Big Brother's first winner donated full £70,000 prize to friend and quit job after show
Craig Phillips, the first winner of Big Brother, donated all of his winnings after emerging victorious on the show, as well as starting a new career.
The long-running TV show first started back in 2000, named after the head of the authoritarian state in George Orwell's dystopian book 1984, a reference to the round the clock surveillance to which contestants are subjected.
There have been a lot of seasons of Big Brother since then, to say nothing of spin-offs such as Celebrity Big Brother, but all the way back in 2000 the very first winner of the show was Craig Phillips.
Builder Phillips runs his own construction business, and made a splash when he won the first series of the hit show, scooping the £70,000 prize money.
Advert
But rather than keeping the money, Phillips instead opted to donate it to help out his best friend's niece Joanne Harris, who was just 18 at the time and had Down's Syndrome and needed a heart and lung transplant.
UK doctors would not carry out the surgery due to her having Down's Syndrome, which could bar someone from organ transplants at the time, and Phillips had donated the money so that she could have the operation in the US, needing £250,000 to cover the cost in total.
"We need £250,000. We've been saving for a couple of years and we've got absolutely nowhere near it," he said at the time, the BBC reported. "All the money I have earned here is going towards it."
Channel 4, which ran Big Brother at the time had also pledged to match Phillips' donation to the cause, and memorabilia from the show was also auctioned off to raise more money.
Tim Gardam, Channel 4's director of programmes, said at the time: "Craig's generosity concluded an emotional and exciting finish to a phenomenal live TV event.
"We thought donating to the fund would be a fitting gesture to reflect the support of the millions of viewers that watched the show."
In the end the campaign would do more than help just one person, as the attention drawn to the issue by Harris' case would lead to calls for changing the law to protect disabled people from discrimination with transplants.
Harris would pass away after a short illness in 2008, with her mum telling the Shropshire Star at the time: "She brought so much joy to so many people and did so much to show that people with disabilities can lead very full lives."
Over three million people voted for Phillips to win the first season of Big Brother beating 10 contestants to become the first winner.
Following his win on Big Brother, Phillips would leave behind his old job and begin presenting DIY shows for a number of different TV channels, as well as appearing as a guest DIY expert on TV.
Phillips has also pursued several charitable endeavours, including a campaign for the Department of Transport for a campaign against drink driving.
He would also go on to have TV appearances in other shows, including the comedy series Bo Selecta! and reality show Back to Reality.
Topics: Big Brother, TV, Celebrity
Kit Roberts