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Big Brother winner Cameron Stout was one of the most popular and most unlikely contestants ever to star on the hit Channel 4 TV reality show.

Born and brought up in the island fishing community of Orkney, Cameron went to school in Norway, studied in Edinburgh and has worked in various countries overseas. In 2003, as a diversion to commercial globe-trotting, Cameron applied for Channel 4's biggest television reality show.

A committed Christian, Cameron decided to take part simply because "it looked great fun".

The most surreal moment was even before arriving in the house, said Cameron: "I was in a holding cell when someone shouted 'ten minutes to go'. My heart sank and I thought what am I doing?

"Having said that, I had a fantastic time. Normally I am quite a positive outlook person. Getting to know the other folk who were in there and having a really entertaining and interesting time since has been great and I certainly do not regret doing it.

"People who watch, view it as a show, but inside the house it is just daily life and a bit like being on holiday with your mates. You soon bond. It was like normal life but under abnormal circumstances.

"I was still there at the end of the nine weeks with Ray from Dublin, which was brilliant. I could not believe it when Davina announced it was me who had won.”

Cameron's strong Christian faith came through on the show as a natural part of his life. "I was just me and because my faith is a very significant part of my life, I think it comes across as part of my being, not an added extra you drag in in a rucksack and display to people, it is just part of my make-up," said Cameron.

His advice to anyone thinking of going on the show is simply: "Just be yourself and have as much fun as you can."
Cameron's new life did not finish once the show had ended, it opened a lot of other doors for him.

"I have been involved in all manner of stuff. I have been making documentaries, writing and presenting for the BBC and other TV channels and I have signed to do my fourth big pantomime.

"I also get to do quite a lot of school, youth and church events. Really it is quite a dream life. One of the biggest things was to be invited back to the Big Brother Africa final about five weeks after ours. Christian Aid asked if I would be interested in seeing some of their Aids projects which tied in perfectly."

Big Brother winner Cameron Stout.

SCOTLAND'S loneliest schoolgirl landed a Christmas treat after Big Brother winner Cameron Stout heard of her plight.

Kind-hearted Cameron was touched by the Record's story about Caroline MacKinnon, nine, who is the only pupil at her school on the Hebridean island of Sanday.

So he asked bosses at Glasgow's Pavilion Theatre, where he is starring in Peter Pan, to invite her to the panto as a guest of honour.

Caroline was overjoyed to meet Cameron, who comes from Orkney, and stars of the soap River City who are also in the panto.

She and and her mum were brought to the city and put up in a top hotel before watching the show on Saturday.

They were also given backstage access to meet cast members, including River City stars Stephen Purdon, who plays Shellsuit Bob, and Laura McMonagle, who plays Zoe.

The pair are playing Michael and Wendy in Peter Pan.

The cast also includes comedian Dean Park as the Naughty Nanny and radio presenter Cat Harvey as Tinkerkat.

Pavilion manager Ian Gordon said last night: "Cameron read Caroline's story in the Record and it really touched him. He spoke to me about bringing her down to see the show and I agreed it was a great idea.

"We were proud to have her as guest of honour and she seemed to have a great time."

Each day, Caroline walks a mile from her home on the island of Canna across a causeway to the neighbouring island of Sanday, where her school is.

She has no one to play with at breaktime since her elder sister Kathryn started school on the mainland.

But there is hope on the horizon for her. The National Trust for Scotland, who own the island, are looking for two families to join the population of just 15.

Of those, Caroline's sister Kathryn and cousins Mairead MacKinnon, 15, and Sinead MacKinnon, 14, board at Mallaig High School, taking the population down to just 12 during term time.

Two hundred years ago, 430 people lived on Canna.
A shortlist of six families was drawn up last week from the 350 who applied to live on the island.