Where Big Brother 6’s stars are now – from Anthony Hutton’s surprising business to Makosi, Kinga and Sam Heuston
BIG Brother 6 saw the introduction of a brand new twist – right at the final hurdle.
The winner initially stood to take home £100,000, but one housemate was given the dilemma of taking half the prize pot two days before the last episode.
He decided to snatch it – not realising that the £100,000 would have been doubled if he’d turned the offer down.
Here, we look at the 2005 housemates – who pinched the money – and where they all are now…
Anthony Hutton – Winner
Dancer Anthony Hutton scooped £50,000 when he won Big Brother 18 years ago.
Sadly for him, this could have been a whopping £200,000 had runner-up Eugene Sully not secretly pocketed half.
Hot on the heels of his newfound fame, Anthony enjoyed a short career in television.
He appeared on footie shows The Match and Premier League All Stars and even released his own workout DVD.
Anthony has since trained to be a barber and owns Mr Hutton’s Barbers & Bar, a barber shop-come-cocktail bar.
He and his wife Sophie have one child, a two-year-old son called Cruz.
Eugene Sully – Runner Up
Eugene Sully did well out of his Big Brother stint thanks to the prize money twist at the end of the series.
And he had only been there for a short time, after being dropped in late to the Secret Garden.
He initially jumped on a career in the spotlight, appearing on shows including Dead Set, Eggheads, Test the Nation and 8 Out of 10 Cats.
Eugene quickly settled back into ‘normal’ life, however, using his university skills in electronic engineering.
He has had a string of behind the scenes jobs in TV and radio, working as a studio manager and senior broadcast engineer.
Eugene currently works for BBC News as a senior satellite engineer.
Makosi Musambasi – Third Place
Although she made it to the final, Makosi Musambasi’s post-Big Brother journey was a rocky one.
The Zimbabwean model and nurse is best known for getting steamy with Anthony Hutton while topless in the hot tub.
She even went on to ask BB producers to provide her with a pregnancy test…
Makosi had been living in the UK on a visa which allowed her to stay, providing she was working for the NHS.
A fight then ensued when officials threatened to remove it. They were unhappy that she was using a sabbatical to appear on BB.
Makosi later moved to Nigeria but was allegedly stopped at a UK airport for using a relative’s passport.
She now lives in Nigeria and often visits Dubai. Makosi works as a life coach, public speaker and enjoys playing golf.
In 2017, Makosi was diagnosed with breast cancer. She has since beaten the disease and now works as a campaigner for cancer charities.
Kinga Karolczak
Big Brother fans will only have one memory of Kinga Karolczak – an awful moment involving a wine bottle in the garden.
Television watchdog Ofcom was inundated with complaints but she couldn’t see what all the fuss was about.
Speaking some years later, Kinga said: “I can’t believe the reaction. I was just messing around because I was tipsy, but it never actually touched me.”
Kinga dabbled in acting after Big Brother and played a zombie version of herself in Channel 4 mini-series Dead Set.
She briefly launched her own YouTube channel called The Kinga Show, but has now disabled it, and was training to be a make-up artist.
Craig Coates
Hairdresser Craig Coates came fifth place in Big Brother 6.
The gay housemate struck up a close friendship with eventual winner Anthony Hutton, although viewers feared he was falling in love with him/ borderline obsessed with him.
After leaving Big Brother, Craig opened his own hair salon in Norfolk. He also fell victim to a rather unfortunate webcam leak..
Craig has been in the Royal Navy since 2013 after he quit hairdressing.
Derek Laud
Speech writer Derek Laud was not your typical Big Brother contestant.
Nevertheless, he lasted a respectable 71 days in the house and his career has gone from strength to strength ever since.
Derek went on to become a regular commentator on Sky News and has written opinion pieces for national newspapers.
His website now states that he is “a partner in a private bank and holds numerous other non-executive directorships”.
It adds: “Derek is Chairman of the Foundation Board for Lucy Cavendish College, at the University of Cambridge. He also chairs the College’s North American Committee.”
There is no mention of his Big Brother past on his website.
Orlaith McAllister
Irish student Orlaith McAllister was a late arrival to the house and made a big entrance thanks to her shamrock bikini.
She arrived in the Secret Garden with fellow latecomer Eugene Sully but later walked out.
Orlaith blamed her early exit on speech writer Derek Laud, saying: “I couldn’t stand being in the house another week with him.”
Now living back in Ireland, Orlaith has two children and works as an estate agent. She is also a fully qualified personal trainer.
Kemal Shahin
At the time of entering the show, Kemal Shahin was 19 and Big Brother’s youngest ever contestant.
The Turkish student and belly dancer quickly became the ultimate diva of the house and was known to throw tantrums.
Kemal initially tried his hand at launching an accessories range after BB and even released a single called Through With Love.
He also dated fellow housemate Kinga for six months.
Kemal has now changed gender and is called Zuleyka Shahin. She has spoken at the Oxford Union and is believed to live in the US.
Kieron ‘Science’ Harvey
Science Harvey is among the few BB alumni who refused point blank to take part in nominations during his time in the house.
He faced the public vote as a result and was given the boot.
After leaving Big Brother, Science worked in London’s ‘urban industry’, hosting events and handing out awards for the positive achievements of young people.
He now goes by the name of Cityzen Science on Instagram and works as a hiphop artist in Leeds.
Vanessa Layton-McIntosh
Law student Vanessa Layton-McIntosh was also 19 when she entered the Big Brother house.
Following her eviction in week 6, Vanessa enjoyed circling the London party scene for a while.
She then returned to the day job and interned at Harvard and Citigroup.
Vanessa is now a qualified lawyer, having worked for White and Case LLP and the Crown Prosecution Service.
Maxwell Ward
Maxwell Ward was working as a maintenance engineer when he found fame on Big Brother.
While in the house, he fell for contestant Saskia Howard-Clarke and they enjoyed a two-year relationship together.
He even told Heat magazine: ‘I’m not blowing my own trumpet, but if I hadn’t got with you [Saskia], I would’ve won the show hands down!
“If I had the time again, and I’m sure you’d say the same thing, I wouldn’t have got with you and you wouldn’t have got with me.”
Since their split, Maxwell has disappeared from the public eye and his whereabouts are unknown.
Saskia Howard-Clarke
Promotions girl Saskia Howard-Clarke was evicted on day 36 of Big Brother.
She had been up against her love interest Maxwell Ward in the public vote, but he stayed over her.
Saskia initially ducked out of the spotlight after giving birth to a son.
She has recently returned, however, and now works as an OnlyFans model and TikToker.
Roberto Conte
Italian-born Roberto Conte was dicing with fire when he went on Big Brother.
He was working as a teacher and, as Big Brother two’s Penny Ellis would warn, the two don’t always mix.
But thanks to his very non-controversial behaviour, Roberto managed to return to his career once he was evicted.
He went on to secure a job working with children who have special educational needs in Liverpool.
Sam Heuston
Sam Heuston had warned BB viewers: “I’ll get nominated because I’m serious competition, they might find me annoyingly dippy and wearing swimsuits a lot.”
She was third to be evicted and used her love of swimsuits to make a living. Sam regularly featured in lads mags for a short time after Big Brother 6.
Sam also tried her hand at acting and had a small cameo as a ring girl in the 2007 British movie Clubbing to Death.
But rumour has it that she eventually grew tired of Z-list fame and disappeared back into obscurity to work as a secretary.
Lesley Sanderson
Lesley Sanderson made sure all eyes were on her in the summer of 2005 by entering BB in a PVC nurse outfit.
But her Big Brother dreams were not all she had hoped.
Second to be evicted, Lesley later admitted she regretted her brief time on the show and said it led her down a path of drugs and destruction.
She told The People: “Big Brother ruined my life and turned me into a hate figure. I thought cocaine was the only way to block out the pain. Before Big Brother I had never touched drugs.”
Lesley has put the past behind her thankfully and is now believed to be working as a counsellor in Manchester.
Mary O’Leary
Viewers weren’t sure what to make of Mary O’Leary.
The white witch and psychic claimed she had been abducted by aliens ‘seven-and-a-half times in a past life in Atlantas’.
Mary was first out the door and had initially decided to become an actress. Sadly, she ended up spending time living on the streets.
The latest whispers are, however, that Mary managed to get back on her feet and now runs a business selling herbal remedies.
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