Brian wins Big Brother
Brian Belo tonight won the eighth series of Big Brother after coming top in the public vote.
The 20-year-old data clerk from Essex, who famously told the housemates he had no idea who Shakespeare was, pipped twins Sam and Amanda Marchant to claim the £100,000 winner’s cheque.
He was hugged by the screaming twins from Newcastle-upon-Lyme after he was told the news by Davina McCall.
The bubbly pair, who counted as one person in the poll, were red hot 1-6 favourites to pocket the £100,000 winner’s cheque.
But Brian’s unassuming charm won him thousands of fans with the public and he was always a strong contender.
Brian, wearing a white shirt and tie, black trousers and white shoes, constantly shouted ``oi oi'' to the crowd as he left the house.
Fireworks erupted as he was showered with confetti as he bowed down in salute to the audience.
Earlier, the twins lapped up cheers from the screaming throng before taking part in an excitable interview with Davina.
In typical fashion, they exclaimed they had “loved it”.
“It was the best thing ever ever ever,” they told the presenter.
Amanda was also quizzed about her fling with Brian, and said that she may be having second thoughts about putting a stop to it.
“He is dead sweet,” she said.
Her twin sister added: “I love Brian and I love it that Amanda loves him.”
Liam, who came third, meanwhile spoke about the moment he was chosen to receive £100,000 during the show, and how he had felt “embarrassed” about it.
“It was a mixture of emotions, I thought that everybody was going to give me a kicking. I felt embarrassed. I didn’t feel like I deserved it,” he told Davina.
Brian told Davina that his time in the house had been amazing and now all he wanted to do was ``find a bottle of cider''.
He also revealed that he was none the wiser about Shakespeare.
“It was the director that directed Romeo and Juliet,” he said.
He said it had been “pucker” to kiss Amanda, and said he hoped to see more of her but would understand if she “wanted to be mates”.
Like many of the other housemates, he also praised Carole’s contribution.
“As the weeks went on, I loved Carole more and more because she looked after us so much,” he said.
Asked what he would do with the money, he told Davina: “I am going to give it to me mum.”
When the voting lines closed, Brian had received 60.3% of the votes for the final two places.
On hearing the news he started to cry and looked stunned. With tears streaming down his face, he said: “I don’t deserve to win… this is so mental”.
The twins meanwhile did not show any disappointment at coming second and Davina revealed they had made it through the show without a single nomination.
Fourth in the public vote was former boyband member Ziggy Lichman, 26, whose romance with Posh Spice wannabe Chanelle was one of the main talking points in this year’s show.
Ziggy was tearful as he relived moments in the house and came face-to-face with Chanelle, who looked on from the sidelines with other former contestants.
“I am shedding a little tear, it is very emotional for me,” he said.
He conceded he had gone through a “paranoia stage” while in the house and said that at times the experience had been “tough”.
But he hinted he would now like to rekindle his romance with Chanelle, who also nodded in agreement over the suggestion.
“When I look back I wish she had stayed because I think she would have still been there tonight,” Ziggy added.
Youth worker Carole Vincent and museum visitor assistant Jonty Stern were the first two housemates to be evicted in tonight’s finale.
Carole, a 53-year-old activist who has been in the show from the beginning, came fifth in the final poll while Jonty, 36, was sixth.
Jonty told Davina McCall in an interview following his eviction that he was amazed he had lasted so long in the house.
He said: “I thought I was going to last one week so I have lasted five times longer then I thought.”
Carole agreed with Davina that she had become a bit too obsessed with cleaning the house but insisted it was not a trait she had in real life.
She added: “I have learnt loads of stuff: That I don’t know it all, that I can let other people do stuff. Actually I am very bossy and that is a trait from a lot of women in my family.”
Despite tonight’s fireworks, the series has been the UK’s least popular since it began in 2000, with an average of 3.8 million viewers compared to the previous low of 4.5 million for Big Brother Six.
A record-breaking £10m (€15m) was still gambled industry-wide on Big Brother 8, according to bookmaker Ladbrokes.
And a spokesman said it was left breathing a sigh of relief after Brian’s victory, as the twins were clear favourites.
The 20-year-old had been as big as 16/1 to win the show and a 100/30 shot going into the final.
Spokesman Nick Weinberg, said: “We were desperate to get the twins beaten as they would have been a shocking result for every bookmaker in the land.
“Brian has been our knight in shining armour. Had he not won we’d have been selling the family silver.”
