MORE than a decade has passed since Big Brother contestant and self-confessed ‘toyboy queen’ Jemima Slade entered the house.
And since her debut back in 2013, Jemima, 52, has watched the fate of hundreds of others walk through the same doors.
But it’s safe to say she’s feeling underwhelmed by this year’s brand new crop of sixteen contestants.
Speaking exclusively to Fabulous, she says: “Big Brother’s gone boring and bland.
“This year’s cast are a bunch of wannabe Love Island contestants in their twenties and they’re all too busy trying to be politically correct rather than entertaining.
“You need outrageous personalities and clashing opinions from wide age groups like the good old days rather than worrying about everything they say.”
When Jemima entered the house in series 14 of the show, contestants watched as their suitcases were shredded on live TV that evening.
“There is no way these contestants could have coped with that,” she says.
“There’d be a queue out the diary room door so everyone can ‘speak their truth’.
“I had to deal with constant clashes, fights over food, bad BO, being called to the diary room for a telling off and demands from Big Brother.
“It was a mind game from day one and things have definitely changed.”
Mum-of-one Jemima who lives in Plymouth with her long-term partner, Dan Russell, 40, who runs Choice Fulfilment, says that her TV stint didn’t bring fame and fortune.
“I went from The Big Brother House to managing a 25,000 square foot warehouse with a staff of twelve with my partner,” she says.
“It’s a major change of the glitz and glamour of Big Brother stardom but I love it.”
When Jemima appeared on BB14, she was working as a hairdresser and running a dating agency in London.
In December 2012 producers axed open auditions and wannabe housemates had to apply online with talent scouts also looking for ‘out of the box’ contestants
“I didn’t apply online,” she says.
“Producers approached me because I ran a dating agency. I was fast- tracked to the audition phase.”
More than 30,000 people apply each year for a coveted spot in the Big Brother House and according to Jemima she knew she had to stand out at her first audition.
“I told producers how I used to date the Saudi Prince, and I loved younger men,” she recalls.
“I made them laugh about being a single mum who ran a dating agency.
“They wanted to know about my dating life and how I dealt with drama.”
Jemima then had to complete team tasks in a group of ten and was shortlisted to take part in another audition phase.
“This stage included photographs and on-camera chats, I had no idea if I was even in the running,” she says.
Three weeks later, Jemima was at work when she received a phone call telling her she’d been selected as a housemate.
“I then had to undergo two detailed psychological assessments,” she says, “It happened very quickly.”
People got drunk quickly and we were left with stonking hangovers
Jemima Slade
A week before the series aired Jemima was collected by a chaperone and spent a week at a secret location under a false name.
“If we went out and I went to the loo the chaperone came with me,” she says.
“I could only take my own underwear and a small selection of my own clothes into the house. I packed twenty pairs of knickers.
“The rest of the clothes we had to get from that year’s sponsors, Very. Security during that week was incredibly tight.
“The day before the show began, I was blindfolded and driven to a hotel. I was allowed to pack a big suitcase and a small wheelie case.
“Once I had packed chaperones, went through the cases and removed clothes that were branded, family photos and pens and paper.”
The 2013 housemates included a set of female twins, a mother and daughter and a Big Brother plant known as ‘The People’s Puppet’, an actor called Michael Dylan.
The 14th series saw the return of viewers voting to evict, rather than voting to save unlike the two previous series and was live streamed for two hours a day.
Partly deaf Sam Evans, then 23, from South Wales, eventually won the show nabbing the £100,000 prize fund.
Jemima, who was evicted on day 16, says while most people think they’d be amazing on the show nothing can prepare you for what it’s actually like.
She explains: “The pressure is intense. Within a couple of days, I was experiencing a roller coaster of emotions.
“The show back then pitted people against each other.
“I was 41 at the time and I started mothering the younger contestants.
Jemima says food caused the most arguments in the house.
“Our food shop was limited if we didn’t do well in tasks,” she says.
“We were always running out. People were snapping at each other over half a slice of toast.
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“The alcohol was kept under lock and key and when Big Brother released it, we swarmed over it.
“People got drunk quickly and we were left with stonking hangovers.”
The show was full of controversy including a confrontation between housemates boxer Daley Ojuederie and model Hazel O’Sullivan
Daley was ejected from the house following threatening and aggressive behaviour towards Hazel on Day 33.
During a row he told the 24-year-old model he would “nut her one”.
He was also accused of slapping Hazel on the bottom, clasping her around the neck and pinning her to a bed by both arms.
Channel 5 released a statement saying: “Due to threatening and aggressive behaviour towards Hazel O’Sullivan we have taken the decision to remove Daley Ojuederie from the Big Brother House.”
On Day 24 the oldest contestant Jackie Travers, then 59, broke her arm after slipping in the garden. She was escorted to a nearby hospital, received treatment and re-entered the house.
While there were plenty of dramas, Jemima says she wouldn’t trade them in for the watered down Big Brother we have today.
“In the last decade the nudity and sex we used to see on Big Brother has almost disappeared,” she says.
“I miss the early Big Brother series. It was shock and awe from day one.
“This year the show is much tamer.
“The contestants seemed concerned about gaining social media followers and not being cancelled.”
