The original cast of Big Brother UK are living totally different lives now, 25 years later.
The original housemates entered the social experiment dubbed “volunteers”, not contestants, with the aim of winning a £70,000 cash prize.
Host Davina McCall launched the groundbreaking reality TV series on Channel 4 on Tuesday, 18 July, back in 2000. Ten strangers, carefully selected by producers, entered the house for up to ten weeks to spend their summer cooped up together with a hot tub and chickens, while being filmed 24 hours a day.
Big Brother was a reality show created in the Netherlands. Originally billed as a psychological experiment, it saw a group of strangers living in a house together, completely cut off from the outside world and watched by cameras 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The housemates nominated each other to face the public vote, with one evicted every week until finally a winner was chosen to receive a cash prize. The housemates were also given tasks to complete in return for food and luxury items.
Big Brother moved to Channel 5 in 2011 after 12 series had aired. It came to an end in 2018 after eight more series. Davina McCall and Rylan presented a nostalgic highlights documentary, Big Brother: Best Shows Ever Show, in 2020 to mark Big Brother’s 20th anniversary. Then, in 2023, ITV decided to bring back the ultimate fly-on-the-wall game show. There have also been 24 series of Celebrity Big Brother over the past 24 years.
Nowadays, Big Brother is more about finding fame than human interaction. So what happened to the first 11 housemates from 25 years ago?
Craig Phillips
Craig Phillips now has his own DIY YouTube Channel. (Getty Images)
Scouse handyman Craig Phillips won over viewers for being such a nice guy, as well as being one of the housemates who confronted cheating Nasty Nick (more on him later).
After winning the show, Phillips revealed he was giving all of his £70,000 prize money to his friend Joanne Harris, who had Down syndrome, to pay for her heart and lung transplant. Phillips went on to feature in comedy show Bo’ Selecta! and Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, as well as making various appearances as a TV DIY expert.
Now aged 53, Phillips is married with two children, and he and his wife Laura have their own YouTube channel, Mr and Mrs DIY TV.
‘Nasty’ Nick Bateman
Nick Bateman now owns a diving school business based in South Africa. (Getty Images)
Nick Bateman entered the Big Brother house a stock broker. He became an infamous TV villain when he tried to influence his housemates and their nominations for eviction. A remote-controlled aeroplane was even flown over the garden, dropping leaflets to warn the other housemates about ‘Nasty Nick’s dastardly deeds’. But they were cleared away before any of the housemates woke up.
Bateman was booted out of the house by producers on Day 35 for breaking the rules by trying to influence votes, as well as being in possession of a pen and paper.
Bateman, now 57, went on to enjoy a pantomime career, publish a book entitled How To Be A Right B*****d and work as a TV presenter. He returned to the house in Ultimate Big Brother, the final series to air on Channel 4 in 2010.
Originally from Kent, he moved to Australia in 2013.
Anna Nolan
Anna Nolan is the host of The Great Irish Bake Off. (PA/Alamy)
Anna Nolan left the Big Brother house as the show’s first runner-up. As a lesbian former nun, it was obvious why producers had selected her to be one of the contestants, and her friendly, laid-back nature and sense of humour made her popular with viewers and her fellow housemates.
Irish contestant Nolan quickly became the most successful housemate of the first series in terms of an entertainment career. She has presented numerous shows in Ireland and has now even moved into TV production.
The 54-year-old presenter is the host of The Great Irish Bake Off. And Nolan is still pals with BB host Davina McCall.
Darren Ramsey
Big Brother series one housemate Darren Ramsey talked to the chickens. (Getty Images)
During his time on the show, second runner-up Darren Ramsey was memorable for his naivety, as well as naming and talking to the chickens kept in the house to provide eggs for the housemates. When he left the house, Ramsey did some minor TV work – including an appearance on The Weakest Link – before stepping away from the limelight.
The 48-year-old from South London now lives a more private life and last year became a grandfather.
Melanie Hill
Melanie Hill now has a vintage clothing business. (Getty Images)
Melanie Hill was part of the first-ever Big Brother romance, engaging in a flirtatious dalliance with Tom McDermott, leaving that image of his excitement after their exchange in the hot tub burned into the minds of many BB fans. She also kissed housemate Andrew Davidson during his time in the house.
But the 51-year-old from North London soon regretted being a part of the show at all. After leaving the house, Hill became a journalist for The Guardian and presented the E4 show Chained. In 2002, she wrote an open letter titled “How Big Brother Destroyed My Life” for The Evening Standard, criticising the media’s portrayal of her for flirting on the show. She warned women against auditioning for Big Brother.
Hill now has four children and runs her own business selling vintage clothes.
Tom McDermott
Tom McDermott. (Getty Images)
Tom McDermott was a Northern Irish farmer and computer engineer when he signed up for the show. After his initial romance with Hill, he fell for late arrival Claire Strutton and they quickly began a romance of their own.
The couple married and had a son, Pierce, together in 2001. They moved to Spain and ran a property website together.
Since they split in 2004, McDermott, 56, moved back to the UK and runs a property business in Cornwall.
Claire Strutton
Claire Strutton married housemate Tom McDermott. (PA/Alamy)
Claire Strutton was a late arrival to the Big Brother house on Day 37 after Nasty Nick was evicted. She quickly won the heart of Tom McDermott. They married after the show ended and had a child together.
Claire Strutton June 2001 and her boyfriend Tom Mcdermott both former contestants in the TV programme Big Brother
Strutton, 50, split from McDermott in 2004, and she has remarried. She and her second husband, Ian Radford, own a luxury beach resort in Marbella, La Sala Beach, as well as a chain of nightclubs in Gibraltar and Essex.
Nichola Holt
Nichola Holt has begun attending Alcoholics Anonymous after suffering severe liver damage. (Getty Images)
Nichola Holt had a reputation for being a party animal during her time in the house. Following the first series, she and housemate Caroline O’Shea were pictured literally falling out of nightclubs together in the tabloids. Holt released a dance track entitled It’s Just The Game, named after her catchphrase in the house. It reached number 72 in the UK charts.
Holt went on to marry a personal trainer in a beach ceremony in Mexico wearing a swimsuit and a sarong. But she and her husband split after 18 months.
Holt, now 53, lives in Bolton with her daughter Ava and pet dogs.
In April this year, she shared she had suffered severe liver damage from alcohol abuse and had become sober after joining Alcoholics Anonymous.
Caroline O’Shea
Brummie Caroline O’Shea is still pursuing a career as an actor. (Getty Images)
Brummie sex toy salesperson Caroline O’Shea was the eldest Big Brother contestant in the first series at 37. Her big personality led to some clashes in the house, and she was the third to be evicted, after four weeks.
O’Shea, 62, has made a few TV appearances since BB1, including in The Only Way Is Essex, The Weakest Link and Ultimate Big Brother in 2010.
She has a profile on a casting website.
Sada Walkington
Sada Walkington is a yoga instructor. (PA/Alamy)
Sada Walkington entered the house in 2000 as a public school-educated self-help writer who loved travelling and dreamed of becoming a yoga teacher.
The now 53-year-old, from Edinburgh, was the first-ever Big Brother housemate to be evicted, leaving after just two weeks, and later said she was unhappy that she had been portrayed as a ‘dippy hippy’ stereotype on the show.
Walkington is now living in South America and in 2005 welcomed twin boys with her Argentine musician husband. She is a yoga teacher, so her dreams came true.
Andrew Davidson
Andrew Davidson is a brand consultant. (Getty Images)
Andrew Davidson from Hemel Hempstead quickly left his Big Brother past behind him. The 48-year-old is a brand consultant who has worked for MTV and has now founded his own consumer research company.
Big Brother series 22 is due to air on ITV1 and ITVX in the autumn.