Ahead of the new season of Big Brother, proudly sponsored by BoyleSports Games, we caught up with BB UK season 1 winner Craig Phillips who revealed to us a surprising confession from Victoria Beckham after his reality show win.
Craig also reflects on how his life completely changed after winning the show, how different his experience might have been with today’s social media landscape and his post-show travels around the UK and Ireland.
Meeting Prince Philip & Posh Spice’s Confession
When you’re going to those big awards ceremonies, especially in the first couple of years, you’re meeting everyone. From everyday celebs to Prime Ministers and royalty. I met Prince Philip when I helped give out the Duke of Edinburgh Awards at Buckingham Palace.
I had dinner with major big-name celebrities like the Beckhams, Victoria and David Beckham. She said, ‘If I wasn’t married to David, Craig, I would have come down on the last night of Big Brother and proposed to you!’ Which was very flattering and not something an A-List celeb says to you every day.
Things Would Have Been Very Different If Social Media Existed When I Was On Big Brother
I’m sure things would have been very different with social media. I’ve thought sometimes how wild it would have been if we did have social media then, I think my last day in BB I got 3.7 million votes and they all paid! I would have probably come out with about 5 or 6 million followers which would have made life very different.
I’m a bit of a caveman now, a bit of a late starter to social media. Where I’ve got hundreds of thousands of followers, I could have had millions!
It’s very different now, when I was on it, people used to watch more of the show, and they’d catch up with highlights or in the press. Now, the younger generation gets their fix from watching snippets on social media as opposed to watching the full hour’s programme, unless they’re die-hard fans.
You Were on the First Series, Did You Have Any Idea How Big It Was Going to Be After You Came Out When You Won?
Oh, no chance! I think I was the last in the country to know how big the show was. I was locked away for 64 days and as the other housemates were leaving, they were starting to get a feel.
The show, from what I remember, was growing by the day. The media was hugely behind this but the public were quickly getting very invested. I came out and it was just this whirlwind, it was instantly life-changing.
How Life Changed After Big Brother Win
It was quite mind-blowing and when I first came out, Channel 4 had me sit down with a psychiatrist every week to make sure I was okay. What was happening to me had never happened to anyone before! All these weird, wonderful things were exciting, but it could be scary sometimes. I didn’t go home for 97 days after. I changed hotels every single night. I was chaperoned by bodyguards and chauffeurs and press officers and agents.
I had this whole entourage who planned every moment and interaction. It was such a whirlwind, a completely different world. I remember when I first came out and chatted with my psychiatrist, he told me, ‘Your life has changed. You will be the most-talked-about person in Britain this weekend, you’ll be on the front of every paper, and every TV and news channel will have you on there.
Do You Think You’d Have Done the Show If You’d Known It Would Be Like That After?
It’s hard to say. I never went on the programme to become famous. I didn’t want to work in the media, it was never a desire of mine.
I was very happy and content running my building company and it was going in the right direction. I didn’t really mean to, but as it turned out, it turned out brilliantly. I was welcomed by the media and I’ve done probably a couple of thousand makeover programmes.
I think part of my success was that I had a trade before I went in, I could use my hands and I was spotted by all the major channels, that I could do building makeovers and designs and that sort of genre of programmes. I fell in quite easily with it, I didn’t really have to try too hard in that way. I did have the skillset that fitted at the time for TV, and makeover programmes were at their peak at this point too.
I Love How Big Brother Fame Turned Out For Me
When people say, would I have done it knowing the success I had out of it? I would have! I love how it’s turned out for me. It can be hard to maintain that. When I look back at some other housemates from my year and the couple of years to follow, they got a lot of attention and had their ’15 minutes’ but that very quickly dried up and it was a bitter pill to swallow. To have all that fame and recognition, it’s then very hard to slip back into a 9-5 job. You can’t just go back to your normal work, you became such a household name you were recognised everywhere you went. It was very difficult for some people who were unable to capitalise on that.
I was recognised but I was getting paid to do something different. I was doing TV work, personal appearances, radio shows, and with the makeover shows, I was getting paid very well to do that and recognised for it. When people had to slip back into their normal jobs, they found it very difficult - it wasn’t easy.
‘Bonkers’ Experiences Travelling Ireland & The UK After Big Brother Win
I went to Ireland, to Scotland and Wales. When we first came out of the house, we did a Big Brother book tour, it was mayhem in Liverpool, I had about 6 bodyguards, and the front pages of the Liverpool Echo, who said Beatlemania had come back. I think about 4-5k people came. Liverpool FC supplied about 50 stewards to do crowd control. After about 45 minutes they had to take me away because they couldn’t control the crowd, it was getting dangerous! They didn’t have enough staff to handle it.
I remember getting rushed out the back, and went straight to Liverpool airport, rushed over in a helicopter straight over to Ireland. We landed, then had a police escort taking us over. I met with Tom McDermott, we were going to an event at HMV, it was absolutely mad when we got there. There were thousands and thousands of people queuing up.
We went to Scotland after that, and there were thousands of people there too, holding banners, and radio stations were set up to do whole shows. It was so overwhelming, it was bonkers. It was nationwide. I got a fantastic reception, predominantly up north, but then also in Ireland and Scotland. I got asked to be a Chieftain to a town in Scotland, I was honoured, like a Lord Mayor! I can’t even pronounce the place. It was really random and bizarre.
Every day was just something new. Every day a TV show, appearance, charity work, a charity skydive, a Chieftain of a town, it was bonkers. It was amazing, went to many TV awards. We won best Live TV moment at the NTAs, I also won the best pre-recorded TV moment of the year, when I was confronting Nasty Nick, little did I know that would happen.
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