[Amy]

This is in The People today
GAYS ARE A BIG BOTHER - TV BRIAN

IRISH Big Brother 2 winner Brian Dowling has spoken of the verbal abuse he gets from gays since his TV success.

The former air steward turned children's television presenter also admitted he was fed up with speculation about his sex life.

The 24-year-old, who came out as gay to his mum just two days before entering Big Brother in 2001, said: "The great thing about my career as a TV presenter is that I came into it because of the public - all the people who picked up the phone and voted for me to win Big Brother.

"People are always really nice to me, which is great.

"In public, I get more hassle from gay people, who think I've got this "who does he think he is?" attitude. But I don't think I'm anyone special, I'm just very lucky - believe me."

Brian, from Rathangan, Co Kildare, also confessed that despite Press reports, he does not have a boyfriend at the moment.

"I'm not seeing anyone at the moment. The closest I've got recently was when I did Celebrity Streetmate for Comic Relief and met a model called Pablo. He was nice but I haven't seen him again."

Now funny guy Brian will be hoping to improve the love lives of women who have put forward their partners for help in his new ITV show, Brian's Boyfriends which starts on Tuesday.

Brian "surprises" a boyfriend who has problems that a girlfriend wants solved.

"We've got a guy who can't dance, so we'll be doing something with the Cheeky Girls to help him improve."

And the lucky Irishman hopes to be on our screens for a while yet.

"Whatever happens, I haven't been in touch with Ryanair about getting my old job back!"