Up Next
The anticipation is finally over – a Celebrity Big Brother champion is about to be decided after days of bickering, unexpected evictions and and plenty of crying.
An ex X Factor judge Louis Walsh is still in the final, after entering the house second with his old friend Sharon Osbourne.
Bradley Riches was the latest evictee, following Gary Goldsmith and Ekin-Su Culculoglu out the door, and leaving Strictly’s Nikita Kuzmin, David Potts, Colson Smith and This Morning legend Fern Britton..
The final five will hope to replicate the success of Katie Price, Rylan Clark, and James Hill who all emerged victorious in Celebrity Big Brother during its first run.
And almost a decade later, The Apprentice star James is revealing what it was really like.
After seven years off-air, ITV confirmed in November that the celebrity spin-off will be returning on its flagship channel ITV1, after the success of the civilian series, which was clinched by Jordan Sangha..
And while it gave us plenty of memorable moments, from ‘David’s Dead’ to George Galloway pretending to be a cat, there’s also a lot that viewers haven’t seen.
‘You can hear the producers walking around the walls’
It’s common knowledge the housemates never get to see the production team or have contact with the outside world, but at points, the camera crew could be heard around the house walls.
James, who won Celebrity Big Brother in 2015, told Metro.co.uk: ‘You speak to Big Brother, but you don’t get to speak to production teams, but they were very good because you had regular checks with the psychologist or if something happened and they thought you were upset. They were always there if you needed them.’
‘You hear [the production team] walking around the walls and hovering,’ he went on to say, recalling how cameras would always catch the drama or ‘if anyone jumps in your bed’ at night.
It was only on the day of the final that James saw anyone other than his housemates, when he had his hair and makeup done by professionals. ‘It was really weird,’ he recalled.
‘They locked us in our rooms’
Reality TV star Jess Impiazzi appeared on Celebrity Big Brother in 2018, alongside the likes of Ann Widdecombe and winner Courtney Act, in the season known as Year of the Woman.
The model made it to the final and finished in fourth place, and has now revealed the house secrets – including being locked in their bedrooms and secretly being told off with Big Brother warnings.
While it’s fairly common knowledge the housemates are confined to limited spaces in the house and garden, at times they were also locked in the bedroom and heard ‘the doors bolt’.
Jess explained that Big Brother would inform the housemates to go into their bedrooms so the rest of the house could be cleaned.
She said: ‘A lot of the time [it was] at night-time, and you’d see the lights change and the doors bolt.’
Because she was stuck in a small space, Jess couldn't even think about anywhere else. She explained, 'We couldn't dream outside the house… so all my dreams started being like we were getting attacked in the building, it was just really weird dreams, like my brain couldn't see outside of the house after a while.'
‘I got in trouble for meditating in the bathroom’
And when Jess wanted some privacy, she got told off.
Talking to Metro.co.uk, she continued to say that while Big Brother showed the tasks and conversations, parts that weren't shown were just the housemates relaxing in the sauna.
She said: 'I did try and meditate one day and I sat in the bathroom and they were like, “Jess, you’re reminded you’re not allowed to sleep during the day,” [but] I’m not sleeping!
‘So they didn’t like you to go off on your own too much, but I’m the kind of person that around people I love it but then I have to energise by being on my own again and I can come back. So that can be a bit draining.’
‘It’s actually so dull’
There was little else to do aside from meditate and try to pass the time, Jess admitted.
Despite feeling nervous at first, Jess said she did have ‘a really good time’ in the house but it became boring.
Jess continued: ‘There’s boring bits in there of course because you know, you only see an hour of the whole 24 hours in there.
‘But I had such a good time and I met the most amazing people, I was in Year of the Woman so it wasn’t like confrontations or people losing it for headlines. I can’t bear that, I just can’t deal with confrontation or pointless arguments.’
James expressed the same feeling, saying there’s ‘not a lot to do’ in the house.
He told us: ‘You see the good bits of when the production team are making content and making things happen, but 90% of the time they’re not doing much.’
‘We had nothing to do – not even books or pens’
She went on to say that without phones, books, pens or anything else to do, all the housemates could do was chat.
‘In between tasks and in between certain other bits you can get a little bit bored but eventually you start making your routine,’ she said.
‘So I would do my breakfast, I’d run around the garden, and then once you start to build that and get a bit of a routine, it’s a bit easier.
‘But as you can imagine with 24 hours being filmed and only one making it into the show in the evening, it is a bit of a like, “What now?” and you’re in the same compound like a little mouse.’
‘Big Brother didn’t really speak to us – and we never, ever spoke to producers’
While viewers see Big Brother reminding the housemates not to fall asleep and introducing the tasks, Jess shared that the infamous voice didn’t really speak to the housemates otherwise, and they never ever saw producers.
Sometimes though, she’d be given little warnings after stealing items from the house.
She stated that people don't talk to her much, and they only call her to the Diary Room when she has done something wrong, like stealing a pen or hiding a key she found.
However, Jess confessed that she felt it was similar to 'Stockholm syndrome' because the housemates were eager to be given tasks.
She always says it felt like Stockholm syndrome. As soon as she hears the voice, she is excited to have something to do.
She explained that there is very little interaction with other people, no producers or anyone else to be seen, and even the set changes are not visible because the contestants are locked in their rooms.
Not knowing the time was terrible, but they almost managed to find a secret clock.
Similar to reality shows like The Traitors and Love Island, the contestants are not allowed to know the time, which Jess found 'horrible', especially because her season was filmed during winter when the days got darker earlier.
She remembered that one of them saw a small clock on the oven in the first few days, but it was taken away after they were heard whispering about it.
She continued, saying that it was tough not being able to tell the time and being on Big Brother's schedule for sleeping and waking up.
She had to ignore it because not knowing the time could drive you crazy. However, there were lights out and lights on, so they had to judge by that.
She said you're cut off from the outside world even before entering the house.
James explained that entering the house was surreal, but the moments leading up to the launch were quite different.
He described being parked outside in a car with earphones on, escorted to the doors with no idea of what to expect.
He also mentioned that everything happened very quickly, from meeting Emma to being interviewed, and suddenly the doors closing behind him and the silence.
She emphasized that Big Brother never intervened, contrary to what people may think.
Jess was surprised to find that Big Brother never interfered to encourage 'cattiness', despite seeing a lot of drama in other seasons.
She remembered the 'important conversations' during the Year of the Woman, after being tired of seeing people screaming at each other for no reason other than making headlines.
She added that she was worried that they were trying to promote cattiness, but they didn't, and it was a pleasant surprise for her to have such meaningful conversations without the unnecessary drama often seen in those shows.
She expressed that leaving the house was not as glamorous as people might think, and she felt very scared and vulnerable.
Even though the Big Brother house is not very glamorous, life outside and the afterparty seem to be.
But Jess has explained that this idea is not true, she said that on the first night after the final, she slept on the floor with a towel.
She said: ‘So my mum and my niece’s mum were outside waiting for me. I was really scared to come out.
‘It was a bit overwhelming when the doors opened because you had become so accustomed to being in your own environment. I was a bit in shock coming out.
‘And then my mum and my niece’s mum were supposed to stay at another hotel, but I didn’t want them to leave me so I had them with me, but they got drunk at the after party. I didn’t. So they had to head to bed and pass out and I stayed on the floor with a towel, freezing.
‘And then I didn’t actually go to sleep because I just like sat there like breathing. That was not the glamorous part.
‘Everyone else had a big party, I didn’t drink so I just sat them laying on the floor or the towel, that was my out party.’
When asked what it felt like to be on the outside again, Jess added that it was ‘overwhelming’ and ‘scary’ to have not known what was going on in the world for a month.
‘You forget that a lot of people been watching you for a very long time, for a month and you don’t know if people are going to like you or hate you. You don’t. So you feel a bit vulnerable when you’re going out.’
‘The house becomes your comfort zone – coming out was overwhelming’
James also recalled coming out of the house, but described it as ‘daunting’ and ‘overwhelming’.
He said: ‘After four weeks in the house, coming out was overwhelming because you’ve been confined to three or four rooms, surrounded by people in there [and] they become your comfort zone so then going back out into the public is quite weird.
‘Because you’re not watching it so you don’t know what they think about you. It can be quite daunting like, “What are they going to think about me?”‘
Speaking about his experience, he added: ‘It humbled me a lot, I’m very grateful for it.’
Jess Impiazzi was speaking to Metro on behalf of Heart Bingo
James Hill was speaking to Metro on behalf of BetVictor Casino
Celebrity Big Brother 2024 starts on Monday, March 4 at 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
