[Red Moon]

Thousands queue for Big Brother finale

Thousands of reality TV fans flocked to Borehamwood on Friday last week to watch the final of Big Brother 2005.

Fireworks lit up the sky as the newly-crowned winner of the sixth series, Anthony Hutton, stepped out of the house to screaming fans, performing his favourite Seventies dance moves.

After 11 weeks and sixteen contestants, the final four housemates were let out of Elstree Film & Television Studios in Shenley Road to seek their fortune.

Despite the live show starting at 8.30pm, by lunchtime, the queue was already beginning to circumnavigate the perimeter fence next to the studios — some even camped out overnight to ensure a glimpse of the action.

At the front of the queue a group of six Anthony supporters who travelled from Gloucestershire the night before, had been sitting on the pavement since 6am.

One of them, Vicky Rogers, explained: "We're really big Big Brother fans so we're hoping that we'll be lucky enough to get in tonight."

"We just like the real life of it. They start off as ordinary people and they can come out as celebrities and it's fascinating to watch."

The final, which saw Anthony win the £50,000 prize after runner-up Eugene pocketed the other half in a dramatic twist two days earlier, was the highest rated show on Channel 4 so far this year, attracting at its peak 7.8 million viewers — a 34.4 per cent share of those watching television at the time.

Neville Reid, director of the studios, said: "It's great for the town they've spent millions and filtered much of that into local businesses. It has been a great success and run extremely well."

A spokeswoman for the show said: "Big Brother has been a huge success this year and once more we've loved being in Borehamwood.

"We would also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone in the area for all their support. We look forward to coming back to the town next year."

Source: This is Hertfordshire