Meet the Celebrity Big Brother housemates
We have our housemates! 14 stupid brave celebrities walked through the doors of the Celebrity Big Brother compound tonight to face a twisted fairytale like no other.
But who are these courageous souls who have shunned spa days and champers for a dirty bath and chickpeas? And do you know any of them? Well, we’ve got all the details of the gang, so read on for everything you need to know…
Alexander O’Neil
Age: 61
Give me the basics. Alexander is an American R&B singer probably best known for his hit ‘Criticise‘, which reached number four in the UK charts in 1987.
Why is he going in the house? For one thing, he likes “challenges”, apparently. Also, he loves us Brits: “Britain pretty much told the rest of the world who Alexander O’Neal was before anybody really knew.” (He speaks about himself in the third person quite regularly, it seems.) Also: “It’s a test for me, and a test of my patience. Patience is not a friend of mine! It’s the challenge of doing something so different because Big Brother is everything that Alexander O’Neal is not. I’m a very private person. I don’t hang out with people. I’m never around people. Not like this.”
What should I know? Don’t expect him to sing – he doesn’t sing around his own house. And don’t expect him to worry about annoying others – “I don’t give a damn. I really don’t. I’m here to govern me”.
Got it. And? He won’t be sticking up for other people, either: “I’d probably say, ‘You’re a grown up, you can handle that! Handle your business, man!’ We don’t need all that drama. I’m not here to be a bad man, but I’m not here to be this older wiser guy who’s got advice. I’m trying to find out what I want to be when I grow up and I’m 61. I’ve got my own stuff to deal with and I’m trying to focus on that.”
Anything else? “I don’t like smelling people. I don’t want to smell their breath, I don’t want to smell their feet, I don’t want to smell their ass. I do not want to smell their farts.”
Alicia Douvall
Age: 35
Give me the basics. Alicia is a model who famously admitted that she became addicted to plastic surgery and had 330 cosmetic procedures and operations.
Why is she going in the house? “It’s an opportunity to introduce myself to a new audience and for people to see the real me,” she said. “I don’t think I have given people a chance to meet the real me before.”
What should I know? Alicia has been romantically linked to stars such as Mick Hucknall, Dean Gaffney, Simon Cowell, Shaggy, Dwight Yorke, Lee Ryan, Puff Daddy, Dennis Rodman and John Terry in the past. “Of course they will be worried!” she said. “If they know me, they know that I am very honest and sometimes I say things by mistake that shouldn’t really come out, especially if I am relaxed and talking to people.” (Incidentally, she named Simon as one of her dream housemates.)
Got it. And? Alicia “loves a good argument” but is going to try to avoid them – although she hates snorers and doesn’t cook or clean. Good luck, Alicia.
Anything else? “There are rumours about Katie Hopkins. I definitely do not want to be in a house with her.” Oh dear.
Age: 33
Give me the basics. Calum Milan Best is the son of legendary footballer George Best and is known for being a model and a reality TV personality (he has Celebrity Love Island and the incredibly-titled Calum, Fran and Dangerous Danan on his CV).
Why is he going in the house? “The biggest reason for me is that now, at 33, being good in my health, good in my head and my soul, I just want to show people the kind of person that I am now… I’ve come from such a dark place of losing my dad then drinking and partying every single night to training and eating well. My head is so much clearer than it ever was. I still have some demons and insecurities but the last two years have been some of the best of my life.”
What should I know? Don’t expect him to be a completely good boy. He’s ruled out any sex in the house (“I’d be taking 20 steps backwards”) but promises that he has “no problem in getting my kit off – I’ll be cruising around in my underwear”.
Got it. And? He’s vowed not to do any kiss and tells, so Lindsay Lohan can rest easy. Calum’s also promised he will cook, clean and be “well mannered and charming”: “I’m no diva.”
Anything else? “I don’t want to have a serious kick off. I have a pretty bad temper, but for me to lose it would have to be pretty severe. I just hope there are problems with other people and I can watch from a distance!”
Age: 26
Give me the basics. Camila Figueras – or Cami Li – is a glamour model who hit the news when she got engaged to TOWIE (and CBB star) Kirk Norcross (they later split).
Why is she going in the house? “I thought it’d be a great opportunity to show the UK who I really am and have a good time!” Oh, and because she doesn’t want to be “attached” to her ex. “I am my own person and I want them to know that this is who I am and not this person’s ex. I don’t want to be ‘Cami who used to be with Kirk’.” Still, she did say he should be worried: “Once they get some drinks in me, I’ll be like let me tell you this story!” And she dismissed his CBB experience, too: “A leaked picture online – that’s how he became more famous, let’s be honest!”
What should I know? Cami says she’s a winner that won’t back down, that she is “the only head bitch in charge”, and that she has an alter ego that is “like bad 1980s porn – it’s horrible but you can’t take your eyes off it”.
Got it. And? She will tell people who don’t like her that they have “bad taste”: “If somebody gives me a mouthful I will lecture them and they’ll go to the Diary Room and start crying, asking them to get them out of there because a crazy little Cuban girl just put their ass in place!” Oh, and she gets on better with guys – “until they try to sleep with me and then I have to find a new friend”.
Anything else? “I’ll be like, ‘I’ve arrived, look at me, look at these titties and this ass!’ Yes, that’s me. People are so conservative and when they look at me I’m like, ‘Bitch, I work out to look good naked’. I don’t care what they say. You were born naked so why not?” But don’t expect her to have sex: “It’s not going to be a free sex tape. If we’re going to make some money then we’re going to do this the right way! We aren’t giving it for free!”
Chloe Goodman
Age: 21
Give me the basics. Chloe appeared on the MTV reality show Ex on the Beach – where she went head to head with Geordie Shore‘s Vicky Pattison (“I really don’t like her.”)
Why is she going in the house? “I’ve been watching CBB for years and I want to show the real me instead of me on a show like Ex on the Beach.”
What should I know? Chloe does not think she is “the pretty one” – she promises to be in her sweats with no make up on and “probably burping”. And don’t expect her to “prance around” in a bikini: “I’d like to think I’ve got a little bit more to myself than that.” (She thinks showmances are “so overdone” and “predictable”, too.)
Got it. And? Her dream housemate would be David Attenborough: “I’m obsessed with wildlife. I really wanted to be a marine biologist when I was growing up. I’d be there with my notepad and pen!”
Anything else? “I fart in front of my friends, I’m not bothered, but in front of the UK audience, I’m not sure they’ll take too kindly to me sat there in full hair and makeup and a dress farting away! I don’t think it’s what they would expect but everyone does it!”
Age: 34
Give me the basics. Jeremy is an actor best known for his role as Hobie Buchannon on Baywatch (he won the role over Leonardo DiCaprio).
Why is he going in the house? He didn’t really say. But he did say he was “eager to go and live it”.
What should I know? Jeremy likes to have fun with everything he does and is already planning to write a song with his housemates. “I’m just going to go in, roll the dice and see what happens,” he said. “I don’t know anybody’s history. They may or may not know mine but that doesn’t really matter to me because at face value, good or bad, everybody has a story.”
Got it. And? Jeremy has produced 200 fashion shows for Ed Hardy, had two top ten hit albums and won gold medals in jujitsu. “I pretty much crush everything I touch,” he said. “I am committed. We’ll just have to see what happens in this next chapter of my life. Whatever I do it has never been enough. No matter how buff I have been it was never enough. No matter how many millions I have made it was never enough. I always wanted more and I never saw what I had in front of me until I looked back a couple of years later. Then I was like, ‘Why didn’t I enjoy it?'”
Anything else? Asked if he had packed his Baywatch shorts, Jeremy replied: “I wore them already. They demanded it. I may or may not have humped the camera lens. I may or may not have turned it into a G-string. I can’t remember!”
Katie Hopkins
Age: 39
Give me the basics. Back in the day, Katie Hopkins was on The Apprentice. Now she’s better known for being a professional troll.
Why is she going in the house? Well, not to prove anything, apparently. “I’m not trying to show people that I’m nice,” she said. “I’m just going in to do ‘Katie’. People might think that, ‘Actually, Katie isn’t a bitch 100% of the time’. I think there is a funnier side to me but equally I may come out as the biggest bitch in Britain again and that is also totally acceptable.”
What should I know? Katie claimed that it’s too “simplistic” to say that she doesn’t believe everything she says and added that it “really annoys” her that people “don’t have more views on stuff”. She thinks CBB is “one of the last vestiges of being able to say what you think” and she’s not going to tone herself down: “That would be being Cheryl Fernandez-Versini, wouldn’t it?”
Got it. And? She knows who she doesn’t want to share the house with: “Any fat person. That is quite a broad spectrum. I have no empathy for a fat person.”
Anything else? “There will be no lust in the house while I am there. I will throw vinegar over people’s testicles or salt into openings.”
Kavana
Age: 37
Give me the basics. Kavana – real name Anthony Kavanagh – is a popstar best known for the utter tune ‘I Can Make You Feel Good’. More recently he was on The Big Reunion as part of supergroup 5th Story.
Why is he going in the house? “It’s a great opportunity, I love the show. You get to meet people from all walks of life and you get paid for it. It was January and I wasn’t doing anything so I thought, ‘Why not?'”
What should I know? Kavana wants to do some more acting in the future, but he also has new music: “If I get to a point where it looks like I might do well with it then I’ll probably do that.” He also admitted that he might sing around the house without even knowing it: “It’ll probably be something really embarrassing in the shower!”
Got it. And? Kavana would like to see actress Suranne Jones in the house because they went to school together and “always have a good laugh”.
Anything else? “I’m dating. They’re happy that I’m doing something but they also know I can be a bit of a nut job as well. My sister has said, ‘Be careful and don’t do this or that’, but what do they want me to do, walk round with my hands in my pockets sat on the sofa? I might pick my nose, I might swear, I might reveal all of your darkest secrets. We’ll see!”
Age: 57
Give me the basics. Keith “Cheggers” Chegwin is an actor and presenter known for classic shows like Cheggers Plays Pop and Saturday Superstore.
Why is he going in the house? “CBB has always been a challenge and everyone says it’s because of the people, but it’s not. I couldn’t give a toss who’s in there – it’s all about Big Brother. Everyone forgets Big Brother, and you don’t know what Big Brother is going to get you to do!”
What should I know? Keith will celebrate his 58th birthday in the house but isn’t too worried about missing it. He’s also planning to let people fight: “Mediation is fantastic but it’s not my job to do it. I’ll probably end up watching it like a viewer, thinking, ‘Go for it!'”
Got it. And? He’s another one who talks about himself in the third person. “People have a preconception that Keith Chegwin is thick and I’ve always suckered up to that because I quite like it. That’s one side that people don’t know about Keith Chegwin. I do read a lot. I know a bit about everything!”
Anything else? “I’m not super clean but I do like clean people. If there is a poo in the loo I will find out whose it is and I might even bring it out!”
Ken Morley
Age: 71
Give me the basics. Ken is an actor best known for his role as Reg Holdsworth in Coronation Street.
Why is he going in the house? “I spoke to a couple of people who have done it and had various results. One won and the other didn’t!”
What should I know? Ken – who says he isn’t interested in winning – isn’t worried about getting booed. “I’ll encourage it. I’ll set it to music. Let the bile flow and get it out of your systems! Booing is good. At pantomimes we encourage it and it releases something. It’s only right and proper that they should boo. I think just walking in on what I’ll be wearing will be enough to get it going.”
Got it. And? Ken admits that he annoys his wife with his flatulence, and says he’ll be annoyed if the other housemates are “being vile” and “smelling”. And he said: “I think there is a difference between entertaining a bunch of what you might call ‘normal’ people and entertaining a bunch of egocentrics who don’t like anyone being funnier than they are. Or even, in my case, more attractive.”
Anything else? “If I lose my temper, which I do occasionally, there will be the most violent outburst of volatile filth you have ever heard in your life and it will come like a volcano. I shall have to be very careful to tame it!”
Michelle Visage
Age: 46
Give me the basics. Michelle is a singer and presenter who appears as a judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race (she says he’s “excited” to see her do Celebrity Big Brother: “He knows what I bring to the party and he knows that I have got what it takes to stick it out and that I won’t run with my tail between my legs.”)
Why is she going in the house? She didn’t really say, though she did reveal that she has seen every series and is a big fan of British TV (she wanted Katie Price to be in the house with her – “I love me a bit of Katie Price” – and also likes Keith Lemon, Alan Carr and Jonathan Ross).
What should I know? Michelle says she is “in there for the gay community” as well as “all the freaks, all the weirdos, all the misfits who never felt like their life was worth it or have questioned if their life was worth it”. And she thinks the gay community will support her, too: “More than anybody else in the world, absolutely they will. They are my lifeline, they are my blood, they run through my veins.”
Got it. And? She thinks she’ll be a mediator in the house (“I am very much about peace”) and she’d love to have her own show in the UK: “It’s time you had a bawdy American broad on your television.”
Anything else? “I’ll say, ‘Hi, I’m Michelle Visage and I’m a drag queen’, and that usually opens the door to the conversation. This is how I get my reputation. If you look on Google it’ll say, ‘Michelle Visage is a man’, the list goes on and on, but I am 100% biological female. But RuPaul says it best when he says you’re born naked and everything else is drag.”
Nadia Sawalha
Age: 50
Give me the basics. Nadia is an actress and television presenter.
Why is she going in the house? “It’s going to be huge fun. It’ll be a test but all my family are weirdos and nutters so I’m already prepared for it.”
What should I know? Nadia – who says her bad habits are itching and wind – describes herself as “feisty but fair”. Oh, and despite her heaps of culinary experience, she’s going to try not to cook because her mum says everyone hates people who take over the kitchen on reality shows.
Got it. And? Nadia is looking forward to sharing a house with Katie Hopkins – because she doesn’t believe anyone can be “that nasty” (and she’s heard on the grapevine that Katie’s pretty funny.)
Anything else? “There is no way I could have somebody shagging in the same room as me. I would have to say that I am literally going to throw up. Even when I was wild I couldn’t stand that.”
Age: 46
Give me the basics. Patsy is an actress, model and singer. She has been married four times, famously to Liam Gallagher for three years (“I’ve never said a bad word about either of my boys’ dads because there is no reason to,” she said.)
Why is she going in the house? “I have been a fan of the show for so long and it has gone through so many changes. I have always watched the celebrity ones but this past summer I watched the civilian one and was really gripped by it. I think it said a lot about how relevant it still is. I’m 47 in March and I really wanted to do this before I’m 50.”
What should I know? Patsy says her two sons think it’s “funny” she’s going on the show – but she admits to bad habits including flatulence (“it’s really not nice”), sleep-talking and snoring.
Got it. And? Patsy says she has become “very involved in meditating” in the last few years – and her New Year’s resolution is to live in the moment. “I know myself and I know who I am. You’re either going to love me or hate me and I don’t really care.”
Anything else? “I’m interested in what other people have to say. Like, what are your three favourite cheeses? To me that is a really important question. Do you like a stinky bishop?”
Age: 36
Give me the basics. Perez is a controversial showbiz blogger from the US – he famously had a big falling out with Lady Gaga after being friends with her for a while.
Why is he going in the house? “I am officially a celebrity now, or will be when I enter the Big Brother house. But this last year was a big one for me. I celebrated many milestones, one of which was my ten year anniversary of blogging. I started in September 2004 and while I have a lot of awareness, people know the name Perez Hilton, but people don’t know who I really am. So it was an exciting opportunity to show a whole bunch of people the real me.”
What should I know? Perez said he is a “nice guy” who has “matured” over the years – he calls himself “fun and fabulous and fearless”. But he did admit he doesn’t have fans – or “likability”. “I am probably not wanted in as many places as I am wanted. I am probably more disliked than I am liked. And that is fine. I’m still in the Big Brother house and I love my life.”
Got it. And? You can probably expect some stories – Perez says he’s “happy to share”. “I’m an open book. I may not share immediately. That might be one way to play a game. You’ve got to keep viewers wanting more. I’m smarter than your average bear!”
Anything else? “I see right through people who play games. I invented the game. I know how to bend the rules. I’ve already bent the rules.”
