Coronation Street star Jack P Shepherd has been crowned the winner of this year’s Celebrity Big Brother.
Shepherd, who has played David Platt for 25 years on the soap, beat fellow finalists including drag artist Danny Beard, US personality JoJo Siwa and TV star Chris Hughes.
Also in the ITV reality show’s final on Friday were comedian Donna Preston and pop star Chesney Hawkes.
Minutes after his win was announced, a visibly shocked Shepherd left the house repeatedly saying “crazy” as he was greeted by the series’ hosts AJ Odudu and Will Best.
The self-declared Big Brother superfan said: “I can’t believe it, I am blown away. I didn’t expect it.”
He said he thought he was a “shoo-in” for fifth place until his housemates began “disappearing” on Friday night’s show.
“I thought, surely not,” he said. “When JoJo went my head fell off – I had her nailed down as the winner.”
Reflecting on his love of the show, he added: “I was skipping into the diary room even if they were telling me off – I loved it. I loved the whole thing.”
This year’s series made headlines when Hollywood actor Mickey Rourke was unveiled as one of the housemates when it began three weeks ago – before being kicked out for “inappropriate language” and “unacceptable behaviour”.
The Oscar-nominated actor had been given a warning after Siwa accused him of being “homophobic”, before being removed after a confrontation with former Love Island star Hughes.
Hughes and former Dance Moms star SiwaSiwa, 21, formed a close friendship on the show. She also made waves when she said being in the house had made her decide to identify as queer instead of lesbian.
“I’m switching letters!” she told Beard, joking that she was moving from the L to the Q in LGBTQ.
“I’ve always told myself I’m a lesbian, and I think being here I’ve realised, ‘Oh, I’m not a lesbian, I’m queer.’ And I think that’s really cool”.
Viewers’ favourite
The celebrities who were voted out over the course of the series included TV host Trisha Goddard, athlete Daley Thompson and EastEnders icon Patsy Palmer.
Also on the line-up were MP Michael Fabricant, presenter Angellica Bell and The Only Way Is Essex’s Ella Rae Wise.
But it was Shepherd who emerged as the viewers’ favourite.
The 37-year-old has been a fixture on screen as Gail’s son David since 2000, when he was 12. There has been speculation about his future on the show, but he has said he wants to stay for another 25 years.
This was the second celebrity edition of Big Brother on ITV since the broadcaster revived the show in 2023. The launch episode earlier this month was watched by about 2.7 million people.
By BBC News
Email your news TIPS to Editor@Kahawatungu.com — this is our only official communication channel
