Showbiz 5: Alex Reid on CBB

A special Showbiz 5 brings five quotes from Alex Reid on the recent Celebrity Big Brother series…

Alex Reid, the 2010 winner of CBB, sat down with Sky Bingo in an exclusive interview to discuss his views on the contestants and how he thought the final, which saw David from Ibiza Weekender, win the show.

In five moments of reflection, Alex ponders Sinitta’s chat with Louis, what winning meant to him and the idea of an ‘All Stars’ series…

Bradley showed such gravitas, charm and sophistication in how he handled his eviction, so in that respect, he won

“Yeah, it was harsh [Bradley’s eviction], but that’s Big Brother. It was dramatic, but it’s the penultimate day, so you’ve got to kind of expect that stuff will go down. He handled it brilliantly though, he was fantastic. He was so lovely, and it’s melted people’s hearts and I thought, well, I was wrong about him, but I didn’t really know him enough. A few weeks isn’t enough to really understand someone, but he showed such gravitas, charm, and sophistication in how he responded. I’m sure he was disappointed, but you didn’t see that. Gratitude is the number one thing that makes people attractive, and it made him extremely attractive. I’ll probably remember this over the other stuff that’s been going on because of how he handled it, so in that respect, he won.”

Even if you are putting on an act, the viewers can see right through it

“At first I thought the addition of the rendezvous was a bit cliché as they are all going to be out in a day. But, it worked really really well. You don’t want to do a rendezvous in the second week because you’ve [the contestants] have only been in there a week, so you’re not going to get all the ‘I miss you so much’ as it’s only been a week. It was nice for the viewers to see. 

“As much as I joke about it being nice to get away, I would still miss my loved ones, especially my missus and I’d love to see her, it would be nice. It was heartwarming to see that. I think as humans that’s why we love Big Brother, because you get to see these emotions live as they happen and you can’t hide them. Even if you are putting on an act, the viewers can see right through it. That’s why Big Brother is so entertaining and captivating, you’re seeing real life emotions, all the time.”

 Sinitta was unfair telling Louis to be nice

“I think who is going to win will be very dependent on who is watching. With a younger audience, I think Nikita has a chance [of winning], because he’s going to have an audience from Strictly Come Dancing and he’s young, fit and sexy. He’s amenable and pleasant. But there’s a strong possibility that Louis could win because I don’t think he’s evil or nasty. I think it was a bit unfair of Sinitta to come in last night and tell him to be nice, with the greatest of respects. You know, you’re sort of reminding the audience that he hasn’t been nice. I’m actually going to vote for Fern and my heart wants her to win because she’s ever so nice, but that’s not to say I think she will. She’s had a hard rap and I really want her to do well.” 

People still stop me in the street to talk about Big Brother 

“When I started, I never wanted to do it because I didn’t want to just be a flash in the pan celeb. But I got so much out of it because it opened up so many doors in so many respects and people saw the real me and they gave me an opportunity to show who I was really rather than what the media portrayed me as. It was good for my soul. But also if you have a campaign on, then it’s brilliant. Celebs, politicians, athletes, they’re going on these shows to garner votes and stuff but ultimately they have to be a nice person with something worthy to say.

“I’m so grateful that the public voted for me and realised I was a good guy. Forget about any financial and social benefits, that acceptance made me feel emotionally fulfilled. To this day, I get stopped in the street and people say nice things to me about Big Brother. It was one of the proudest moments of my life, apart from the birth of my children.” 

I want an All Stars series but I would diet before!

“If they had an All Stars version, I would definitely go back in [to the Big Brother house]. They did that straight after my show 14 years ago now. It’s good for publicity but more than anything it’s a great experience and it’s actually really enjoyable. I weirdly found it one of the most peaceful places in the world because my life was chaos at the time. I was literally in every single paper all the time and wherever I went, people were snapping cameras or trying to sell stories.

“It wasn’t nice, I didn’t like it and I wasn’t used to it. There were so many salacious headlines and sensational stories. [In the house] all I had was communion with wonderful, interesting people. Obviously, there’s lots of cameras all over the place but after a while you kind of forget about that. Although, I was a lot fitter and sexier back then so if I did it again I would definitely go on a diet and go to the gym intensely for a month beforehand. They were always trying to get me naked.”

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