Were we unfair to Big Brother's Nasty Nick?

Virgin Radio

12 Feb 2023, 01:33

The answer is probably 'yes'.

Big Brother star 'Nasty' Nick Bateman has insisted people do “far worse” on reality TV now than he did.

During a Big Brother reunion on This Morning last week, which featured Kate Lawler, Nadia Almada and the morning show’s presenter Alison Hammond - who was a contestant in 2000, the villain of the first series of the reality show shared his thoughts on how he was treated.

The 55-year-old sparked a huge backlash in Big Brother's inaugural year, when he was caught writing things down in what was seen as a bid to influence nominations and the voting.

Asked if he saw what he did as manipulating nominations, he insisted: "No, you look at shows now and people do far worse."

Bateman, who now lives in Australia, said he had been surprised to have been chosen for the programme in the first place.

“I didn’t think I would get on it, so many people applied,” he said, going on to say that even the producers suggested he might be "too boring" to be a housemate.

“As the process became narrower and narrower, and they were narrowing people down, I thought that I had got probably even less chance of getting on the show so I was quite surprised that I was picked,” he said.

Almada, the show's first ever transgender contestant and the winner of the fifth series, said she had now trained to be a hairdresser. She described her Big Brother experience as “the best summer holiday ever”.

Sometime Virgin Radio star Lawler - listen to her on Drivetime last week by catching up here - revealed that she almost hadn’t signed up.

She told the presenters that after she was selected she "got scared" and debated whether to enter the reality TV house.

With the show getting rebooted, Lawler said anyone who was chosen should make sure to be themselves, as they would end up being “exposed” for who they really are anyway.

We're sorry for how we treated you Nick. Fancy a hug in the diary room?