[James]

3 March 2006

EXCLUSIVE: THE REAL CHANTELLE.. BY HER FATHER

By Cameron Robertson

IDLY flicking through TV channels, cabbie Alan Houghton's mouth dropped open, his heart leaping in his chest.

On the screen in front of him his daughter Chantelle was laughing and chatting among the stars on Celebrity Big Brother. The model was ordered to keep her appearance so secret her dad and 24-year-old brother Gregg discovered she was in it only by chance.

"Chantelle had kept ringing me and saying 'No matter what happens I love you.' I was like 'What's going on?'" he laughs, flashing a grin that is identical to his famous daughter's.

"I felt very nervous when I saw her - I just wanted to get in the telly and give her a cuddle."

His daughter was the joker in the CBB pack. Not a celebrity, she was given the fake ID of a girl-band pop star and would stay in the show only if she got the other contestants to swallow her story.

Against expectations, the 23-year-old went on to win the competition.

But her dad had been predicting success for his little girl since she was tiny. "I always knew she would be famous," says Alan, 52, talking publicly about his daughter for the first time.

"She's very single-minded and always wanted to do something special.".....

Rest of article here

www.mirror.co.uk