Big Brother icon Helen Adams looks unrecognisable 22 years after show debut

24 August 2023 , 14:35

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Big Brother icon Helen Adams looks unrecognisable 22 years after show debut

Former Big Brother star Helen Adams cut an unrecognisable appearance when she stepped out in Bristol ahead of the iconic show's comeback.

Helen, 45, was pictured at a local petrol station in Bristol and sported a casual look as she wore a t-shirt, leggings and a pair of trainers. She teamed her look with a pair of bug-eye sunglasses. Swapping her trademark blonde tresses for a slightly darker shade, the hairdresser looked worlds apart from her appearance in 2001 when she was crowned runner-up to Brian Dowling, who secured the coveted title of winner.

The star's bubbly character and budding romance with fellow housemate Paul Clarke, who she went on to date for five years after the show, became a household name on the back of her infamous quirky comments. One of which was when she told housemates: "I like blinking, I do."

Helen appeared on Big Brother 22 years ago (E4)

Helen was only 22 years old when she stepped through the doors of Big Brother and it has now been 22 years since her series first aired on Channel 4, before the show jumped ship to Channel 5.

After leaving the show Helen was in high demand and appeared on TV shows including Loose Women and Ready, Steady, Cook. But while her TV career went from strength to strength, her relationship with Paul suffered. The pair split in 2006 and they attributed the breakdown of their relationship to the pressures of fame.

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Speaking to Heat magazine at the time, Paul said: "For the last five years, on a daily basis people have been asking me, 'how's Helen? When are you getting married?' and I've never met these people before in my life. It starts to drain you. It's not that I don't like talking about Helen, I just wanted to get away from it and be a private person again."

Helen was popping to the shops (SplashNews.com)

She sported a casual look as she was spotted out and about in Bristol (SplashNews.com)

And Helen added: "I felt like the Wicked Witch because I was first to say something. But then Paul said to me, 'would you want to marry me?' and I said, 'I don't think I would' and he said, 'well, I don't want to marry you either'. And we laughed."

It is believed that former reality TV star has since married and has a daughter.

Big Brother is set for a return to the small screen this autumn and according to reports a second series has already been commissioned. Presenter AJ Odudu, 35 and Will Best, 38 will co-host the main show on ITV2 as well as a nightly discussion spin-off show where the pair will dissect all the juicy gossip.

Helen spotted outside a petrol station in Bristol (SplashNews.com)

Former reality TV star Helen Adams focuses on her daily chores in Bristol (SplashNews.com)

Speaking about hosting the hugely anticipated show AJ said: "I'm so excited to finally be able to say that, yes, I’m hosting Big Brother! I couldn't be happier."

AJ will follow in the footsteps of Big Brother presenters including Davina McCall who launched the show as well as Emma Willis who became her replacement in 2013. During lockdown in 2020, Emma along with Davina and Rylan Clark, hosted a show on the programme's best bits. And Emma revealed how she felt at the time she recieved the phonecall to say that she was to host the show.

She said: "It was a moment of terror and joy in equal measures. Being a massive fan of the show for so long, watching it and working on it in different ways, I was kind of doing the online stuff and working on Little Brother, then Bit on the Side."

She added: "Then to get that call and kind of go 'come on, your time is now.' You can never follow the Queen, so just try and do as good a job as possible."

Lucretia Munro