Chantelle Houghton's life after CBB - new image and child with Katie Price's ex
Chantelle Houghton was the first non-famous contestant to win Celebrity Big Brother and not only that, she also came out of the house in 2006 with a new love interest in the form of Ordinary Boys frontman Preston. Despite being the talk of the town - not due to her singing ability which she was forced to showcase on CBB to convince the house she was a famous pop star - the former model has shied away from the limelight in recent years.
However, since Big Brother is back on screens, and a BBC One drama - The Reckoning - about a former fellow contestant has aired, she has reflectively been looking back on her time on the reality show. When Chantelle, now 40, appeared on Celebrity Big Brother it was the same year that Jimmy Saville was a part of the line-up and it still haunts her. The prolific paedophile, whose crimes did not come to light until after his death in 2011, made Chantelle uncomfortable with the comments he made in the Big Brother House, as she has now revealed in an interview.
The star explained the TV entertainer had turned to her and said: "I know that many fellas love you, but they don’t love you with the sincerity and tenderness I do." She then revealed that while she brushed it off with a giggle, she felt awkward at the time. "Now, obviously, we know what and who he really was, it literally makes my blood run cold. But it also makes my blood boil, because I wish I'd known what he was then and I really wish that he'd known that we'd all know who he was, before he died,” she said.
Chantelle and Preston fell in love on Celebrity Big Brother 2006 (REX/Shutterstock)"I just think what he said to me was really creepy. It's just really creepy and I feel pretty disgusted that I've even been in his presence, that he's kissed my hand and said them vile things to me. It makes me really angry for the victims," before adding she hopes he "rots in hell."
Aside from having to cohabitate with Saville, the Big Brother legend described her time on the show as a "such a great experience" in an interview with OK! However, she does regret her choice of hairstyle. The star confessed: "My hair extensions that I went in with were just awful. Absolutely awful, I thought I looked amazing, I thought my hair was amazing." Nowadays Chantelle sports a totally different look; sleek healthy-looking brunette, and minimal makeup.
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A lot has changed since she left the show aged 22 and went straight into the arms of Preston. The pair married that same year at swanky Dartmouth House in Mayfair, selling the pictures to OK! magazine in a reported deal worth £300,000. However in 2007 they split, releasing a joint statement that read: "After much soul-searching and tearful discussions we have sadly decided to end our marriage. We hope we can always remain friends and still love each other, but we both think we put so much pressure on one another to make our marriage work that it has ended up destroying our relationship. No one else is involved in our decision."
Chantelle looks very different now, with sleek brown hair (Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)Speaking on the This Morning sofa earlier this month, Chantelle revealed: "We’re still really good friends, we’re still in contact. I’ve recently moved house. I’ve still got my wedding dress! We do still keep in contact. I’ve still got so much love for him." After appearing on CBB, her agent's phone was ringing often.
She appeared on shows like 8 Out of 10 Cats, The Weakest Link, and Hotel Babylon, in addition to landing big brand deals and working with animal charity PETA. She also secured her own show, Chantelle: Living the Dream, released her own book with the same title and had a column with New! Magazine, before appearing on Ultimate Big Brother in 2010 and being awarded third place.
However, becoming famous essentially overnight was difficult for the star, as she recently explained to The Sun. "I was going through a really awful time. I was abused for a very, very long time," she explained. "I lost myself in a lot of misery and I’m getting myself back bit by bit and enjoying being the person I always was."
"I wasn’t eating, or only eating when I was starving," she added. "And then, when I was starving, I was eating anything I could get my hands on. I’d stop at McDonald’s or get a bag of crisps or a bag of chips." Chantelle still struggles with depression and is vocal about this on her Instagram page, where she does influencer work, showcases her calmer pace of life, and how she is a doting mother to her daughter Dolly, 11, whom she shares with cage fighter Alex Reid.
Alex Reid and Chantelle had an ill-faited romance (FilmMagic)
Chantelle and her daughter Dolly (FameFlynet)In 2011, Chantelle had a whirlwind romance with Alex who was previously married to Katie Price. They welcomed Dolly the following year, but Alex and Chantelle split shortly after. The relationship seemed doomed form the offset. The CBB winner explained to The Sun that when she was eight months pregnant, Alex had turned their home into a 'sex dungeon' for four days.
She said: "He had my false eyelashes on and there were sex toys all over the room, with porn playing on the TV." Although she left to go to stay at her old flat, Chantelle explained that she kept returning to plead with him for the sake of their unborn child.
She continued: "I begged him to stop but he kept saying how horny he felt and asked me to perform a sex act on him." Although they reconciled, they split for good in 2012. And then in 2020, the Big Brother star became engaged to property developer Michael Strutt after just a few months of dating, but called it quits a year later.
Chantelle is currently single, but recently said: "I'd rather be on my own, rather than be sat on the sofa with someone who drives you around the bend and you don't want to be romantic with, just for the sake of saying 'oh I'm with somebody'."
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