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Amy · 26-01-2005, 07:04 PM

Here's Deans answers to your questions!..

Dean what have your experiences been like after leaving the house and would you
change anything that you have done?

On the whole my post house experiences have been positive, like taking penalties at half time during an England game and meeting various interesting people, though coping with instant ‘fame’ has had it’s more harrowing moments. Sometimes you want to simply blend into the background and even today, three years on, it’s sometimes impossible to do.

Firstly how did your recent gig go? & which of the housemates turned up to
support you?

The gig was great. I was almost nervous it had been so long since I played, but once I started in it was a doddle. The venue and crowd were fantastic and I really enjoyed it. As for HM support, Stuart came along, (with his Dad Mick. A lovely bloke), as did Goss and Tickle though the latter two missed me play! Many others sent their apologies, including Bubble who was doing pantomime in Canterbury.

Have you any more invention ideas and if so when will we get to hear about them?

Oh yes. Many more ideas to come, including some we received from the public through our website, www.zlistltd.com. It’s surprising how many people are out there with good ideas and no way to turn them into reality.

I watched an old BB2 tape the other day and you said that if you weren't going
to win then you would have liked to have been evicted a few weeks before. Are
you glad that you got to experience the final days in the house or would you
have preferred to have been evicted in time to watch some of BB2?

I think I may have said that because I had been missing Vanessa so much. In retrospect it was an amazing thing to be there on the last day and it completed the BB adventure for me.

Since leaving the house has your opinion of any of the housemates changed and if
you could go back in time knowing what you know now would your nominations have
been different in any way?

Yes Narinder. I think I took her too seriously in the house. We get on much better now because I understand her sense of humour and we’re not in the ‘hothouse’ environment of the house.

You said you would be playing Deluxe for Helen and Paul's wedding have you done
so yet?

Not yet. Haven’t heard of any up-coming date either.

Who in your opinion had the worst time handling the press attention?

I think Penny found it hard and Josh and Amma. I think the latter two particularly were given raw deals.

Has your opinion of any of the housemates changed since leaving the house?

Only Narinder as I mentioned earlier. The rest of them were as in the house. I got on well with almost everybody.

In your opinion, other than yourself who had the best voice in the house & who
had the worst?

Don’t assume I think I had the best voice for Gawd’s sake! Amma had a great voice, much better than mine. Brian had a fantastic timbre, but was completely incapable of controlling his voice. I didn’t really enjoy listening to Elizabeth sing. She sounded like Julie Andrews.

Did all of the BB2 housemates read your book and what did they think of it?

I sent out as many books as I could. I know Narinder wasn’t too pleased with how she came out of it but I had to be honest.

I know you said that you spoke to a few of them about the bits the press got
hold of.what was their response?

I felt terrible when the story about Brian broke. It was just a line in the book that got blown out of all proportion. I apologized to him and we sorted it out in the end.

Dean I really enjoyed watching your time on BB2 and I feel that it was the best
BB I have seen. What do you feel was the one biggest thing that you have taken from the
experience of being in BB?

I’ve always said that I learned more about our society and the media than I did about myself. It made me a little more cynical I think, which was surprising as I thought I was as cynical as you could get, but there y’go. I did take heart from my family and friends though and if there was anything important learned from BB it was that my family and friends are all that matter in the end.

Have you had any reaction from anyone at BB following publication of your
book 'Living in a Box' which I really enjoyed by the way.

Thankyou. I gave it to a couple of the producers that I liked, though they were no longer at Endemol. I also know that Endemol purchased a copy for themselves from ebay. I wanted to charge then double for it, but decided that probably wasn’t fair.

Did you ever have the chance to release a single of Deluxe?

Not yet. I’m still planning to release an album and I’ll keep everyone informed. I know it’s long overdue, but it will happen one day.

Do you feel that BB has been dumbed down over the years?

I think it had a bit more integrity when it started. It seems to be more tabloid’y than it needs to be now.

If you had known what effect your being in the house would have on Vanessa and
your family would you have gone in?

I have to say no. Causing pain to my loved ones was a horrible thing to experience.

Do you think there will ever be a reunion of all the BB2 housemates again.

I truly doubt it. As the years have passed we have drifted evermore apart. I could see a few of us getting together for a reunion of sorts, but as a whole, I don’t think so.

Would you have spoken differently about Paul to Helen during her last week, if
you had been aware of exactly what had gone on 'in private' between them?

I must say I didn’t say anything negative to Helen about Paul during that week. I know Elizabeth and Brian had a downer on him, and while I had my suspicions (unfounded I might add) about his motives, I would never have come between them and tried to influence their relationship one way or another.

A hypothetical question now - if for some mad reason BB decided that next year
instead of new housemates the housemates from BB2 were put in the house, do you
think the outcome would be the same?

Pretty much I guess, especially if the editing followed the same course. Brian would have won any of the BB’s to date. He’s a natural TV star.

if you had not been allowed to take your guitar in the house - would you have
asked to leave at any time during your stay.

While my guitar annoyed many of the viewing public it kept me sane. Without out it I doubt that I would have lasted till the end.

who do you think of all the BB2 housemates has their stay in the house made the
least effect on their lifestyle.

I think Josh. He went back to his old job and dropped into his lifestyle quite easily I think, apart from all the negative press he received. I know that, like a few of us , with each passing day BB seems as though you weren’t really there, and that it was some dream you had.

Do you think that present day housemates are going into the house for different
reasons to your year and year 1.

I think probably, yes. They seem more media savvy and wiser than we were, and if they get what they want out of it, then fair play to them.

How would you have fared if you had been put into the house with the housemates
from last year.

Arrested probably, and charged with a murder or two. I would have really struggled to get on with some of them. If Ahmed had refused to do the army task with me in there, then sparks would have definitely flown. And Marco and Emma would have driven me insane.

Did you find living away from London enabled you to be free of a lot of the
media coverage given to other housemates and get back to a normal life easily?

I think you can escape the media hullabaloo if you want to wherever you live. Some ex HM’s really feed on it, but I was never really one for all that.

Do you regret adding the piece in your book about a BB housemate having spent a
night with a producer?

I regret the fact that Brian’s agents convinced him to own up to it. I would never have given up names and neither would Bubble, who was the only other person I knew that knew about it. (I was offered £10,000 by a Sunday paper to tell who it was by the way.) I think it was an important fact to divulge and it said a lot about the policies of the people who make the show.

Did you anticipate the press furore preceeding and after this revelation and the
effect this had on that housemate?

Absolutely not. As I’ve said I anticipated a search for the HM coming up empty. In retrospect I should have told Brian about it first and told him to keep quiet about it. Still can’t think why his agents were so keen for him to own up to it?

In what way was this comment adding to the message of the book?

As I’ve said it was exposing shortcomings in the production team rather than the HM. If you’re supposed to be a responsible organisation, taking care of the well fare (physical and psychological) of HMs, and you’ve supposedly just completed an impartial popularity contest, then jumping into bed with one of the contestants doesn’t seem quite right.

My Question is of all the Housemates of all the Big Brothers. Who do you think
has the best chance of making a long lasting career in the world of the media
and entertainment?

Brian.

If you had been the one housemate who after leaving BB had got the highest
celebrity status, do you believe you would still be closest to the BB2
housemates that you are now?

I think it can be difficult not to be seduced by the glamour and twinkley lights of celebrity. Personally I think I’m probably old enough and wise enough to not let it go to my head, but some other ex HM’s have found the lure of stardom more attractive than fostering friendships made in the house.

Do you believe the media interest in ex housemates has risen as each subsequent
series has unfolded, or do you think that as time has progressed housemates are
having to sell their soul's to get any sort of 'celebrity status'?

I think the latter is true. It really does seem like 15 minutes of fame for today’s HMs.

Has your life changed for the better for being on Big Brother?

My life hasn’t really changed that much at all, certainly not the important things in it anyway.

Which Big Brother have you enjoyed the most of the other ones that is?

My favourite BB is still BB1. The novelty perhaps, and it was before I saw behind the curtain at how contrived it can be.

Before BB2, an executive of the company said effectively that BB2 would be the
last as they would be moving on to other things. They reneged on this and
produced three further series. As an insider, has BB had its day and is it time
to call it a day?

I think the show was better served before it became a tabloid TV show, but as long as people want it BB will be made.

Does it seem to you as it does to some of us, that Endemol or Channel 4 have
their own agenda as to who should win and edits accordingly.

I think Endemol want to make exciting, viewer attracting TV, and if that means showing one HM in a good light and another in a bad light, then they would have no problem whatever in doing that. As for picking a winner from the start, I doubt that very much. I can’t see the advantage in having one particular winner over another, so long as people are watching.

How badly were you leaned on, not to publish your book by Endemol

Not leaned on at all in fact. I was hoping for a law suit to boost book sales but it didn’t come! My contract forbade me from publishing a book, but that was as far as it went. I had no contact with Endemol about the book at all.

In your book, you mention the lousy aftercare that is provided for housemates
upon their exit from the Big Brother house. Presuming that people at Endemol
have read your book, can you imagine them trying to improve this, in light of
what you've said?

If only! I’m sure my revelations will not make the slightest difference to Endemol policy. Which is a shame, because it means more HMs and, more importantly, more friends and family will experience some distress during BB6 and beyond.

Also, I know you spoke to lots of housemates from BB1,2,3 and 4 whilst you were
writing the book. Have you spoken to / met any of the BB5 lot yet?

I met only Becki, who thought Stuart was Nasty Nick! Aside from her no. I don’t really move in those circles that much these days.

Massive thanks to Dean for answering your questions!