became a presenter two years later. The star makes sure to keep her fans updated on her life through her many columns, TV interviews and Instagram posts.
Series 12 - Aaron Allard Morgan
Aaron won £50k and appears regularly on BBBOTS and other TV shows with his reality series expertise. But, down in Weston-super-Mare, he used his winnings and ran a bar as a normal day job. However, the bar doesn't seem to be running anymore.
He was the first winner of the show after it moved to Channel 5 but he immediately went back to his normal life.
Series 13 - Luke Anderson
Luke Anderson became the first trans man to win the show and has since been an LGBT rights ambassador while shunning the life of fame and money to become a chef. In 2010, he was crowned chef of the year and welcomed twins with husband Jamie several years ago.
Last year, he revealed he was struggling to keep his bakery open after his energy bills quadrupled from £400 to £1,600 a month. He initially thought it was a typo because the number was so large. "How on earth are we meant to run a business, when the electric bill has jumped to 5 times the cost?" he said.
"The high street will be a very cold and lonely place very soon."
Series 14 - Sam Evans
Sam has kept himself to himself after his win, only reappearing on a Welsh show in 2016. Other than this, he has become an ambassador for a charity to help the hearing impaired, as he was born with 80% hearing loss.
Series 15 - Helen Wood
Helen claimed she was involved in a threesome with Wayne Rooney. She remained in the spotlight by returning to Big Brother as a 'time warp housemate' the following year. Until 2017, she had a column for the Daily Star before she wrote a tell-all autobiography about her life before Big Brother.
On Big Brother, Ofcom received more than 1,500 complaints about her and Pauline Bennett bullying Jale Karaturp. The pair received a warning on Day 12 before being warned again on Day 21 for using threatening behaviour towards housemate Matthew Davies. She went on to appear on James English’s Anything Goes podcast in 2019,where discussed her alleged relationship with Rooney.
Series 16 - Chloe Wilburn
Chloe soon returned to her day job after winning the show. She works as a medical cannabis activist and CBD seller. She has also got married and had a baby, describing herself on Instagram as a mum and a wife. She also owns a baby clothing company called Vinellie. The company produces custom-made clothing for babies as well as accessories and home products.
Chloe is a busy woman as she also works with her partner as a dog groomer. The duo own Daw Wood Kennels and Pet Spa.
Series 17 - Jason Burrill
The previous stunt double on Guardian of the Galaxy went on to play a part in other films following his success on the show. Productions Jason featured on include The Serpent, The Dark Return of Time, Strange in the World and Essex Vendetta. After his win, he immediately bagged a role in The Dark Return of Time alongside Julia Roberts' brother.
Series 18 - Isabelle Warburton
The tan-obsessive blonde donated a portion of her prize pot to charity. She didn't spend much more time in the limelight following her win, but continued with her business. She also settled down with her partner and welcomed two children into the world.
Series 19 - Cameron Cole
The series 19 winner of the show became the youngest person to ever take the prize fund after winning the hearts of his housemates and viewers. The vlogger came out on the show, which host Emma Willis said was one of "the loveliest things" she'd seen on TV.
Cameron was a super fan and had been watching BB since the start, so it was suitably apt that he won as it was the last ever show after Channel 5 decided to drop it from schedules and no other buyers stepped forward for the franchise thanks to falling ratings.
Series 20 - Jordan Sangha
The lawyer put a hold on his career to try his hand at reality TV at 26 years old. After winning the show and bagging the £100,000 winnings, he quit his law job. Following his decision he continued to share the goings-on in his relationship with Henry Southan.
He also landed a spot on Vogue Magazine and started working on a fashion brand. He recently posted from inside this year's house on his Instagram account.
An edition of this article was first published on October 9, 2023.
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