James
28-08-2006, 01:03 PM
Big Brother fame won't last - Craig
http://new.eveningnews24.co.uk/assets/images/dynamicfeed/yallopv20060817133255.jpg
Craig Coates working on his mother Yvette's hair at his new salon in Norwich.
STACIA BRIGGS
17 August 2006
This man spent most of last summer in my front room, laughing, crying, arguing, eating and even sleeping while I watched.
In fact Craig Coates' face is so familiar that it seems incomprehensible that he doesn't recognise me too; but that's the Big Brother effect for you. I know the way he eats his cereal, he couldn't pick me out in a police line-up.
Evicted after an impressive 76 days in the house (I interviewed him a day before the anniversary of his eviction - the fact that I know this at all would suggest that I spent too long slack-jawed in front of the goggle box last year), Craig came within a week of winning the nation's most intrusive game show.
“It seems like a very long time ago. I don't regret doing it because it's helped me get where I am now, but I'm glad to be back home and doing what I love best, hairdressing,” said Craig, talking at his new salon on Pottergate.
“The other housemates I was with are still waiting for the phone to ring at home, clinging on to the last little bits of fame they can find. I could go down to London tomorrow and get papped outside a club, but I don't want to. This salon is what I've always dreamt of and now I'm following my dreams, not waiting for an agent to get me a PA at a student's union.”
The salon looks as if it's been carved from a gigantic sugar cube. Shimmering white floor tiles, white leather chairs and blue LED lighting (“blue is a creative colour, according to the lighting specialist who came to the salon”) are softened by candles, flowers and music. The effect is stunning.
“It is beautiful, isn't it?” he said, proudly, “I made sure that everything in here was perfect.” From the Philippe Starck designed chairs to the porcelain floor tiles and the immaculately-stacked L'oreal products adorning the glass shelves, the salon's books are already filling up for August and September.
“We only opened a matter of days ago, but already the customers we've had have started to rebook, which means we're getting it right. If they had their hair done and then didn't want to come back, I'd be worried!
“Everyone is very busy - it's not like it's just me out there doing everyone's hair - and we've had some very glamorous people in here having their hair done. I'd say that most of our customers so far have been women and men who want to indulge themselves for an hour or two - and gossip, of course. I love a good gossip.”
Prices for a cut vary from £25 (salon junior) to around £40 (Big Brother veteran). Although only 21, Craig has been cutting hair since he was 14. And he loves it.
“I'm very creative - a 'big' hairdresser. I like a bit of glam, a bit of colour, a bit of fun. Straighteners are quite fun to use, but I'd much rather do a nice blow dry, lots of body, lots of movement, some loose curls and flicks, that kind of thing,” he said.
“When someone sits in my chair I don't just start cutting, I talk to them about their lifestyle, about what kind of haircut will work for them, whether they have time to spend on their hair every day or not.
“There's no point giving someone a really out-there cut if they've only got five minutes every morning to get ready. You have to think it through, come up with something fabulous which works for the client.
“If someone comes in with a magazine cutting and says 'I want that' then I'll listen, advise and if they really want it I'll do it even if I've suggested to them that something else might be better. At the end of the day, they are the customer and what they want is most important.”
One cut which Craig won't be too keen on recreating is the new graduated bob as modelled by Victoria Beckham.
“Hers is too long and too short both at the same time. I'm annoyed, because this is a cut that's been around for the past year and for once Victoria has copied the hair trade rather than the other way round,” he said.
“She normally sets trends but this time she's copied one. My mum's had a cut similar to that for ages; Victoria Beckham has copied my mum! Mum was in last night, actually. I put some apricot, peach and toffee shades in her hair - it looks lovely. I think those blonde, natural shades are going to be very big.”
This, I said to Craig, is bad news for those of us who model their look on the Wizard of Oz's Wicked Witch of the West.
“Oh you could easily carry colour. I'd put purple in your hair - not big streaks, kind of slices of colour. You're never too old for something a bit different, hair isn't a reflection of age, it's a reflection of personality,” he said, charitably. “You don't have to be 15 to have a modern haircut. In fact if you do go for that kind of look it can make you seem younger.”
Sign me up for purple slices.
Being able to cut his Mum's hair in his own high-tech salon is an additional bonus for Craig, who is overjoyed to be back at home with Yvette, a former beauty queen and building society manager and Dad John, a school chef and local football referee.
“I absolutely love Norwich and I love having a salon here but I can't see myself leaving Cromer to live here. I've just got two five month old dogs, a beagle called Paddy and a Rottweiler called Jerry Lee, and I wouldn't take them away from the beaches,” he said.
“My family mean everything to me and I missed them like mad when I was in the house. It makes you realise just how important the people you love are and the support they gave you. Celebrities and that kind of lifestyle can be very bitchy - I'm glad to have left it behind.”
Having lived it himself last summer, Craig - who occasionally speaks to former housemate Makosi but is not in contact with the majority of “vile” housemates he was pleased to leave behind - has found it easy to switch off this year's Big Brother.
“I heard a bit of the row about whether or not Big Brother should have put evicted housemates back in the house, giving them the chance to win the big prize and I thought 'oh who cares?' I really could not care less what they do and if anyone else does, they should worry that they haven't got anything better to think about,” he said.
“I've seen a bit of the new series and I don't like it. No one in there seems to be having a good time, it's all moaning and whinging and that Nikki girl's 'me, me, ME!' attitude which is so over the top.
“They all seem to have a game plan and that's really not what it's about. I went in to have an experience, something that not many people get the opportunity to do. It led to good things for me, great parties, meeting lovely people, having experiences that you just wouldn't have had unless you'd done Big Brother.
“I don't mind talking to people about my time in the house, but not when I'd doing someone else's hair. On the street, in a club (Lava and Ignite are Craig's favourites in Norwich), during their own hair appointment, yes, when I'm at work, no.
“I've watched all the tapes from the time when I was in the house and I couldn't believe it - that wasn't what happened, or it definitely wasn't what it felt like at the time. I thought they'd film all the funny bits, but in the end it was The Anthony Hutton Show - and look where it's got him. Nowhere.”
Craig is convinced that Pete will win this year's Big Brother, although he's not keen on him, but will be out of the country when Davina announces who has scooped the £100,000 prize money on Friday. (CO AUG 18)
“I'm off to New York and Orlando, so I couldn't care less who wins!” he said.
“It's the first holiday I've had for two years and I really, really need it. Some nights I don't leave the shop until 10pm and then I have to get home to Cromer. It's been really hard work since I left the house but looking at my salon I know it's all been worth it.
“I just hope the people who come out of the house this week realise that you have to leave Big Brother behind at some point and get on with your lives - enjoy it while it lasts because it won't last forever. But this is better - this is real life.”
Contact Craig Coates Hairdressing at 11 Pottergate, Norwich 618968. Appointments can be made with stylists Ria Lingwood, Callum Standen or Craig.
new.eveningnews24.co.uk (http://new.eveningnews24.co.uk/content/Features/story.aspx?brand=ENOnline&category=Features&tBrand=enonline&tCategory=features&itemid=NOED17%20Aug%202006%2013:21:34:787)
http://new.eveningnews24.co.uk/assets/images/dynamicfeed/yallopv20060817133255.jpg
Craig Coates working on his mother Yvette's hair at his new salon in Norwich.
STACIA BRIGGS
17 August 2006
This man spent most of last summer in my front room, laughing, crying, arguing, eating and even sleeping while I watched.
In fact Craig Coates' face is so familiar that it seems incomprehensible that he doesn't recognise me too; but that's the Big Brother effect for you. I know the way he eats his cereal, he couldn't pick me out in a police line-up.
Evicted after an impressive 76 days in the house (I interviewed him a day before the anniversary of his eviction - the fact that I know this at all would suggest that I spent too long slack-jawed in front of the goggle box last year), Craig came within a week of winning the nation's most intrusive game show.
“It seems like a very long time ago. I don't regret doing it because it's helped me get where I am now, but I'm glad to be back home and doing what I love best, hairdressing,” said Craig, talking at his new salon on Pottergate.
“The other housemates I was with are still waiting for the phone to ring at home, clinging on to the last little bits of fame they can find. I could go down to London tomorrow and get papped outside a club, but I don't want to. This salon is what I've always dreamt of and now I'm following my dreams, not waiting for an agent to get me a PA at a student's union.”
The salon looks as if it's been carved from a gigantic sugar cube. Shimmering white floor tiles, white leather chairs and blue LED lighting (“blue is a creative colour, according to the lighting specialist who came to the salon”) are softened by candles, flowers and music. The effect is stunning.
“It is beautiful, isn't it?” he said, proudly, “I made sure that everything in here was perfect.” From the Philippe Starck designed chairs to the porcelain floor tiles and the immaculately-stacked L'oreal products adorning the glass shelves, the salon's books are already filling up for August and September.
“We only opened a matter of days ago, but already the customers we've had have started to rebook, which means we're getting it right. If they had their hair done and then didn't want to come back, I'd be worried!
“Everyone is very busy - it's not like it's just me out there doing everyone's hair - and we've had some very glamorous people in here having their hair done. I'd say that most of our customers so far have been women and men who want to indulge themselves for an hour or two - and gossip, of course. I love a good gossip.”
Prices for a cut vary from £25 (salon junior) to around £40 (Big Brother veteran). Although only 21, Craig has been cutting hair since he was 14. And he loves it.
“I'm very creative - a 'big' hairdresser. I like a bit of glam, a bit of colour, a bit of fun. Straighteners are quite fun to use, but I'd much rather do a nice blow dry, lots of body, lots of movement, some loose curls and flicks, that kind of thing,” he said.
“When someone sits in my chair I don't just start cutting, I talk to them about their lifestyle, about what kind of haircut will work for them, whether they have time to spend on their hair every day or not.
“There's no point giving someone a really out-there cut if they've only got five minutes every morning to get ready. You have to think it through, come up with something fabulous which works for the client.
“If someone comes in with a magazine cutting and says 'I want that' then I'll listen, advise and if they really want it I'll do it even if I've suggested to them that something else might be better. At the end of the day, they are the customer and what they want is most important.”
One cut which Craig won't be too keen on recreating is the new graduated bob as modelled by Victoria Beckham.
“Hers is too long and too short both at the same time. I'm annoyed, because this is a cut that's been around for the past year and for once Victoria has copied the hair trade rather than the other way round,” he said.
“She normally sets trends but this time she's copied one. My mum's had a cut similar to that for ages; Victoria Beckham has copied my mum! Mum was in last night, actually. I put some apricot, peach and toffee shades in her hair - it looks lovely. I think those blonde, natural shades are going to be very big.”
This, I said to Craig, is bad news for those of us who model their look on the Wizard of Oz's Wicked Witch of the West.
“Oh you could easily carry colour. I'd put purple in your hair - not big streaks, kind of slices of colour. You're never too old for something a bit different, hair isn't a reflection of age, it's a reflection of personality,” he said, charitably. “You don't have to be 15 to have a modern haircut. In fact if you do go for that kind of look it can make you seem younger.”
Sign me up for purple slices.
Being able to cut his Mum's hair in his own high-tech salon is an additional bonus for Craig, who is overjoyed to be back at home with Yvette, a former beauty queen and building society manager and Dad John, a school chef and local football referee.
“I absolutely love Norwich and I love having a salon here but I can't see myself leaving Cromer to live here. I've just got two five month old dogs, a beagle called Paddy and a Rottweiler called Jerry Lee, and I wouldn't take them away from the beaches,” he said.
“My family mean everything to me and I missed them like mad when I was in the house. It makes you realise just how important the people you love are and the support they gave you. Celebrities and that kind of lifestyle can be very bitchy - I'm glad to have left it behind.”
Having lived it himself last summer, Craig - who occasionally speaks to former housemate Makosi but is not in contact with the majority of “vile” housemates he was pleased to leave behind - has found it easy to switch off this year's Big Brother.
“I heard a bit of the row about whether or not Big Brother should have put evicted housemates back in the house, giving them the chance to win the big prize and I thought 'oh who cares?' I really could not care less what they do and if anyone else does, they should worry that they haven't got anything better to think about,” he said.
“I've seen a bit of the new series and I don't like it. No one in there seems to be having a good time, it's all moaning and whinging and that Nikki girl's 'me, me, ME!' attitude which is so over the top.
“They all seem to have a game plan and that's really not what it's about. I went in to have an experience, something that not many people get the opportunity to do. It led to good things for me, great parties, meeting lovely people, having experiences that you just wouldn't have had unless you'd done Big Brother.
“I don't mind talking to people about my time in the house, but not when I'd doing someone else's hair. On the street, in a club (Lava and Ignite are Craig's favourites in Norwich), during their own hair appointment, yes, when I'm at work, no.
“I've watched all the tapes from the time when I was in the house and I couldn't believe it - that wasn't what happened, or it definitely wasn't what it felt like at the time. I thought they'd film all the funny bits, but in the end it was The Anthony Hutton Show - and look where it's got him. Nowhere.”
Craig is convinced that Pete will win this year's Big Brother, although he's not keen on him, but will be out of the country when Davina announces who has scooped the £100,000 prize money on Friday. (CO AUG 18)
“I'm off to New York and Orlando, so I couldn't care less who wins!” he said.
“It's the first holiday I've had for two years and I really, really need it. Some nights I don't leave the shop until 10pm and then I have to get home to Cromer. It's been really hard work since I left the house but looking at my salon I know it's all been worth it.
“I just hope the people who come out of the house this week realise that you have to leave Big Brother behind at some point and get on with your lives - enjoy it while it lasts because it won't last forever. But this is better - this is real life.”
Contact Craig Coates Hairdressing at 11 Pottergate, Norwich 618968. Appointments can be made with stylists Ria Lingwood, Callum Standen or Craig.
new.eveningnews24.co.uk (http://new.eveningnews24.co.uk/content/Features/story.aspx?brand=ENOnline&category=Features&tBrand=enonline&tCategory=features&itemid=NOED17%20Aug%202006%2013:21:34:787)