the last Big Brother Show.
Bookies are offering odds of 4/1 on the former soldier, from Cosby, to be crowned king of the reality TV show.
The 40-year-old double amputee, who lost both his legs in an IRA bomb blast, received a fantastic ovation from the crowd as he entered the Big Brother house on Wednesday.
The county's other contestant, 21-year-old Govan Hinds, from Northfields, Leicester, is fourth favourite at 7/1.
Steve, who is married and has eight children was just 19 when a bomb was detonated as he passed a pub on infantry patrol with four other British soldiers.
He lost both legs, almost lost an arm and was hit in the face with a brick blinding him in one eye. He spent five days in a coma at Belfast's Royal Victoria Hospital.
Surgeons were able to save and reconstruct his arm. However, he has been walking on crutches with two prosthetic limbs ever since the blast.
In an interview with the Belfast Telegraph, he said: "I was due to be married that year and was looking forward to a long career in the Army.
"There I was. I'd lost parts of my body, which knackers you for the rest of your life. My career was blown out of the water."
Steve, who joined the Royal Anglican Regiment at the age of 17, has a tattoo on his arm which bears the date of the attack next to an image of a bomb.
He volunteers as a sports coach, teaching wheelchair basketball and helps soldiers seriously injured in Afghanistan. A keen sailor, he has also crossed the Atlantic.
Neighbours said they couldn't believe their eyes when they saw Govan Hinds entering the house on Wednesday night.
Jane Sutton, 52, of Braybrooke Road, Northfields, said: "It's incredible that someone who lives just down the road is on Big Brother.
"One minute he's just walking around the estate with his mates, and the next he's on television.
"He's a really friendly chap and he's a great kid. He can take a bit of stick – but he gives it out too.
"Govan is definitely the happy-go-lucky kind of guy and he should get on well with everyone.
Gary Palmer, 16, also of Braybrooke Road, added: "I know him a little bit and my mum knows his mum, Gloria, really well. He's a really happy person pretty much all of the time and he's really friendly to everyone."
Another neighbour, who did not want to be named, said: "I was pretty shocked. It's strange to see someone you know."
Courtesy of Thisisleicester
