The house revamp has been finished and all the preparations have been made for the arrival of the latest batch of celebrity housemates - let’s meet the crazy bunch who’s fate will be put in the hands of BB and its viewing public!
THE FEMALES
La Toya
Age: 52
Occupation: Recording Artist & Writer
While La Toya may have been born into the famous Jackson family and music, she originally wanted to study business law as La Toya felt it was necessary for the family to have someone with a legal background. She also wanted to work in Macdonalds, be a nurse and a police officer. But her father had other ideas and as soon as Latoya was introduced to the stage at 16 she knew that was right for her. Having made a name in music, La Toya ventured into acting and modelling. In 1989 she posed for Playboy magazine selling 8 million copies which became the then best selling issue ever. La Toya also wrote a book about growing up as a member of the Jackson clan, has filed for bankruptcy and in 1992 became the highest paid performer at the world famous Moulin Rouge, Paris, after signing a multi-million dollar deal.
La Toya has a severe phobia of cats from a childhood memory, when a relative was attacked by a cat.
La Toya would describe herself as “a red bottle of wine that ages gracefully, the older it is, the better it gets”. She has a dog called ‘Prince’ and her hidden talent is decorating. La Toya likes 50 Cent. Her guiltiest pleasure is an apple tart or vanilla yoghurt with caramel and nuts but she dislikes any white food e.g. mash potato and rice. She cannot live without bottled water, clean sheets, paper towels and tissues.
Latoya hopes being in Celebrity Big Brother will make her more outgoing, and if the house is like the Jackson family, it will be the easiest thing in the world.
La Toya says: “The CBB experience is going to be great because I still don’t know the world. I have been sheltered, this is going to be great”.
Lucy
Age: 23
Occupation: Model
Lucy was discovered by a freelance photographer when she was sun bathing with a friend in her hometown of Bournemouth. Lucy recalls: “I don’t know why we agreed, but he took some pictures of us on the beach, and sent them off to The Daily Star and The Sun. The Daily Star wanted some more photos and on the back of that I got a contract”. Lucy would love to be in Eastenders and thinks she would make the perfect ‘James Bond villain’.
Lucy describes herself as “officially the most indecisive person”, not “very rock n roll”, easy going and a good listener. Lucy is coulrophobic which means she is frightened of clowns. She is a lifelong Southampton Football Club Supporter and is an ambassador for Kick 4 Life, a charity that uses football to fight poverty and disease in developing countries. Lucy has 3 cats – Tabby, Jackson and Mason and most admires Margaret Thatcher for being the first female Prime Minister. Her lifetime ambition is to hold a monkey.
Her guiltiest pleasure is expensive face creams.
Big Brother is a “lifetime opportunity” and Lucy would like to test herself to see what she’ll be like living stuck in a house with a bunch of strangers. Lucy is opinionated and likes talking politics but is worried “everyone is going to hate [her because she is] a bit of a Tory bird!” If there is conflict, she would like to be the mediator of the house.
Lucy says she is a bit of a “control freak” so the fact that she is “handing [herself] over to BB, is a challenge”.
Michelle
Age: 28
Occupation: Singer & Presenter
Michelle rose to fame when she took part in the ITV reality television show Popstars reaching the final ten, but was not selected for the five member band Hear’Say. Soon after, she and the other four unsuccessful applicants formed Liberty X, signing a record deal with Virgin Records. Liberty X went on to win a Brit award toured with Bon Jovi in Australia, and had a number one single in the UK with their other singles all making the top five.
Michelle’s biggest ambition is to perform on a West End stage – her ultimate role would be Roxy Heart in Chicago. Michelle goes running regularly with her dog and works out at least 5-6 times a week. Her favourite foods are pizza, Nandos and curry and she hates oysters and Bacardi and usually only drinks on a Saturday. She thinks the public will find it surprising that she’s not actually a ‘piss head’. A flower vine on her foot, a dolphin on ankle, a huge butterfly on her back, butterflies on her neck, a butterfly on wrist and a butterfly on stomach make up her six tattoos. Her favourite book is ‘Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone’.
Alongside her boyfriend and her mobile phone, Michelle says she can’t live without Facebook so she expects life in the house to be difficult. But Michelle is hoping to learn to be more patient with people and loves to tidy and clean. She is scared about walking in to the house and falling over in front of everyone. Michelle has a tendency to moon, although she has promised her boyfriend she won’t moon in the house.
Mutya
Age: 23
Occupation: Singer & Song Writer
Mutya went to school with fellow Sugababe Keisha Buchanan from the age of 8 and the pair met Siobhan Donaghy at a party in 1998 .The band the Sugababes was formed shortly afterwards and were signed to London Records. Mutya recorded four albums with the Sugababes but left the band in December 2005 to concentrate on her daughter and a solo career.
Mutya went on to release her debut solo album ‘Real Girl’ in 2007 which included collaborations with George Michael, Amy Winehouse and Groove Armada and sold over 100,000 copies. Mutya runs a talent agency called Real Girl Productions with its aim to ‘try to give other talents a chance’.
The former Sugababe’s motto is ‘Don’t take life too seriously’ but has a fear of spiders and creepy crawlies and also weirdly sleeps with her eyes open. Mutya loves cooking which she hopes will be a real bonus in the house. Her name means ‘muse’ or ‘pearl’ in Tagalog – the official language in the Philippines. Mutya has 14 tattoos including her daughters name, a prayer in latin, a black Rose, a heart, a princess and her surname in case she forgets it.
As an owner of seven dogs, two snakes and a parrot, Mutya hopes the BB house with be peaceful like ‘Little House on the Prairie’. Mutya is a fan of Big Brother and has been watching it for years and has decided to do it for the experience and thinks she will learn a lot about herself. She is concerned about being away from her phone and not knowing what is going on in the outside world as well as missing her ipod.
Mutya says: “The public think of me as being feisty and bitchy and I’m totally opposite, I’m actually laid back and quiet.”
Tina
Age: 46
Occupation: Actress
Tina is most famous for playing the brash and belligerent Mimi Maguire on C4’s drama, Shameless and over the years she has also played the roles of Mo McGee on Brookside and a nurse called Bobbi on Dinnerladies. Tina is producing her first feature film about Scotland Road and as well as being a renowned actress, Tina owns an acting school in Liverpool. The school produces plays in local Liverpool theatres and is known as To Be Frank Productions (named after her late father, Frank Malone). She would like to lose all her weight and play ‘Sally Bowles’ in Cabaret.
Tina has said: “Being fat is the most socially unacceptable aesthetic there is because it’s associated with greed. I have never lacked confidence but I did lack self-esteem. I ate to get comfort. I felt I deserved to be fat.” At the age of 44 she decided it was time to do something about it. So she decided to seek help and in March 2008 she had a gastric balloon fitted. After her body rejected it Tina went on to lose a total of 4st 7lbs. She had the balloon removed and her healthy habits have stayed as it has helped train her in her eating habits.
If Tina could be stuck in a lift with anyone, she would choose film director Martin Scorsese, and try to talk him into giving her a job. She is scared of moths and wasps and is superstitious – if she sees a magpie on its own she will always salute it. If Tina could have one song on her Ipod it would be Chasing Pavements by Adele but the most famous person on her mobile is Mika who she met at T4 Beach. The best advice she has ever been given is “Always be the last to arrive and the first to leave”. Tina has three tattoos: Danielle (her daughter) on her back, Frank (her Dad’s name) on her right arm and her Mum, Olwyn on her left ankle.
Tina hopes being in the house will make her ‘nicer, more diplomatic and tolerant’ and thinks she will appeal to women because she is “very confident….intelligent, well read, well travelled”. Tina said about Big Brother: “It is a unique opportunity” and a chance for her to show her “vulnerability and intellect”. “I am OCD…..neurotic. [and] hormonal. I can’t do anything in moderation, I can’t have a couple of glasses of wine, or a piece of the chocolate, or sex is pointless for 15 minutes”.
Ulrika
Age: 41
Occupation: Writer & Broadcaster
Ulrika is most famous for being a TV presenter on shows such as TV-am, Gladiators, Big Breakfast, Shooting Stars and Home on Their Own. In March 2003, she was a contestant on the BBC’s ‘Comic Relief does Fame Academy and in May of the same year she released an autobiography called ‘Honest’ that was a frank an honest account of her life.
Ulrika compares her personality to a jumper saying she is either an extra large or an extra small but never a medium. She is fluent in Swedish, English, French and German and has tattoos – three crowns on her ankle and a red devil on her bottom.
Ulrika admits to having an element of intrigue about life in the Big Brother house as she is very interested in the human mind and behaviour, and she hopes the housemates will make her laugh. Her biggest challenge is how to overcome missing her family. She doesn’t think she will be a leader in the house. Ulrika hopes Sven-Goran Eriksson is not going into the house and her son has told her to be nice to everyone when she is in the house. At times when she feels weak, she will think of his advice. Ulrika doesn’t want to win, but to her winning is leaving quite soon.
THE MALES
Ben
Age: 27
Occupation: Singer, Songwriter & Producer
In 1997, Ben joined a band called A1 and between 1999 and 2002 they released three albums, had a string of number one’s and Top 10 hits across the globe - all but two of which were written or co-written by Ben. Ben was voted Sexiest Man in the Smash Hits poll in 2001
Prior to A1, Ben was one of the UK’s top choristers. He won a scholarship based on his musical talents where he was based at St Margaret’s Westminster Abbey, regularly performing for some eminent audiences including The Queen and The Pope, touring all the major cities in Europe and recording two classical albums.
Ben describes himself as ‘’a very sweet, very innocent and wouldn’t say boo to a goose just a very young happy guy” but also says: “I can be stubborn at times, funny at times, very normal really’’. His bad habit is that he snores and Christmas, music and his family make him happy. Ben’s guilty pleasure is eating too much junk food but he has a phobia of wooden lolly sticks. Ben is currently single and if he could date anyone it would be Dawn French.
Ben claims the worst thing about living with him is that he can’t cook and he can’t live without his phone, the internet or his car. His ideal housemate would be good tempered, funny, a good cook and not fake. His worst housemate would be bad tempered, smelly, arrogant, too in your face and highly strung. If Ben had to make one rule for his fellow housemates it would be ‘keep the toilet clean’. Ben says ‘’I’m not scared because I don’t think I’m a particularly unpleasant person’’. However, his biggest concern is not getting on with people in the house, but feels Big Brother is a good opportunity to get to know himself and thinks the most interesting part shall be when he comes out and can watch the footage.
Coolio
Age: 45
Occupation: Rapper & Actor
At High School Coolio began performing Hip Hop at contests. It earned him the nickname Coolio Iglesias which was then shortened to his now infamous stage name. Coolio is a worldwide hip hop star and has three platinum albums and six top 10 hits. He has won a Grammy for Best Rap Performance, an American Music Award, three MTV Music Videos, two Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards and a World Music Award. In 1995 Coolio released his second and most successful album to date, ‘Gangsta’s Paradise’. It went quadruple-platinum fuelled by the title track which was used in the Michelle Pfeiffer film A Dangerous Mind. The single hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2002, Coolio performed for the peace keeping troops in Kosovo. In 2008, Coolio moved into the catering industry hosting an online cooking show, ‘Cookin’ with Coolio’. He thinks cooking is like therapy and says he is a “gourmet chef”. Coolio also says he is in the top 10 list of greatest lovers, he collects snow domes and has six children.
By the time he was seventeen Coolio had been arrested and was serving several months in jail for larceny. In 1999, he got 10 days in jail and 40 hours of community service after pleading guilty to illegal weapons possession. Because of this Coolio says sharing a house with strangers will not be a big deal as he has been in jail before.
Coolio says he knows nothing about Big Brother, other than he knows there are people in a house that have to live together and sometimes you have to do competitions to win food. He wants to be on Big Brother as it was an offer he could not refuse, he thinks it is going to be fun but his main concern about going in the house is his fear of boredom. Coolio thinks he is going to be the coolest housemate as he knows how to cook, clean, sew, do plumbing and paint and says if he has to deal with conflict in the house, he will use the three C’s cool, calm and collected to deal with it.
Coolio hopes there’s somebody in the house that he is attracted to and that they are attracted to him – he’ll be sneaking in the condoms.
Terry
Age: 48
Occupation: Broadcaster
Best known for being a presenter on C4 youth television programme ‘The Word’ the controversial and ground-breaking television arts and culture show in the 90s, Terry previously started a column of the same name in the Manchester Evening News which was dedicated to the Manchester music scene. It was from this that Terry was recruited to host the late night show named after his column. Terry shot to national fame as the front man of ’The Word’ which saw a mix of music performances, guests interviews, games and even an item where members of the public had to prove they would do anything just to be on TV. Terry thinks someone on the street would probably say he is the annoying twat who did ‘The Word’.
Terry loves football and is a loyal Manchester United fan and is scared of spiders and snakes. He likes to watch old Western films and loves spicy food and dislikes cucumber and cider.
His main reason for becoming a celebrity housemate is to find out what it is like to live away from his family, partner Susan, mates and kids and hopes he does not embarrass them. Terry is worried people will find him annoying, but he thinks he will be a good housemate as he is from a big family and is used to communal living. Terry hopes to play the “role of loveable older brother, not a bad lad, quite sensitive, understanding and not too horrible to people”.
Terry is looking forward to meeting the other housemates and hopes they are ‘well rounded people, have some kind of journey in there life from A to B, kind of ticked a few boxes along the way, had an interest in the world around them, quite forward thinking in that way, interested in the world of ideas…..”.
Tommy
Age: 44
Occupation: Politician
Tommy is a Scottish socialist politician. He has had various prominent roles within the socialist movement in Scotland and is currently one of two co-convenors of the left-wing Scottish political party Solidarity. Tommy entered the public eye when he became the leader of a mass non-payment campaign, The Scottish Anti-Poll Tax Federation and as a result he was jailed for six months for being present at, and helping to prevent, a warrant sale. Tommy has been jailed a further two times as a consequence of his campaigning as well as making him a high profile figure in Scottish politics. He was elected to Glasgow City Council as a District Councillor while he was still in jail.
The News of the World claimed he had had an extra marital affair and also attended a swingers club. He denied this and in October 2006 he won a libel action against the paper along with damages of £200, 000. That verdict is under appeal. In 2007 Tommy was charged with perjury. The allegation of perjury arises from evidence he gave during the libel action.
Tommy is currently studying law at Strathclyde Law School, on the two year fast-track degree and believes you shouldn’t go into politics for a career; “Go in because you want to change things. Go into politics because you want to change not just your own lives but everyone in society”. Tommy has been good friends with George Galloway for 20 years, although they have disagreements politically.
Tommy’s biggest fear he has about his personality is that he won’t be very interesting in the Big Brother house. His guilty pleasure is his twice weekly sun-beds and he plays football, tennis, badminton, squash, goes jogging and boxes. His favourite foods are chicken, pasta, lasagne and medium rare steak and Tommy dislikes cabbage and alcohol.
Having been in prison Tommy thinks the Big Brother house will actually be more regimented than prison. Tommy said: “Hopefully it will be fun and I will strike up new friendships, hopefully won’t fall out with anyone and will raise money for good causes”. He doesn’t like the idea of getting up in the morning looking old and wrinkled and having everyone see you before you’ve even had a chance to shower and shave. His wife says he snores which Tommy doesn’t think he does. One for Big Brother to clear up!
Verne
Age: 40
Occupation: Actor & Stuntman
Verne is probably most famous in the UK for his role as ‘Mini Me’ in the Austin Powers films but has been working for nearly 15 years in the business mostly as a stuntman. At 2 feet and 8 inches, he is one of the smallest men in the world. Verne refers to himself as a little person rather than the more medical term, dwarf.
Verne says: “I don’t consider myself as having a disability. I don’t know what it’s like to be tall and you don’t know what it’s like to be small” Verne set up the Verne Troyer Foundation which helps little people and dwarves to go to college. He says “I love making people laugh and this foundation will help younger people who wouldn’t normally go to college and that can only be a positive thing.”
As a frequent visitor to the ‘Playboy’ mansion Verne shot a layout for Playboy Magazine, where he was dressed as a “Mini-Hef”, surrounded by nude Playmates. In 2004 Verne married yoga instructor 6ft 2ins Geneveive Gallen, but only weeks later they filed for an annulment.
Verne has an epileptic pet bulldog called Banano and in his spare time he loves to play video games and will miss his electronics, TV, games and food in the house but hopes there is attractive model or a down to earth guy in with him..
In regards to Big Brother, Verne wants to ‘appreciate the experience’ and is looking forward to ‘the camaraderie of being with the housemates. It will be like going on school camp’. Although he is a little worried about the unpredictability of the house Verne says he is just going to “roll with the punches and do [his] best”.
Verne admits to an evil game plan: to “sabotage everybody in the house, take their stuff and hide it, pick [his] nose and put it in their food. and get everybody blaming everyone else. [He’ll] play the nice guy but deep down [he’ll] be evil”. Verne would like to win and is prepared to do anything and if that means “screwing someone over then ok, it’s all about the competition!’.
Verne’s message to the British public is: “I’m a nice guy, I am sarcastic …I’m just about having fun and if I have to be evil sometimes I may be. So don’t take me lightly - I’m definitely there to compete.”
