Big Brother hopefuls at auditions

Joanne Manning
BBC News website

Craig, Cilla and Tracy showing off their stamps which means they go through to round two of the auditions.

Loud, weird, brash, bubbly, strange and ever so slightly desperate - the annual auditions for the Big Brother house wheedle out all kinds of people.

Among the hundreds who turned out as early as 5am for the open auditions in a freezing Cardiff on Tuesday were a 56-year-old man called Shan who had travelled from Berkshire in the hope of doing "something a bit more dramatic with my life".

Shan, a driving instructor and a father-of-two in his everyday life, said he wanted to be on TV and become a celebrity.

"My children are laughing at me," he said. "They don't believe it.

"I would be a calming influence in the house. Last year's winner Rachel, she was also a very calm person, not bitchy.

"I auditioned last year and got through the first stage but not beyond that.

Rachel from Llanelli arrived on crutches, and is taking a gap year

"I think I will be a bit more loud and argumentative this time because that is what Big Brother seems to be looking for."

The Channel 4 show may be approaching its 10th series this summer but the competition to become a "housemate" remains tough.

In each of the seven auditions taking place across the UK in January and February, would-be housemates will be required to be interesting, lively, opinionated and genuine while taking part in games, interviews and personality tests.

And according to last year's winner Rachel Rice from Cwmbran, potential housemates are on show from the moment they walk in to the auditions.

"My tips would be to just be yourself, open up, make friends with other people in the queue because you don't know how long you're going to be there for and remember that you are being assessed 24/7," said Rachel, an interested observer at the auditions in the Millennium Stadium.

"The producers are always watching to see how you react."

To me it sounds exhausting, especially when the end result is imprisonment with 12 potentially obnoxious people for an entire summer. But on the evidence of the Cardiff auditions there were plenty of people willing to go all out for their celebrity dream.

It's my looks which make me stand out from the crowd but it would be nice to see if people liked my personality as much Jai, 20, from Tonypandy

People like 52-year-old Christine from Newport who wanted to audition with her son Glenn, 32, for the show.

"At my age I might as well go for it," she said.

"I would be the mother of the house and look after everyone. I've had plenty of practice. I'm a mother of four and a grandmother of seven.

"I want to try and win so I can take them all away to Disney."

Her son however was much less shameless about his motivations.

"I want my 15 minutes of fame," said Glenn.

"The show is going down in popularity because people have seen it all before. But I don't mind if the fame is short-lived."

Nineteen-year-old Rachel from Llanelli made it to the auditions despite badly stubbing her little toe and ending up on crutches.

"I want to go on Big Brother for the experience. I'm taking a gap year before university and I want to say I have done something worthwhile in that time."

Zoe, 33, from Cardiff said she wanted to get into the house to provide her disabled son with a better life.

"I would be very entertaining," she said after showing me a large tattoo on her back which reads "bitch".

Twenty-year-old accountancy student Jai from Tonypandy said he would be "real" and ultra-competitive if he was allowed on the show.

"It's my looks which make me stand out from the crowd but it would be nice to see if people liked my personality as much," he said.

Mother and son Glenn and Christine were considering auditioning together

According to series editor Katy Smith, producers are looking for "unique" characters for Big Brother 10 and not copies of previous housemates.

"This is a very early stage but from what I have heard and seen there are some brilliant people coming through already," she said.

"But people should not try to emulate old housemates. We want new, unique people and we're getting those through so far.

"We've had people of all different shapes, sizes and ages but we literally judge each person on their personality."

So if you're successful in your attempts at winning over the producers, then the audience and you emerge victorious from the house after a long and often hard summer, what happens next?

Celebrity status, glamorous jobs and a brand new lifestyle surely? Not necessarily.

"I've had some great opportunities," said Rachel of her time since leaving the house.

"I've met some amazing people, I've been to charity events and I'm running the London Marathon in April.

"I'll be going back to teaching college in February. I've got six weeks left on my course and once that's finished I'll be looking for a job."