BY CHRISTIAN DEZELU
LeicesterMercury
10:15 - 22 May 2006
Loughborough lass Bonnie Holt told her employers she was going on holiday to Skegness so she could take part in reality TV show Big Brother.
Bosses at the hit show, which started its seventh series on Thursday, had to then phone the Shepshed care home where the 20-year-old worked to explain the situation, her parents Ellen and Mick have revealed in an interview today.
On Thursday, Bonnie was unveiled as one of the 14 competitors battling it out in the Big Brother house for a £100,000 top prize and almost guaranteed celebrity status.
Her parents, who live in Garendon Road, Loughborough, have spoken for the first time about how proud they are of Bonnie appearing on the show.
Along with Bonnie's elder sister Lara, 23, they are now keenly watching her progress over the next 13 weeks of tasks, trials and tribulations.
Mrs Holt said: "Bonnie and Lara went to the auditions in Birmingham and she pushed to the front of the queue.
"She'd had a couple of cans beforehand to steady her nerves and she said some shocking things.
"They took her away two weeks before the show, and we have not been allowed to speak to her personally since then, because she's not supposed to have any knowledge of the outside world.
"She told the Meadows Care Home, where she worked, that she was going away to Skegness. Big Brother then had to ring them up and explain that Bonnie was very sorry."
Yesterday, staff at the home declined to comment on Bonnie.
Mrs Holt said her daughter had decided to enter Big Brother as much for the experience of it all as for the chance of winning.
"At the moment she is coming across as quiet in our eyes, but her personality will come across eventually. She's a little character," she said.
Bonnie's turn in the limelight has also made the family the centre of attention for less desirable reasons.
Last month, Bonnie's half-brother Clyde Mactavish, 28, was jailed for more than three years by Leicester Crown Court after being arrested in Loughborough with a stash of heroin hidden in his underpants.
Mactavish, of Pevensey Road, Loughborough, had admitted possessing a class A drug with intent to supply, on June 27 last year.
The court heard 5.89 grams of heroin was found - equal to between 59 and 117 deals, with a street value of up to £590. He was jailed for three years with an additional month for a bail offence he also admitted.
However, one national newspaper on Saturday reported he had been caught with six kilograms of the drug, which has left Mr and Mrs Holt deeply unhappy.
They maintain they, and Bonnie, have a strictly anti-drugs stance despite Mactavish's conviction.
Mrs Holt added: "We just don't know what the papers will try to dig up, so we are taking each day as it comes.
"This should be about Bonnie - we are very proud of her.
"We love her and we think other people will, too."
