HE MADE it to the final, now Celebrity Big Brother star Keith Chegwin has spoken to The Gazette about his time in the “mad house” after coming fourth on the Channel 5 show.
Three days after leaving the reality programme, which saw former glamour model Katie Price crowned the winner, Cheggers, from Ashmansworth, has revealed what it was really like living in a house full of arguing celebrities.
The 58-year-old, who entered the house just days after playing Buttons in The Anvil’s Christmas pantomime, said: “Oh my god it was like being sent to the mad house. I thought it would be a bit of a break. But when you get in there it’s so small and there are hundreds of cameras watching your every move. There’s no lock on the toilet doors. Big Brother does everything to aggravate you.”
He described runner-up Katie Hopkins as “cruel” adding: “The first three days she was given a task to be nice to people and I didn’t know that. We all thought she was a charming lady and then three days finished and bang – she tried to goad people.”
Keith said he stuck up for Katie’s victims, including Alicia Douvall, adding: “It was cruel. I stood up to Katie if she had a go at me.”
He described Katie as a “very odd lady”, adding: “I thought it was all an act.”
Keith told The Gazette that he hates people being nasty to others, adding: “They tried to isolate Perez and I didn’t think that was fair. You don’t have to like someone to be kind to them. I don’t like to see people suffer.”
Keith struck up an unlikely friendship with Katie Price, who, having entered the house 10 days into the show, prompted Katie Hopkins to suggest that she wasn’t a worthy winner.
But Keith told The Gazette that Katie Hopkins was the one who didn’t gain the full experience.
He added: “She had her own bedroom with an en-suite bathroom and a table and laptop so she didn’t even sleep with us. She said Katie Price didn’t have the full experience but neither did she.”
Keith said many of the celebrities made demands to Big Brother, including Patsy Kensit who regu- larly disappeared to top up her tan.
He added: “She also went to have her roots done. Calum Best asked for cigarettes.”
Wising up to the fact that the others were getting what they wanted, Keith’s only request was a latte with an extra shot.
The father-of-two said he kept sane by cleaning and cooking, but described his fellow housemates as “dirty” adding: “Everyone thinks I’ve got OCD but I can’t stress how dirty they were. They were cutting chicken on work surfaces. I had my arm down the loo and that’s what kept me sane.”
He said he has formed a lasting and unexpected friendship with Katie Price, adding: “I thought she wouldn’t get on with me, but she’s going to loan me her horses. I can’t stress how genuine she is.”
Keith only told his wife that he was to appear on the show, and said the hardest part was not seeing her for over four weeks.
Asked if he had any regrets, Keith said: “I was really worried that I might put on weight, but I haven’t. I have no regrets. My biggest worry was that I would come out and people might boo me but no one has. I have just been me. You can’t act for that time, it’s too long.”
Since leaving the house Keith has conducted numerous interviews, but has also enjoyed spending time at home, and said the first thing he did was eat chocolate.
He added: “I’ve just spent time with my wife. It’s been nice to be able to cook what I want.”
More on Cheggers' time in Celebrity Big Brother
Cheggers finishes fourth in Celebrity Big Brother
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