Over the years, Cupid’s bow has struck some of the housemates inside the Big Brother house, from Josie Gibson and Aussie hunk John James Parton and Pete Bennett and Nikki Grahame (RIP).
We rooted for a lot of these duos, with only a handful lasting the distance... With the show's 21st series under way, we look back at some of our favourite couples…
Helen Adams and Paul Clarke
Helen Adams and Paul Clarke were the OG couple who found love in the Big Brother house. Love blossomed between the Reading car designer and the ditsy Welsh hairdresser – who finished second – when they took part in the reality show in the second series in 2001. Their initial flirting led to growing attraction by the third week inside the house but they didn’t become a couple until a week after they left the house, because Helen had a boyfriend.
‘We are official,’ Helen told heat at the time. ‘I've never looked into a bloke's eyes before and saw all the lights flashing past.’ Paul added, ‘I can honestly say I've never felt like this about a girl before. There's something here that's a little bit special.’
After five years together, Helen and Paul decided to split, realising they were better off as friends and blamed the pressures of fame on the break-up of their relationship. ‘For the last five years, on a daily basis people have been asking me, "How's Helen? When are you getting married?" and I've never met these people before in my life. It starts to drain you,’ Paul said. ‘The last couple of months have been hell. But deep, deep down we know we're making the right decision. From the day we met, we've never had time apart. We need to find ourselves again.’
Since then, they have lived their lives out of the spotlight. Helen has since got married and has a daughter.
Sophie Pritchard and Lee Davey
The third series saw recruitment consultant Sophie Pritchard and personal trainer Lee Davey get together after spending just eight days in the house in the 2002 series. Sophie entered on the tenth day, while Lee was evicted on day 18, but sparks flew between them during that short stint despite him having a girlfriend outside. They started going out after the show and became the first Big Brother housemates to get married after Lee proposed live on breakfast TV, on Channel 4’s RI
Sophie revealed that she fancied him before she went into the house. ‘I’d got the newspaper and seen who’d gone in and thought, “Oh, he’s quite cute, I like him.” And when I was in I thought, “He’s even cuter in real life. We did flirt, but we didn’t kiss in the house because he had a girlfriend,’ she told heat.
A year after they met, the pair married in Sophie’s hometown of Marlow, Buckinghamshire in August 2003, joined by former BB housemates including Craig Phillips, Alison Hammond and Paul ‘Bubble’ Ferguson. Sophie and Lee welcomed their son Maxwell in 2005, but broke up ten months later.
Michelle Bass and Stuart Wilson
Michelle Bass and ‘Chicken Stu’ - whose real name is Stuart Wilson - became the first couple to have sex on the show. They hit it off immediately on the fifth series of Big Brother in 2004, so much so that they inspired a wedding task. After psychology student Stu claimed he ‘felt weird’ about a fake marriage, contestants Victor Ebuwa and Shell Jubin wed instead. Stu was father of the bride while mortgage adviser Michelle played the role of chorister at the ceremony, performing Pie Jesu.
While they didn’t get fake-married, Michelle and Stu had one of the most talked-about moments of the season when they got together under the dining table den ‘to hear a secret’, covered by a tablecloth. Moans and rustling were later caught on footage. They later confirmed that they’d had sex in the communal kitchen.
Michelle and Stu stayed together for a year after the show, before splitting. ‘We just went our separate ways in the end. It wasn't meant to be,’ she said on The Sun's Back To Reality. Stu unsuccessfully auditioned for James Bourne’s band Son of Dork, while Michelle is a mum of two with hypnotist husband Steve McKeown.
Pete Bennett and Nikki Grahame
Series seven gave us two couples to root for, but it was the whirlwind romance between Pete Bennett and Nikki Grahame which captured viewers. Both bonded in the house over their vulnerabilities: singer Pete – who won the series – was the first housemate to have Tourette’s syndrome while Nikki had overcome anorexia nervosa, and they leaned on each other while they were inside.
They dated for a month after they’d got outside before their relationship fizzled out. ‘Without Big Brother to tell her off she was another level,’ Pete said. ‘I think it could’ve ended nicer but, no, I’ve got no regrets.’
They remained on friendly terms and after Nikki’s death in 2021, Pete posted a tearful tribute to her, saying, ‘We loved you, Nik. You were a true winner. You were great, you were beautiful, you rocked it, mate. Just want to say, we’ll miss you, babe.’
Grace Adams-Short and Mikey Dalton
Dance teacher Grace Adams-Short and property developer Mikey Dalton, also in season seven, are the original BB couple who has found true love on the show, having stayed together through the years. They remain happily married since meeting in 2006. The couple have four children – sons Atticus and Spencer and daughters Georgiana and Allegra. More than 18 years on, they’re still madly in love.
‘Grace just gets better with age, even though she hasn’t aged at all. I tell her every day how good she looks,’ Mikey told the earlier publication in 2023. Grace added, ‘We still bounce off each other like we did from day one. Obviously we drive each other mad sometimes like any other couple, but we’re best friends and now we’ve got the children, it’s even deeper. Seeing what a good dad Mikey is has made him even more attractive to me.’
Chanelle Hayes and Ziggy Lichman
Dubbed reality TV’s ‘Posh and Becks’, Chanelle Hayes and former boyband singer Ziggy Lichman – whose real name is Zachary – lit up the show in 2007 with their instant attraction. Sadly, things weren’t to be and they parted ways six months after they left the house.
Ten years after they split, the pair reunited on Loose Women in 2018, where they revealed that they had real feelings for each other despite the situation they were in. ‘I have no doubt that we were in love,’ Ziggy said, adding, ‘I still love her to bits!’
In 2020, Chanelle – now a married mum of two – revealed that the pair are still in contact 13 years on. ‘We’ll chat every now and again. I don’t talk to anybody else from the show really.’
Lisa Appleton and Mario Marconi
Lisa Appleton and Mario Marconi became the first couple to enter the Big Brother house together in the reality show’s ninth series, although the other housemates were kept in the dark about their relationship until a task revealed all. They left as an engaged couple after he proposed marriage on live TV while they were inside, and married in 2010, with their big day captured on camera on the reality show The Wedding House.
After eight years together, Lisa and Mario called it quits as their marriage fell apart and they divorced in 2013. ‘After a few years of highs, I hit rock bottom,’ Lisa told Manchester Evening News.
Lisa blamed the pressures of fame on their split. ‘I think we both found the attention hard,’ she admitted. ‘Girls threw themselves at him, he would have offers and show me the messages he was being sent on Facebook. I thought, he could have any woman he wanted, why is he with me?’
Lisa also blamed a conman who fleeced them of their cash. ‘He destroyed my life, confidence and dignity. When he disappeared, we were penniless and homeless, we had nothing,’ she said. ‘Mario and I were unhappy for a while – our whole world fell apart around us when we got conned.’
Josie Gibson and John James Preston
Josie Gibson and John James Preston
Josie and John James’ romance during the show’s 11th series captivated the nation in 2011. It led to victory for the self-confessed ‘randy mare’ as she won with a massive 77 per cent of the public vote, the highest anyone has ever achieved. The couple even starred in their own reality TV series Josie And John James: What Happened Next, but their relationship was short-lived and they broke up in 2012.
Josie, who’s mum to Reggie, has since become one of the UK’s favourite faces with presenting stints on This Morning and Loose Women, while John James moved back to Australia, where he works as a DJ in Melbourne.
Jordan Sangha and Henry Southan
They took housemates by surprise with their romance in the house in 2023, but a year on, Jordan Sangha and Henry Southan – or ‘Jenry’ as they’re known to fans – are still going strong. While Henry fell for Jordan quite quickly, it took a while for his feelings to be reciprocated but once it did, it was so cute as fans rooted for them to get together.
‘I see it [our relationship] progressing very well. Henry said in the house that he has never felt about anyone the way he does about me, and likewise, I’ve never really felt about anyone the way I do about him,’ Jordan told heatworld last year. ‘He’s such a genuine guy and I can tell he cares.’
WATCH: heat gives you a tour of the Big Brother house
Shereen Low is a senior news and entertainment writer for heat