The extreme measures Big Brother bosses put in place to keep the identity of housemates a secret have been unveiled by a former contestant, who went on to win the show.
Glamour model Sophie Reade, who won the tenth series of the Channel 4 show in 2009, has opened up to Daily Star Online about her days in hiding before being let loose inside the famous house.
The blonde bombshell, who was 20 when she appeared on Big Brother, explained: “You go into hiding a few weeks before you go in the house so in total I was away for about 15 weeks.
“I had to go and meet someone at Euston Station and they took my phone off me right there and then, so I had no contact with my family.
“I couldn’t watch television or listen to the radio when I was in hiding.”
Sophie Reade has lifted the lid on her days leading up to entering the Big Brother house
In a bid to keep her identity on the down low ahead of the show launch, Sophie was taken across the boarder by two chaperones.
Sophie, now 31, revealed: “We went to France on the Eurostar and just stayed inside a hotel.
“We went into town the second week I was there. We went to a nightclub but we drew lots of a attention to ourselves so we had to leave.”
Despite being miles away from home and isolated from her her loved ones, Sophie wasn’t even sure she was going to be on the show at this point.
The blonde bombshell was voted the winner of the tenth series of Big Brother in 2009 (Image: PA)
“You don’t even know if you are going into the house, even in hiding,” said Sophie, who welcomed her first child into the world in 2007.
“They pick a couple of people who are similar and they decide which one goes in.
“I got a phone call a few days before the launch show to say they wanted me to be a housemate so I has to stay in France a few days longer.”
“The housemates didn’t meet until launch night on the live show.”
The BB beauty now enjoys a career as a glamour model (Image: INSTAGRAM)
Sophie went on to win Big Brother with a whooping 74 per cent of the public vote.
Speaking about her experience living in the Big Brother bungalow, Sophie said: “I thought it was going to be good fun but you forget that at home you only watch an hour out of the whole day.
“Sometimes it was boring as we didn’t have tasks and I did miss my family.”
“I never went to university so I thought I would enjoy myself and meet people I wouldn’t see in my everyday life.”
Big Brother fans have been reliving some of the show’s iconic moments with Davina McCall and Rylan Clark-Neal as part of a special E4 series.
The brand-new programme, which marks Big Brother’s 20th anniversary, will look back at 10 memorable moments from the show’s archives over the next two weeks.
Big Brother Best Shows Ever airs Sunday to Thursday on E4 at 9pm
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
