Steph's Story

[Kaz]

From the Official C4 Website (http://bigbrother.channel4.com/bigbrother/news/newsstory.jsp?id=5383):

A month after finally leaving the Big Brother House, Steph plans to be locked up again - but this time, it's for charity.

Talking to us from her home in Redditch, Steph told the webteam she is helping out the Acorn Children's Hospice in September by experiencing prison life in Winson Green Jail alongside such luminaries as Terry Waite.

She will stay overnight in order to help raise thousands of pounds for sick children, and after 63 nights in the BB House, it should be a breeze!

The housemate has been keeping a low profile since finishing fourth and disappeared from London soon after Big Brother finished. Steph explained her reasons for not sticking around:

"I needed to see all my friends and family," she stated. "I didn't want to stay in London - I'd been away for a long time."

But Steph is not staying away forever. "I'm coming down this Friday," she enthused, before excitedly adding: "I will be bringing my sister down".

The unflustered girl admitted having few long-term plans, and keeping herself to herself in the meantime.

"I've spoken to Gos and Cam," she said. "Oh and Tania!" Steph remembered, laughing: "I haven't really had the time!"

We couldn't let Steph go without a few words on her final week in the House. How did she feel being the sole female representative, we asked.

"It felt good being the last girl and [being] in the last week. I couldn't have asked for any more - It felt like being a winner."

Ah we thought. But did she harbour a belief that she was in the running to win?

"I didn't think I would win," she said. "It would have been nice though."

:spin2:

[kaphc]

I wish people would stop asking Steph about how she feels about being the last girl in the house.

It's like she did something good? But she was evicted 4th with one of the lowest number of votes in a BB final (maybe Elizabeth got less?) so it's not that great ! :devil::devil:

[Kaz]

Steph has now taken part in the prison lock-up to raise money for sick children. The following story's from the BBC website (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/3085864.stm):

Former Middle East hostage Terry Waite has been back behind bars alongside someone familiar with a more comfortable kind of confinement, the Big Brother star Steph Smith.
The pair were among 77 people who spent 21 hours in a cell at HMP Birmingham to help raise funds for sick children.

Television presenters, government ministers, local business leaders and members of the prison service also took part in the challenge, in the hope of raising more than £25,000 for charity.

The lock-up, which began on Saturday afternoon and ended at 1100 BST on Sunday, was held in a new £58m building at Winson Green prison in Birmingham.

Mr Waite is used to confinement, having spent 1,760 days in a Beirut cell between 1987 and 1991.

He was trying to negotiate the release of Western prisoners while special envoy of the Archbishop of Canterbury when he was taken hostage himself.

For Big Brother contestant Steph Smith, who is from Redditch in Worcestershire, the experience was something of a role reversal - she used to work as a prison warder.

Each person taking part in the challenge has had to raise a minimum of £350 in sponsorship, a prison service spokeswoman said.

The "inmates" also got a tour of the new facilities at Winson Green prison, which include a library, education centre and gymnasium, before they were locked in individual cells for the night.

Money raised from the event will be donated to the Diana, Princess of Wales Children's Hospital, Acorns Children's Hospice and Kids West Midlands, which helps youngsters with special needs.

Well done, Steph! :hello:

Incidentally, I notice they're referring to her as Steph Smith . . . . . not Caldicott. Has she reverted to her maiden name, do you think?