[James]

I'M SO PROUD OF BIG BROTHER SON

Aug 31 2004

JAY REUNITED WITH 'REAL' MUM

By Kevin Turner

BIG Brother's Jason Cowan has had an emotional reunion with his natural mother after almost 30 years of separation. Jane Astrauskas had to give Jason up for adoption after becoming pregnant at 16 because she believed it would be his only chance of getting a 'future he deserved'.

Jason, 30, tells Closer magazine, who arranged for the pair to meet: 'It's overwhelming to finally meet my mum. I've always felt something was missing from my life. People say a mother and her son never lose their bond.

'I hope that, over time, we'll find ours.'

Jane, 46, kept a picture of Jason by her bed since the separation and says she was 'terrified' about meeting her only son.

She said: 'I recognised him instantly on Big Brother - I only needed to see his face to know he was my son.

'I was beginning to think I'd never get to meet him.

'When he walked through the door, I thought I was going to pass out.

'I've been bottling up emotions for so many years and everything just welled up inside me.

'My love for Jason has always been there and I'm so proud he's grown up into such a wonderful man.'

Jason, who finished second to Nadia Almada in the Channel 4 show, grew up with a foster family and lived three miles from Jane in Wishaw, Lanarkshire.

Two years after Jason's birth, social services took him from Jane. The last time she saw him was when he was four. Earlier this month, the Record revealed Jane was keen to arrange a meeting with Jason.

Before leaving the Big Brother house, Jason admitted he wanted to meet his mum, but was unaware of the circumstances of their separation.

At the time, Jason's best friend Alan Strachan said: 'Jay is one of the nicest, coolest guys you could meet, but he's petrified of rejection.

'It haunted him all his life as a child. He comes across as really confident but deep down he has insecurities he keeps all to himself.'

Poser Jason stunned everyone by surviving Big Brother to the very end.

He made an immediate impression on viewers by entering the house in a leopardskin thong.

Jason quit school at Garrion Academy, Wishaw, as soon as he was old enough to join the Royal Navy.

He qualified as a submariner but spent most of his six years at bases in Faslane on the Clyde and Plymouth.

Last year, he joined charter airline MyTravel as a steward.

Within weeks he was telling pals in Manchester, where he lives, that he had joined the mile-high club.

#READ the full story in Closer, on sale now.

From the Daily Record