[James]

This John James interview is from the Herald Sun newspaper in Australia.

LAST year, John James Parton was an unemployed welder living with his mum in Gippsland.

But the 25-year-old Aussie has been on a rocket to fame since leaving the last series of Big Brother in Britain.

In Melbourne for holidays, Parton said he was recharging and catching up with mates after an "insane" six months abroad.

The blonde Longwarry resident has just signed a deal to produce a series about his life with his girlfriend, Big Brother winner Josie Gibson, with Channel Five in the UK, and has released a sexy calendar.

"I'll pull the car up at lights (in England), and particularly if there are school girls, they will just start screaming. Fans have tried ripping my clothes off, trying to take bracelets, necklaces, whatever they can. It's crazy," he said.

Parton tried out for Big Brother Australia in 2007 but didn't make it. "I was told to go with a bunch of mates. There were ten of us, I'd never watched it," he said.

After reapplying in 2008, Parton withdrew after his father John was killed in a workplace accident.

But he had the feeling he had "unfinished business" in the Big Brother house: "It was something I just had to do. Getting in (the house) was all I could think about."

Because the Australian version had finished, Parton researched the UK version and flew over for auditions thinking it was "now or never" and got in. "We were in a goldfish bowl while outside people were going over every inch of our lives," he said.

Parton and Gibson met in the house but only became boyfriend and girlfriend after the show. Some critics are calling their love a sham.

"There is a lot of pressure on us to make it work, but honestly, I would walk away tomorrow if it was just a front," Parton said. "We're working hard to keep things normal.

"Josie's looked at coming out to Australia before, but didn't have enough points for a visa. Maybe that will change. I'd like us to come here eventually."

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/entertai...-1225983950596