Big Brother Helen and Paul split

Helen Adams and Paul Clarke have ended their romance

Big Brother couple Helen Adams and Paul Clarke have split up after a five-year relationship.

They met after becoming housemates in Big Brother Two in 2001 and had set up home together in Barnet in London.

Adams, 28, from Cwmbran in south Wales, and Clarke, 29, from Reading, Berkshire, told Heat magazine they realised they got on better as friends.

The couple also blamed the pressure of fame for the break-up. Clarke said: "We need to find ourselves again."

Clarke, a car designer, told the magazine: "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."

The last couple of months have been hell. But deep, deep down we know we're making the right decision Paul Clarke

Hairdresser Adams, who became one of the favourites of the housemates for saying things like "I love blinking I do", revealed that being so far from her family in south Wales had also caused a strain.

"I could never just go to me mum's for a cup of tea," she told the magazine, explaining that she was moving from London to Bristol.

They said they had both realised they had become unhappy in their relationship and made the decision to split.

"The last couple of months have been hell," said Clarke. "But deep, deep down we know we're making the right decision."

"From the day we met, we've never had time apart. We need to find ourselves again."

Helen "I love blinking I do" Adams missed her family

Adams 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.

"We'll always be friends and Paul will still help me with long words."