FANS STILL ASK ME TO CALL THEM A WANKER
The much-loved series seven winner chats about the good old BB days with Jordan Paramor
It’s a scorching hot day and heat is sitting in a Brighton park having a socially distanced interview with one of the best-known Big Brother housemates of all time.
Even though it’s been 14 years since Pete Bennett romped to victory on series seven, he still commands plenty of attention, and not just because the thought of the interview is aggravating his Tourette’s, so he’s randomly shouting “Wanker!” as people walk past. “I haven’t twitched in ages, but as soon as I get a bit nervous it’s like, ‘Way-hay, here we go,’” he smiles.
Back in the day, Pete was best known for his crazy hair, his fiery relationship with fellow housemate Nikki Grahame, and for being the first person with Tourette’s to go into the house. These days his Mohican has been replaced with brown curls, he’s currently single having just gone through a break-up, and while his Tourette’s is still evident (see above), it’s definitely calmed down. And, yes, he’s as funny and charismatic as we remember him. The 38 year old has been very open about his struggles over the years – both before and after he appeared on BB – which include drug addiction and homelessness. But the Pete we meet today is buzzing with positivity and big plans, and that’s the stuff we really want to hear about…
Does your Tourette’s often come back when you’re nervous? Yeah. I haven’t had an interview with heat for f**king years, mate, and interviews are scary, because I’m putting myself out there. It’s like, “Here we are again.” But it’ll show everyone I’m positive again, and back on form. You do look really well… I am. I’m so much better, it’s mad. I’m a different person. I had this image of “Pete” and now it’s gone. I just want people to take me at face value now. Not today, though, because I thought
I’d tart myself up for the interview [Pete is smartly turned out in a jazzy suit jacket, jeans, a white shirt and a bowler hat.] I’m sweating my tits off. It’s the 20th anniversary of Big Brother this year – are you pleased they’re doing a special show presented by Davina and Rylan to commemorate that? I’m kind of happy it’s the highlights and not new Big Brother. I’m a big fan of old-school Big Brother – I think that’s when it was more of a circus freak show. That’s why I went on it. They would pick the best of the best, and different kinds of people, and put them in one house. The new Big Brother was picking the same sort of people who had big muscles or fake tan. I would never get on Big Brother now, mate. If I auditioned, they wouldn’t look at me twice, but back in the day if you were a right freak you got on. It showed the diversity of Britain. But now it’s like Love Island, so I’m happy they’re not making a new series and they’re showing highlights of the old-school ones to show the millennials what life is about and what they missed out on. Do you know what I mean? What do you think made Big Brother so successful? Me! [Laughs.] I think it was me who made it successful, and all the mental characters from all walks of life. It was a really brilliant mix and a lot of very likeable people. Why did you go into the house? At that time my mum was working at Mcdonald’s in France to pay off the mortgage. She looked after me all my life, and when I was little I had the worst Tourette’s in Europe. I remember her struggling as a single mother for years, and it was really difficult for me to understand that she was in that situation. That f**ked me up, man. Another thing was that there wasn’t anyone out there who was representing people with Tourette’s. There wasn’t anyone who was different. I wanted to do Tourette’s awareness, but not just make people aware of it, but to be a kind of… Inspiration? Yeah. When I was little, there was no one. I was scared and I was anxious. I was having a shit time, because I was getting bullied at school and I was getting started on in the street. I was a recluse. I went into Big Brother to raise awareness of Tourette’s and to be a hero for kids who have Tourette’s. The third reason I went on the show was that I went through a lot with
What happened? My friend Jules died on a railway line in front of me and I went through hell with PTSD for a few years. I was a right raver back in the day, and I took a lot of acid. I was at a party and I had a trip where Jules came down from heaven and said, “To get back to heaven you’ve got to win Big Brother,” and then he showed me this spiral. When I went into the house, the Big Brother eye was actually a spiral and there was also a guy in the house called Spiral. There were lots of little signs that I was being guided by a higher power. Jules also told me I was going to win, and I knew I was going to. I came out of the house back on form, and I don’t touch acid or any drugs any more. It’s been 14 years since you went on the show. Does it feel that long? It’s weird, because people still really recognise me. It’s not like I’ve just disappeared into nothingness. I still feel like there’s an energy around me that I left Big Brother with. I’m always getting followed on Instagram and getting my picture taken by people and I still feel like I’m a part of it. I’m like, “How the f**k do they still recognise me?” It feels like I’ll always be remembered. It’s nice, I like it. I want to be remembered, because I want a second chance of getting more Tourette’s awareness out there. Lots of people say to me, “Please go back on telly, because my son’s got Tourette’s,” and I have to say, “I’m not allowed!”
I am a lot calmer now, though, so maybe. So you enjoy being famous? Yeah, I don’t even feel famous, really, I just feel like Pete. This is my world now and I’m so used to it. I don’t get as much shit now. If I shouted “Wankers!” before, I’d get beaten up, but now people say, “Why haven’t you called me a wanker yet?” What are your best memories looking back? Obviously, winning the show was huge for you… It’s hard to remember anything – it’s like a blur. I enjoyed the Diary Room disco I won, even though I just wanted to go to bed that night, because I was so tired, but I ended up killing it. I think the best thing is watching myself back. I think that’s it. I like watching my Diary Room inputs, I think they’re hilarious. I literally piss myself laughing. And there was your romance with your fellow housemate Nikki Grahame… Yeah, but I can’t even remember…
a certain situation. ‘If I auditioned for BB now, they wouldn’t touch me’
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. I haven’t spoken to Nikki for years. We used to speak, but not any more, hardly at all. She was going to come to Bristol when I was living there, but that kind of f**ked up. Would you like to see her again? Oh, 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. Do you think if you’d done things differently you could have stayed together? [Laughs.] We could not have stayed together. Without Big Brother to tell her off she was another level. Who do you keep in touch with from your series? Richard [Newman], the bald Canadian. Me and him chat and send naughty memes all the time. And I still chat to Glyn [Wise] and Lea [Walker] here and there. Sammy [Brodie] messaged me the other day to say hello, too. What are you up to nowadays? Well, everything kind of fell apart for me for a while and I got really depressed and anxious. I was losing all my money, and the place I was living in… I ended up on people’s sofas. But I’ve got myself together. I’m still doing my music and I’ve been acting since 2012. I’m making a sitcom called Green
Fingers with my friend Velton. It’s a comedy about two gardeners and episode one is already on Amazon Prime. You can see the trailers on my Instagram. I’ve also been in a lot of films. The first one I ever appeared in was a B-movie called Zombie Women Of Satan 2. It was the follow up to a film nobody wanted, and I was chased around by zombie girls with their tits out. 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.
It sounds like you’re in a good place now… I am. I’ve done all sorts over the years – I ran karaoke nights when I lived in Bristol, I did a bingo night in Brighton, and I opened a celebrity cleaning company called Celebriclean, which nearly got turned into a TV show. But acting and music are my main things. I’ve got big goals. My Twitter bio is “Future Oscar-winning actor,” and by the time I’m 40 I’m going to be a millionaire. Law of attraction, baby! [Laughs.] When I won Big Brother I had a vision and went for it, and I’m doing the same thing now. I’m calling it a re-pete. ■