List of Big Brother 1 housemates (UK)

The first series of the British reality television series Big Brother featured a total of eleven housemates.^[1][2] Ten of the housemates entered the House on the first night; one housemate entered later on in the series. The series saw the housemates voting for two of their own to face eviction each week, and the two or more housemates who received the most votes would be nominated for eviction.^[3] The public then votes to evict one of the housemates, and the housemate with the most votes is evicted from the House.^[4] When only three housemates remained, the public voted for which of them should win the series.^[5] The winning housemate would win a £70,000 cash prize.

Andrew

Andrew "Andy" Davidson (born 24 July 1976) was a 23-year-old marketing product manager from London.^[6] Andy is the brother of Formula One racing driver and BBC Radio 5 commentator Anthony Davidson.^[7] Andrew was born in Hemel Hempstead, and had attended the University of Sussex.^[8] Prior to entering the House, Andrew admitted to appeared in a live sex show and sleeping with a married man and woman for his 21st birthday.^[9] He described himself as being "down to earth", "popular", and a "womanizer".^[8] While in the House, Andrew had a close friendship with Nick, and had a romantic relationship with Melanie.^[10] Andrew and Melanie shared their first kiss in the House the day prior to his eviction.^[11] In the third week, Andrew was nominated for eviction against Caroline; he was ultimately evicted on Day 22.^[12] Following his appearance on the series, Andrew went on to host the Channel 5 series Exclusive.^[13] He later released a single titled "Randy Rap", though it failed to make an impact.^[14]

Anna

Anna Nolan (born 16 October 1970)^[15] Anna had previously played basketball as well.^[16] was a 29-year-old office manager from Dublin.^[17] Anna was openly gay during her time in the House, making her the first LGBT housemate to appear on the show.^[18] She had previously been in training to become a nun, though later decided against it.^[15] Anna proved to be popular with the public early on in the series, and was predicted to be the winner from the first night forward by bookmakers.^[19][20] She was well liked inside the House as well, and was only once nominated for eviction. Anna admitted to wanting to walk from the game at several points.^[21] On the final day, Anna was crowned the runner-up of the series, losing to Craig by only 2%.^[2] Since appearing on the series, Anna has gone on to have a successful career in both writing and television work.^[13][22] She was later revealed to be in a long-term relationship with director Dearbhla Walsh.^[23] Anna admitted that she often denied having appeared on the series when recognized by fans.^[24] Anna made a brief appearance in Ultimate Big Brother (2010) to participate in a task.^[25]

Caroline

Caroline O'Shea (born 1 April 1963) was a 37-year-old who was unemployed from Birmingham.^[26] Prior to entering the House, Caroline had worked as a mortgage consultant, telephonist, cleaner in a gay bar, and sold sex toys.^[27] While in the House, Caroline was often referred to as "Caggy" by her fellow housemates.^[28] She became known for her distinct laugh, which annoyed her fellow housemates.^[29][30] Caroline had close friendships with Sada and Nichola in the House, and often clashed with Craig or Melanie. Caroline was nominated for eviction in every week she was in the House.^[18] She survived the public vote against Sada and then Andrew, but was evicted over Tom on Day 29.^[31][32] Following her appearance on the series, Caroline attempted to launch a career in the music industry, though ultimately failed to gain a record label.^[13] She reportedly entered a depression following the series, though has since recovered.^[27] Caroline later made a brief appearance in Ultimate Big Brother (2010) to participate in a task.^[33]

Claire

Claire Strutton (born 15 September 1974) was a 25-year-old who ran her mother's florist shop from Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire.^[34] Prior to entering the House, Claire had a breast augmentation. Claire was the only housemate this series to not enter the House on the first night, instead entering on Day 37 as a replacement for Nick, who had been ejected for cheating earlier that day.^[35] Claire was selected from among twenty potential candidates to replace Nick, and producers later admitted they hoped Claire's presence would lead to a rivalry in the House amongst her and Melanie.^[36] While in the House, Claire quickly formed a close friendship and flirtatious relationship with Craig.^[37] Claire was immune from the fifth round of nominations, as it was her first full week in the House.^[38] Claire was evicted on Day 50, after being nominated against Craig.^[39] Following the series, Claire and fellow housemate Tom began a romantic relationship and had a son together;^[13] the couple later moved to Spain together, though subsequently split up.^[40]

Craig

Craig Phillips (born 16 October 1971) was a 28-year-old builder and manager from Liverpool.^[41] Craig lost his father at the age of thirteen due to a car accident.^[42] While in the House, Craig clashed with housemates such as Caroline and Melanie. Craig was the one who confronted Nick over the cheating controversy, which is considered a major turning point in the series. Craig had a flirtatious relationship with housemate Claire, who entered the House following Nick's ejection.^[37] Craig was nominated four consecutive times in the House, though survived each of the evictions.^[39][43] On the final day, it was revealed that Craig was the winner of the series having received 51% of the public vote.^[44] Following his win, Craig donated the £70,000 prize to his Joanne Harris, who had down syndrome and required surgery.^[45] Joanne later died in 2008.^[46][47] Craig went on to make numerous television appearances, and is noted as being one of the wealthiest former housemates with earnings of an estimated £15 million.^[48] Craig participated in tasks during both Big Brother 10 (2009)^[49] and Ultimate Big Brother (2010).^[50][51] and Big Brother: Timebomb, Timewarp week (2015)

Darren

Darren Ramsay (born 7 July 1977) was a 23-year-old meeter and greeter at Millennium Dome from Catford, London.^[52] Darren was the only parent to appear on this series, having three children with his ex-girlfriend.^[53] He attended Lewisham College, and described himself as a "flirt" and "ladies man".^[54] Darren initially had a phobia of chickens upon entering the House, though later overcame this and befriended a chicken referred to as Marjorie.^[18] During the sixth round of nominations, Darren's decision was overheard by his fellow housemates, and was allowed to change his nominations; this upset numerous housemates, with Anna referring to him as a "coward".^[43][55] Darren got along with most of his housemates, though did clash with Nichola. Darren survived two evictions during his time in the House.^[56] On the final day, it was revealed that Darren had come in third place.^[2] Following his appearance on the series, Darren reportedly entered a depression for a year.^[54] He later made small appearances on reality television shows, and attempted to become a flight attendant.^[57]

Melanie

Melanie Hill (born 18 January 1974) was a 26-year-old computer system salesperson from North London.^[58] Prior to entering the House, Melanie earned a degree in psychology and cognitive science from Sussex University.^[59] Melanie, along with Anna and Darren, was an early pick to win the series by bookmakers.^[60] Melanie formed close bonds with many of the men in the House, though did not get along with several of the women.^[61] Her decision to nominate a woman in the first week led to tension between her and Caroline.^[61] Melanie had a romantic relationship with Andrew in the House, and the two shared their first kiss on Day 21, the day before his eviction.^[10] Following Andrew's eviction, Melanie began to form a closer bond with Tom, which later developed into a romantic relationship.^[18] Melanie had a close friendship with Nick in the House, though later turned on him when it was revealed that he had attempted to manipulate the nominations.^[59] Melanie was evicted on Day 57, one week away from the final.^[56] Despite her early popularity, Melanie later became disliked by the public and received over two million votes to evict her; this was the highest amount of votes any housemate received this series.^[62] Since appearing on the series, Melanie has hosted the Channel 4 series Chained and done work in journalism.^[13] She later dated Alex Sibley, who appeared on the third series.^[63] Melanie was a cast member on the spin-off series Big Brother Panto (2004).^[64]

Nichola

Nichola Holt (born 12 August 1971) was a 28-year-old art teacher from Bolton, Lancashire.^[65] Nichola, the daughter of a religious sect, left home at the age of seventeen and gained an interest in both Buddhism and Spiritualism.^[66] While in the House, Nichola had close bonds with the other women, excluding Melanie. Nichola later revealed that she was bi-sexual.^[67] She was nominated in the fifth week, and was later evicted on Day 36.^[68] Nichola was later criticized by her family for her appearance on the series.^[69] Following her appearance, Nichola went on to have a relationship with housemate Sada, though the two eventually split.^[13] She later released a single, "The Game", which had minor success in the UK.^[70] Nichola later began working in the adult film industry.^[71]

Nick

Nicholas "Nick" Bateman (born 3 November 1967) was a 32-year-old broker from Hampshire.^[72] Nick attended the private Gordonstoun School near Elgin in Scotland, and worked in the City of London.^[73] Nick became known for telling his housemates numerous lies in the House, most notably that he had been married and lost his wife in a car accident.^[74] Nick was disliked by the public for his duplicitous and scheming behaviour.^[75] However, he was well liked by his fellow housemates, and never received a nomination during his time in the House. His antics in the House led to the media's labelling him "Nasty Nick".^[76][77] Nick made headlines with controversial comments about homosexuality, rumours of him sneaking a mobile phone into the compound, and later being caught manipulating the nomination process.^[31][78] Following these revelations, Nick was removed from the House on Day 35.^[76] He was offered a 'refuge' for a week, with butler service.^[79] Following his appearance on the series, Nick received much media attention and went on to become a television host, author, and actor in pantomime.^[13] Nick later went on to appear in Big Brother Panto (2004),^[80] and was a housemate in Ultimate Big Brother (2010).^[81][82]

Sada

Sada Walkington (born 10 May 1972) was a 29-year-old writer from South West London.^[83] Before entering the House, Sada earned her Masters degree in art and archaeology, and her dream job was to become a yoga instructor.^[84] She had been working on a book, Babe's Bible, before appearing on the series.^[85] Sada was a vegetarian, and described herself as being bi-curious.^[86] While in the House, Sada had close bonds with all the other women, except Melanie, and was seen as a key figure in the gender division in the early weeks. Sada was nominated against Caroline during the first round of nominations, and ultimately became the first housemate to be evicted from the series.^[87][88] Following her appearance on the series, Sada published Babe's Bible.^[89] She later had a romantic relationship with fellow housemate Nichola, though they eventually split up.^[90] Following their break-up, Sada went to Argentina and studied to become a yoga instructor.^[91]

Tom

Thomas "Tom" McDermott (born 29 May 1969) was a 31-year-old farmer and computer engineer from Omagh, County Tyrone.^[92] Tom stated he hoped to join the series for "self discovery" among other things.^[93] While in the House, Tom had a close friendship with Nick, though was later one of the housemates to confirm that Nick had cheated in the game. Tom had a romantic relationship with Melanie in the House, and the two shared their first kiss when it was revealed Tom had been evicted from the House.^[18] Though Tom survived the eviction vote against Caroline, Tom was later evicted when nominated against Anna, Craig, and Darren.^[94] Following the series, Tom and fellow housemate Claire formed a romantic relationship and had a son together;^[13] the couple later moved to Spain together, though went on to split.^[40]

Sources

• Ritchie, Jean (2000). Big Brother: The Official Unseen Story. ISBN 978-0-7522-1912-7. 

References