bbspy

Do people still shout sayings from The Bill at you in the street?
They do, even after all these years. It’s strange. They identify you with the character and I think a lot of them think it’s still on! It’s part of the territory. People know you and they don’t forget.

What made you want to go into the House?
My son said, “Dad, you need to get out more!” I’m a bit of a recluse. I live down in Brighton and I like it there. I don’t go into London that often now and I like it. So this is going to be good because at my age you don’t get that many new opportunities or experiences.

Do you watch the show?
I do. I watched the last two series. I watched the one with Jim Davidson. I didn’t watch the one with Frank Maloney or Kellie. I know Frank, but I don’t know Kellie. It’s very difficult because he was a good friend of mine and I just don’t know how to come to grips with it because he is not the same person at all. I haven’t met Kelly, not for any reason, it’s just not happened and I don’t quite know how to approach it.

Have you seen anyone else on the show who you thought handled it well?
I thought Jim Davidson kept it together pretty well. I know Jim and I thought he did really well. I thought Calum Best might have won the last series. He was particularly good and he came across as a nice guy. He handled Perez Hilton extremely well because he was beyond the pale. With some people you see a completely different side of them. Cheggers did well, but he’s a nice guy and that is it. He’s not pretending to be anything that he’s not. I think that is the only way you can go into this show. People keep saying have you got a game plan, well, no, my game plan is to survive.

Have you done anything to prepare?
There’s not much you can do other than watch it. You’ve got to be careful what you say because it can be misconstrued or you can say something you didn’t mean to say. I’m sure I will say something and people will say, “He shouldn’t have said that”, but other than that you just have to try and keep your temper. If someone is winding you up you just have to be able to stand back.

What do your family and friends think about it?
They are all very supportive, they think it is quite extraordinary because they all thought I was the last person in the world who would have ever gone in. I guess I am the last person in the world who would go in!

Is there anyone you’d like to see in the house?
Rick Stein. I love him as a man, I think he is lovely. He would probably hate it because they would all expect him to cook!

And who would you hate to see in there?
Perez Hilton. Quick answer!

What habits will annoy you in other Housemates?
Laziness around the kitchen, because I get that with my daughter, who will kill me for saying that! Also, keep those loos clean boys and girls! You do not want to be walking into a car accident.

Do you have any habits that other Housemates will dislike?
Oh yes, loads! I am quite lazy and I repeat myself. I said, I repeat myself! That must be really irritating. I probably fart, but I think everybody does so there is not much you can do about that, it’s just life.

Will you try to mediate in arguments?
It depends what the argument is! There are certain things I feel very strongly about. I don’t want to talk religion and things like that, but I might fall out with the Americans over capital punishment if they are in favour of it. I am a member of Amnesty International.

Will you be happy to have those discussions?
If they talk about it then I will talk about it and I am happy to get ferocious about it because I believe in these things.

Would you intervene if you thought someone was being picked on?
If everybody was ganging up on Perez Hilton I would have helped them! Some people deserve it. But there was that girl Alicia Douvall, and they were horrible to her. I didn’t like that at all because she was incapable of defending herself.

Would it mean a lot for you to win the show?
Yes, of course it would. It means a lot to me to win anything because I have hardly won anything in life. I won Celebrity Come Dine With Me and I was so pleased, you’d think I’d won the FA Cup! I was absolutely over the moon, so to win this, I would be really thrilled. It’s very unlikely that I will but it would be lovely. I’m not going in there to win, I’m going in to try and survive.

Would you use it as a stepping stone to something else?
I’ve made three films this year, British gangster films. I trained as an artist, so the one thing I would like to get out of it would be to maybe do some presenting on a programme about art. That would be interesting for me to do something different so maybe this could put that in somebody’s mind.

Because of DCI Burnside, will people expect you to be the enforcer in the House?
Oh God, I hope not. I don’t want to be an enforcer. I’m not at all like people think I am. I’m quite camp, really. I like that kind of humour. I’m not serious. I like people who have got good banter. You have got to take it seriously up to a point but I think the great trick of the show from what I’ve seen is to maintain a sense of humour. That is really important.