It may be 14 years since Big Brother 7 hit our screens (where HAS the time gone?) but we’re just obsessed with the housemates as we were back then. The iconic series propelled the likes of Glyn Wise, Imogen Thomas and Aisleyne Horgan-Wallace to fame and spawned one of the first ever reality TV couples – Pete Bennett and Nikki Grahame.
Their romance, which came to an end just one month after they left the Big Brother house, may have been short-lived but they became one of our fave celeb couples of all time.
So much so, that we still often wonder why their relationship came to an end. Well, luckily for us, Pete has now revealed the real reason he and Nikki split.
Nikki became a BB legend for her Diary Room meltdowns and tantrums so it doesn’t come as much of a surprise that her diva behaviour continued on the outside world and it sounds like it became a bit too much for Pete.
“We could not have stayed together,” Pete told heat magazine. “Without Big Brother to tell her off she was another level.”
It doesn’t sound like there’s any bad blood between the exes though, although Pete admitted they “haven’t spoken for years”.
CHECK OUT Big Brother winners - where are they now?
Big Brother winners where are they now? Swipe and see
1 of 36THEN: Craig Phillips
Scouser Craig was the first person to win Big Brother way back in 2000.
2 of 36NOW: Craig Phillips
After giving his £70,00 prize money to charity, Craig went on to put his building skills to use and appeared a number of TV shows such as 60 minute makeover and Craig's Trade Tips.In 2011 he hosted a show called Celebrity DIY with Craig Phillips for Home and he also became an ambassador for Ryobi, a hardware manufacturing company.In June 2020, Craig announced his wife was expecting the couple's second child.
3 of 36THEN: Brian Dowling
Irishman Brian was crowned the winner of Big Brother 2 in 2001, beating the likes of Helen Adams and Paul Clarke.
4 of 36NOW: Brian Dowling
The show acted as a platform for Brian who has since went on to have an amazing career in TV. Not only did he return to the show in 2010 to win Ultimate Big Brother, Brian later hosted the show for two series, taking over from Davina McCall. He has since gone on to become a well known TV personality, presenting shows like Sitting on a Fortune and The Real Housewives of Cheshire.
5 of 36THEN: Kate Lawler
Kate was the first female to win the show when she won Big Brother 3 in 2002.
6 of 36NOW: Kate Lawler
Kate went on to present a number of TV and Radio shows and even appeared on Celebrity Love Island in 2006.
7 of 36THEN: Cameron Stout
Cameron won Big Brother in 2003 after receiving over 1.9 million votes. During his time in the Big Brother house Cameron was involved in a swap with the Big Brother Africa house. He swapped places with Big Brother Africa housemate Gaetano Kagwa.
8 of 36NOW: Cameron Stout
After the show finished, former fish trader Cameron went on to star in a number of pantomimes, as well as landing himself a job with a newspaper. He has since stayed out of the public eye.
9 of 36THEN: Nadia Almada
Nadia stole the nation's hearts when she won the show in 2004, becoming the first transgender winner of Big Brother.
10 of 36NOW: Nadia Almada
As well as the show's former presenter Davina McCall, many BB fans have called Nadia their 'favourite ever winner', despite her causing drama when she returned for Ultimate Big Brother in 2010. After winning Big Brother, Nadia released a single, appeared on TV shows and even brought out her own fitness DVD.
11 of 36THEN: Anthony Hutton
Geordie boy Anthony was a VERY popular winner in 2005, receiving 57.2% of the vote.
12 of 36NOW: Anthony Hutton
After the show, Anthony enjoyed a number of years of fame, appearing on TV shows and living the showbiz lifestyle. However, the Newcastle-born star now lives a normal life as hairdresser.
13 of 36THEN: Pete Bennett
Pete was the firm favourite throughout Big Brother in 2006 and eventually won with 61.2% of the final vote.
14 of 36NOW: Pete Bennett
Pete enjoyed a romance with Nikki Grahame in the BB house, but their romance faded out after just six months. Pete appeared on The Jeremy Kyle Show in 2010, where he revealed he is homeless. Since then, Pete has turned his life around and in 2016 set up a cleaning business called Celebriclean.
15 of 36THEN: Brian Belo
Essex boy Brian Belo was the winner of Big Brother 8 in 2007.
16 of 36NOW: Brian Belo
Brian enjoyed major success after his stint on the show, landing himself a job on various TV shows. He also returned to the infamous house in 2015 as part of the Time Warp twist.
17 of 36THEN: Rachel Rice
School teacher Rachel won the show in 2008.
18 of 36NOW: Rachel Rice
After her successful stint on Big Brother, Rachel returned to teaching and is now a fully qualified teacher at Abersychan Comprehensive School in Wales.
19 of 36THEN: Sophie Reade
Despite being made to change her name to 'DogFace' as part of a task, Sophie won the show in 2009, winning the prize fund of £71,320.
20 of 36NOW: Sophie Reade
Since then, Sophie has continued with her modelling career, appearing in a number of different publications including Playboy.
21 of 36THEN: Josie Gibson
Josie won Big Brother in 2010 and later appeared on Ultimate Big Brother later in the year.
22 of 36NOW: Josie Gibson
Despite splitting from fellow contestant John James Parton, Josie went on to have a mega successful career, landing herself fitness DVDs, TV presenting gigs and her very own TV show. In 2019, Josie welcomed her first child, a baby boy called Reggie-James.
23 of 36THEN: Luke Anderson
Luke won the 13th series of Big Brother in 2012.
24 of 36NOW: Luke Anderson
After winning the show, Luke quit showbiz and is now a head chef at a hotel.
25 of 36THEN: Sam Evans
Welsh boy Sam won Big Brother 14 in 2013.
26 of 36NOW: Sam Evans
After his victory, Sam, who was born with 70-80% hearing loss, announced that he intended to return to work in Debenhams.
27 of 36THEN: Helen Wood
Perhaps one of the most surprising victories in Big Brother history, but in 2014, Helen Wood was crowned the winner of Big Brother.
28 of 36NOW: Helen Wood
With her loud personality, Helen has since appeared on a number of TV shows and most recently was involved in a debate on Good Morning Britain.
29 of 36THEN: Chloe Wilburn
Chloe won Big Brother in 2015.
30 of 36NOW: Chloe Wilburn
After winning the show, Chloe decided to return to normal life. She is now married and has a son.
31 of 36THEN: Jason Burill
Despite threatening to leave the house on numerous occasions, Jason won the 17th series of Big Brother in 2016.
32 of 36NOW: Jason Burill
Since then, Jason has focused his attention on property developing and according to reports, he's set to have '£20 million in the bank in the next 10 months'.
33 of 36THEN: Isabelle Warburton
Isabelle was crowned winner of Big Brother in 2017.
34 of 36NOW: Isabelle Warburton
Isabelle now has over 90k followers on Instagram, making money from promotional deals on social media.
35 of 36THEN: Cameron Cole
Cameron became the last ever Big Brother winner in 2018 and he was only 18 at the time.
36 of 36NOW: Cameron Cole
Cameron now has over almost 30k Instagram followers and has launched his own content platform.
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“We used to speak, but not anymore, hardly at all. She was going to come to Bristol when I was living there, but that kind of f--ked up,” he continued.
“It’s always nice to see her. I used to see her all the time, but I think when she went back on Big Brother [she appeared on Ultimate Big Brother in 2010] and became famous again, we kind of drifted apart. I don’t know why, it just happened.”
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Speaking about their whirlwind relationship, he added, “The memories have kind of merged into one, and I can’t tell what is a memory and what is something I’ve watched on telly.”
Since winning Big Brother, Pete has turned his hand to acting and recently released his own sitcom Green Fingers on Amazon Prime after starring in a number of films.
“I’ve got more films in the pipeline, and I’ve got a part in Catherine Tate’s film This Nan’s Life, which should hopefully be released in the cinema later this year. I can’t wait to walk down the red carpet,” Pete added.