Too Many Famous Housemates In The Big Brother UK 2014 – See Their Celebrity Profiles

Sixteen fresh faces have moved in to UK Big Brother’s house for the new Power Trip series. But do too many of them have a claim to fame?  In recent years, as numbers applying via the traditional audition methods have dwindled, Big Brother producers have started resorting other methods to find contestants. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, for instance, Dexter Koh and Gina Rio were two of the most popular and entertaining characters in last year’s series, and they were scouted by bosses.

But before Big Brother 2014 begun, Bit On The Side host Rylan Clark promised housemates that had been ‘in the papers’ and ‘on the cusp of fame’ – and he wasn’t wrong. The new line-up has more models, tabloid figures and fame chasers, and less relatable regular joes than ever before.

Let’s take a brief look at the new house-mate's celebrity CVs:

Ash

Mancunian Ash is a model by trade – he’s currently signed to modelling agencies Nemesis and MOT. According to his StarNow profile, he’s done campaigns for Topman and Hollister, appeared in a 2013 advert for airline Jet2 (which you can see below) and even been an extra on Hollyoaks, Coronation Street, The Bill and Grange Hill.

Ashleigh

Ashleigh is also a ‘high fashion’ model, on the books of Assets Models and CMPR Ireland. She’s appeared in a photoshoot for Ireland’s Rushmere Shopping Centre and on the catwalk at Belfast Fashion Week, and was crowned Miss Derry last year.

Chris

Professional actor Chris’s credits include 2009 Film4 co-production Faintheart – which starred Jessica Hynes and Tim Healy – as well as upcoming Kickstarter-funded horror flick K-Shop, as well as commercials for O2 and WKD. He’s also a self-taught illustrator, selling his impressive biro ‘brawlings’ through his own website.

Danielle

Danielle works as – you guessed it – a full-time model, having posed in her underwear and even topless despite her strict Catholic beliefs. She’s taken part in several pageants and her client list includes Agent Provocateur, Toni & Guy, Max Factor and Vogue UK (or so says her StarNow profile).

But she also made it in to the Daily Star last summer when she sold a kiss-and-tell story on BB14 housemate Dexter Koh, in which she claimed he is useless with women and has designer, er, manhood. Dexter denies that he ever slept with her.

Helen

Helen made headlines back in 2010 when it was disclosed that she and friend Jenny Thompson had a threesome with Wayne Rooney in a Salford hotel – with the revelations rocking the England footballer’s marriage to wife Colleen, who was pregnant with their first son Kai at the time. Helen’s parents apologised on her behalf with the scandal broke, and they reportedly don’t approve of her decision to enter the Big Brother house

Kimberly

Surprise surprise – California gurl Kimberly is another model, best known for her work with Playboy, which has seen her spend time at Hugh Hefner’s iconic Playboy Mansion. She’s also done some TV, including a Lynx commercial – and an appearance on Channel 5′s very own The Wright Stuff.

Steven

Steven’s got the business, got the car, got the house – and like so many recent housemates, he’s got his own StarNow page. A quick glance there reveals that he also met Dexter and his fellow BB14 housemate Charlie Travers when they were guests on The Chrissy B Show, a lifestyle and health talk show that airs three times a week on MyChannel (Sky 203).

Toya

She may not be in the leagues of Ant and Dec, Davina McCall or Emma Willis, but Toya works as a television presenter on BEN (Bright Entertainment Network) Television, available in the UK on Sky channel 182. She fronts ‘The Magazine Show’, which BEN describes as ‘the number one entertainment programme in Europe for the ethnic diverse African viewers’, with celebrity interviews, viewer phone-ins and competitions.

Winston

In his VT he said he is a business development manager, but Winston’s official website describes him as a model (we’re sick of that word now) and TV personality. His appearances include a cameo on The Only Way Is Essex and a minor role on EastEnders – but most interestingly, last year he took part in ITV2 dating show Girlfriends… which is hosted by Big Brother’s very own Emma Willis.

Mark

If you are a fan of Channel 4′s old reality show Shipwrecked, then Mark’s no doubt familiar to you, as he was a contestant on the 2009 Battle Of The Islands series – when he was an 18-year-old Subway sandwich maker. But that’s not all – he tried out for The X Factor in 2011 with a hilariously bad rendition of Rihanna’s ‘Only Girl In The World’ (embedded above) that judge Gary Barlow described as “truly horrible – you didn’t sing a note in tune”.  

Pauline

Even seemingly down-to-earth Pauline – who viewers chose as the first ‘power housemate’ on Day 1 and is currently leading the bbspy Popularity Poll – has tasted fame. She admitted in her launch VT that she almost made it as a rapper, having featured on Kylie Minogue’s 1991 top ten single ‘Shocked’ and appeared in a video with Busta Rhymes.

So there you have it, of the sixteen house-mates, at least eleven have already gained notoriety in some shape or form. Are the lines between the two different versions becoming too blurred? How many ‘famous’ house-mates is too many? 

Credit: Drew Uyi