Craig Phillips: ‘Big Brother has always been “woke” – if you don’t like it then you know what to do’

If you think Big Brother has gone ‘woke’ with its diversity all of a sudden, you haven’t been paying attention (Picture: ITV/Shutterstock/Metro.co.uk)

Big Brother is back after what feels like a lifetime, and its first-ever winner Craig Phillips has a lot to say about it.

The celebrity builder won the reality competition following the launch of its first series in 2000, and famously gave his winnings to family friend Joanne Harris, who required a lung transplant in the US.

Since then Craig has remained a staple of British TV, managing, while ‘other housemates have come and gone,’ to stick in the industry, something he credits his DIY and building skills for.

Now the star is working with HomeServe to advise people on how to keep their homes warm in the winter by doing their own DIY jobs around the house before things become dire enough to fork out for professional help.

With Big Brother now airing again for the first time in six years, having found a new home on ITV, there has already been backlash from some viewers to the line-up, which this year includes Kerry, a wheelchair user, practising Muslim Farida, 50, disabled DJ Dylan, 39, and, as it was revealed on Tuesday, trans woman Hallie, 18.

Craig brushes off the wailing that Big Brother has, according to some, ‘gone woke’ with their diverse line-up, saying the series ‘has probably always done it.’

Craig was the first-ever winner of Big Brother UK in 2000 (Picture: Getty Images)

Nadia Almada won the series in 2004, and having a trans housemate is nothing new (Picture: Getty Images)

Big Brothers fans will know that trans woman Nadia Almada won the series in 2004, that gay Irishman Brian won the second-ever series in 2002, that drag queen Courtney Act won Celebrity Big Brother in 2018 – just to mention a few.

Craig goes on: ‘In this day and age you have to have a diverse mix of people from all walks of life, nationalities, etcetera.’

He points to NHS worker Kerry, who uses a cane and wheelchair for her multiple sclerosis, and notes it hasn’t been done before in Big Brother history – ‘but why not?’

The new series has people ‘from all walks of life,’ but this is nothing new (Picture: Shutterstock for Big Brother)

Craig and Nadia recently reunited ahead of the new Big Brother kicking off (Picture: ITV/Shutterstock)

‘You’ve got to give everyone an equal chance to participate in whatever it is. We’re all for equality in sport, aren’t we? I think something like Big Brother, someone in a wheelchair has as much chance of winning as anybody else. And in fact I quite liked [Kerry]! I thought she was nice, and how she was talking to [Olivia] who got a little bit upset.

‘Someone like that, a strong-minded character can be a great support to many people in there. Especially younger ones who might still be a little insecure. I think she’s going to be good.’

And if you’re a viewer who has steam coming out of their ears for ‘box ticking’ or ‘wokerism,’ Craig has some simple advice.

‘The nature of the programme is you can vote them out, over the next four or six weeks, if you don’t like a particular individual for whatever it is.’

The Liverpool star heaped praise on new presenter AJ Odudu, ‘a fellow Northener,’ after she made her debut hosting the show on Sunday night, and has high hopes for co-presenter Will Best even if he seemed ‘quite scared and nervous’ on launch night.

Craig praised AJ as a Big Brother natural, while Will is coming into his own after first appearing ‘scared and nervous’ (Picture: Shutterstock for Big Brother)

AJ ‘comes with a lovely energy, I think she’s good at mixing and mingling with people as well,’ he declares. ‘You do need the right personality to host a show like that. I think she was a great choice.’

‘Will, I didn’t know too much about him, I’ve only seen him on the odd one or two things before,’ Craig admits.

‘I think last night he looked quite scared and nervous. And there’s nothing wrong with that! I think anybody would be quite scared and nervous, but I think coming towards the end of it he had settled a little bit. I watched the live bit afterwards and I felt he was coming into his own. So I didn’t know much about him but warming to him.’

Craig was ‘excited’ when he learned Big Brother was coming back this time round, though admits he was less than impressed with Channel 5 jumping to revive the show ‘moments’ after Channel 4 announced it was ending.

Craig has been reflecting on his time in Big Brother while taking part in a campaign for HomeServe (Picture: HomeServe)

‘Being honest, I do believe it was time for Channel 4 to end it,’ he admits.

‘It was declining, and I think the public got sick of it, or sick of the characters maybe, I don’t know. It was winding down. When they said it was ending I thought it was the right thing.

‘Then moments later Channel 5 announced it was coming back. And I wasn’t a fan at that point, being honest. I felt as if it wasn’t off the air long enough, reality programs were popping up and were strong and entertaining and drawing the public in. So I believe it happened too quick when it came back to Channel 5.’

He explains he felt it first-hand when people were beginning to lose interest in the series, as he used to ‘go to shops, supermarkets, restaurants, and people were talking to me about it. ‘

‘And they weren’t talking to me about it when it was on Channel 5. But now it’s been six years, and ITV have got a good track record. When I heard it was coming back – yes, I was excited!’

Caption: Big Brother contestants Caroline O’Shea and Craig Phillips in bed in the Big Brother houseduring the spy-on-the-wall TV show on Channel 4.Copyright: CHANNEL FOUR

Craig himself was among the last the realise just how massive Big Brother had got outside the walls of the house, as he was the last to leave the building being declared the winner.

He announced following his win he was giving all the money to family friend Joanne, who had Down’s Syndrome and needed a transplant not available on the NHS.

‘I knew her from when she was a child, we kind of grew up with her … we went on holiday, we used to go in the caravan in Wales when we were kids.

‘We didn’t quite understand what Down’s Syndrome was, I didn’t realise the extent of the operation until we were a little bit older,’ he admits.

The star donated his Big Brother winnings to help family friend Joanne undergo a transplant in the US (Picture: PA Archive/Press Association Images)

He never told any housemates about his plan for Joanne, who sadly died in 2008, as he didn’t want anyone ‘feeling sorry’ for her (Picture: Channel 4)

‘We started trying to do collections to raise a quarter of a million to get her to America. But each time we raised a little bit of money, the price of the operation was going up. So that, definitely, was my reason for going on Big Brother. I had no intention of ever working on television or of being famous in any way. I just thought it would be an easy opportunity to win a lot of money and maybe get a little bit of publicity around it. But I did win, and I thought “Maybe one newspaper might want to talk to me about it.” Little did I know, 23 years later we’re still talking about that actual moment.’

He also has advice for the current housemates on how to win the series – though, by the time they get out of the house and see his advice, it will be too late, having either been evicted or won the series outright.

That said, ‘you’ve got to be yourself. Don’t be too desperate to win.’

Craig has some advice on how to win the series, warning people not to be ‘fake’ or ‘desperate’ (Picture: PA)

‘I knew before I went into the house I was going to give my money to Joanne if I won, but I purposely did not tell a single soul in there. Because I didn’t want it to be on the microphone, I didn’t want people to know, for the public to start thinking “I’ll vote for him because he’s helping a poor young girl who needs a major operation.” I didn’t want people to start feeling sorry for Joanne, I didn’t want to win like that, I wanted to win genuinely. And I did.’

I’d say to people – whatever your agenda is, because they’ve all seen how big Big Brother has been in the past, and they will all obviously be wishing at the back of their mind for that success, the recognition, the fame and all the followers nowadays on social media – but the amount of time you’re in there, with all those cameras on you, if you’re trying to be fake or trying to have a persona – it will come out in the wash.

‘The public will see through it and the editors will see through it. Don’t underestimate these very clever cameramen and editors and producers! They can twist things if they want to or make things good or bad.’

While he hasn’t watched his own series himself, ‘my family said that for the first four or five weeks I was just a slob, lazy, sleeping. But I didn’t sleep more than anybody else in there, it was just the way they wanted to edit me. It was only when I confronted Nasty Nick at the table they kind of started to use a different amount of footage of me in there because they knew I’d triggered the public, calling Nick out.’

Craig calling out ‘Nasty’ Nick was one of the most iconic moments of any Big Brother series (Picture: Channel 4)

Viewers were in shock – and Craig began getting a lot more airtime (Picture: Channel 4)

Craig has merged his TV career with his building and DIY skills, having appeared in the likes of Celebrity DIY with Craig Phillips and If It’s Broke, Fit It.

He’s now taking his building and DIY expertise to a new level with Big Brother, through new campaign with HomeServe to help Brits fix issues in their home before they become a Big Bother.

In Diary Room-style entries, he advises viewers on how to bleed radiators, unblock drains and defrost frozen pipes with the help of hot water bottles

He explains ‘so many people are paying hundreds of pounds on problems’ in their home which ‘could have been avoided’ if they knew how to prevent them.

Craig has experienced these types of problems first-hand, as he recalls living in a caravan with ‘no electric, no running water, no gas – I used to go to the supermarket to brush my teeth.

This happened when he got his ‘very first house, which wasn’t even livable,’ leading him to live in the caravan while everything got fixed.

‘When I was only a young man, setting my building company up, I was having to work for next to nothing, honing my skills and building up a client base that would come back to me … I was living on next to nothing.’

Now, 30 years later, with the cost of living crisis affecting everybody, ‘people are having trouble just to heat their houses, which is really, really sad.’

‘So we want to just help them in any way of preventing these breakdown costs.’

Craig Phillips has teamed up with HomeServe to help tackle the nation’s biggest ‘bothers’ in their home.

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‘In this day and age you have to have a diverse mix of people from all walks of life, nationalities.’