For a few years in the 2000s, Big Brother was the biggest show on British television. Its winners went from unknown to front pages in weeks. Then the series ended, the next one started, and they were expected to carry on as normal.
Two of my films are about what came after. Surviving Reality: Beyond the TV Dream features Big Brother 6 winner Anthony Hutton, Big Brother 7 winner Pete Bennett and Big Brother 3's Jonny Regan. This is Pete, in production now, follows Pete's story in depth.
All at once
There's no apprenticeship for reality TV fame. One week you're a contestant, the next you're recognised everywhere, offered money you've never seen and surrounded by people who want something from you.
And then gone
What stood out making these films was how suddenly it stopped. For people whose sense of who they were had been rebuilt around being famous, that loss hit hard. Mental health problems, addiction and anxiety came with it, along with the strange feeling of being forgotten by the industry that made you.
Pete
Pete Bennett won Big Brother 7 in 2006, the first winner with Tourette's syndrome. This is Pete starts earlier, with childhood bullying, and goes through the chaos after the win to a man rebuilding his life on his own terms.
Why it matters now
Reality TV has changed, and so has the aftercare. But the same thing now happens on social media, where anyone can be famous overnight and forgotten just as quickly. The people who went first have a lot to tell the people going now.
Surviving Reality is on Amazon Prime Video.
