<img src="http://www.bbfans.com/images/shell1.JPG" align="left">In Shell’s audition tape for Big Brother 5, she told producers that they should pick her for the show, as she thought they needed a genuinely “nice” person in the house. After speaking to Shell yesterday, I can confirm that she is exactly that!
Shell very kindly agreed to do an interview with me for BBfans, and we arranged it for yesterday evening, whilst she was on a 4 hour long train journey. Whilst this posed a few problems with dodgy phone signals, we still managed to have a chat about her Big Brother experience, her fellow BB5 housemates, her plans for the future, and a few irrelevant things, like my university course!
BBfans: It’s been 3 months since you finished 4th in Big Brother – is life any less hectic now?
Shell: Erm, kind of less hectic – it's still a bit strange, it is getting less hectic. I had things going on every single day shortly after the end of Big Brother, and that went on for a long time, but things are slightly less busy now. I’m able to have nice long weekends now!
BBfans: That sounds like me at university! I’m only in 2 days a week!
Shell: Oh my goodness! What subject are you doing?!
BBfans: Geography and Environmental Science
Shell: Whereabouts are you?
BBfans: Birmingham
Shell: Oh fantastic! What year are you going into?
BBfans: My third… final year!
Shell: Oh yes, of course! Fantastic! Oooh, I’ve interrupted you….
Realising we'd got slightly sidetracked, I asked Shell whether it was taking longer than she anticipated for her life to return to normal - something that she said she wanted whilst she was in the Big Brother house.
Shell explained that this wasn't really the case, and life still feels relatively normal to her. "It's how it might have worked out anyway, because I would have got a nice job, and had some work experience, and met lots of new people as well, so... It's happened in a weird way, but I was hoping it would happen anyway. It is
fairly normal."
BBfans: So, two weeks before the start of the series you were taken abroad – had you heard about rumours about the show?
S: I went to France, and no, I didn’t hear anything at all, it was really weird! I went with a girl called Rebecca, who was my chaperone, and it was brilliant! We had a balcony outside the room… well, we got chucked out of the first hotel, because we were being so odd! We were spending days and days inside the hotel, as we weren’t really allowed to go out, because we’d heard that reporters had gone to Belgium, and they were obviously on the look out for a story. So we just stayed in our lovely apartment by the sea, and chatted, sitting on the balcony at nighttimes, looking at the view, having barbeques, drinking the lovely French wine, and smoking cigarettes, so it was fantastic! Rebecca was an absolute cracker, and I still keep in touch with her.
BBfans: What were you thinking when you entered the house, and met the other housemates for the first time?
Shell: Erm.. I panicked! I didn’t really know what was going on, and it was really odd with everyone cheering outside. It was very strange, and I never expected that. It was just very odd ... very nice, because people had turned up to cheer when they didn’t even know me… well, maybe they did... I think there was a programme on beforehand. I wasn’t really too sure how I felt, but when I got into the house it was just very odd. I think I just spent that first night in the house thinking that... I didn't sleep at all....and I was thinking that I didn’t really want to be here, but I also though “god, I’ve been through so much to get here, and I don’t really want to give it up now”. I think Ness was the only person that looked vaguely normal!
BBfans: I was quite worried about you on that first night Shell! I’d watched the audition tapes, and you’d seemed so nice and normal compared to everyone else!
Shell: (laughs) I think they all came across as huge extroverts. Well, I think we all were, because I don't think we'd have done the show if we weren't. It was very lairy, and very crazy, and very odd!
BBfans: Do you regret anything that you did in the house, or anything that you said to other housemates?
Shell: Erm, no. I don’t think so. Even though you’re cooped up in a house, I mean, you have to do stuff that you need to do, so there was no point really thinking “crap, I shouldn’t have said that”, or “I should have done that differently”. You know, I would have done it whether I’d been in the house or not. You can’t be on your guard the whole time, or not do what you would normally do. So I think in that sense, you can’t really regret anything - you’ve just got to get on with what you’ve done, and what you haven’t done, so no, I don't regret a thing.
BBfans: Were there any times when you were worried about what your Mum or your boyfriend, Scott, might be thinking?
Shell: My Mum is fairly open-minded, so as long as I stayed within certain boundaries, I kind of knew she wouldn’t mind too much about anything. I was worried about Scott, cos it must be a difficult thing to lump someone with, in the sense that “oh, I’m going away, and you’re probably going to get lots of attention whilst I’m away”, so I did worry mostly about Scott, and that’s why I was so pleased to see him in the video in the last but one week. It was lovely, cos I was kind of worried most the time, but everything was fine.
BBfans: You said to Davina in your eviction interview that you thought you’d become a bit more “kick ass” whilst you were in the house – have any of your family or friends noticed a change in you?
Shell: I think a wee bit. I think some of my really good friends at uni have noticed a change, and they’ve commented that they think I’m a bit more confident. It’s really good though, because this a bit more how I want to be.
BBfans: Have you watched any of the footage back yet?
Shell: I’ve not actually! I’ve got two tapes that Scott’s Mum made up for me, but that’s mainly my Mum and Scott on Little Brother, and not much of me, cos she liked watching Scott on tele! I’d really like to see the first day, the last day, and my graduation, so I’m hoping those are on the tapes….
BBfans: Well if they’re not, give me a shout, as I’ve still got quite a bit of the series on tape!
Shell: Oh wow, thank you very much! I may take you up on that! That’s very organised…
BBfans: Or maybe just a bit sad?!
Shell: Oh no, I’ve got loads of stuff taped! I used to tape ER actually…I’m going to my friend Olivia’s soon, and she’s told me to bring the tapes so we can watch them together. I’m quite nervous about it!
BBfans: Have your opinions of any of the housemates changed since you left the house?
Shell: Not really! I still have a very high opinion of Ness, and Stu, and Dan and Nadia. I still get on with them. I haven’t really seen Jay, but I’ll be seeing him at Children in Need, so it will be nice to see him then, because I haven't seen him at all. I haven’t seen Vic too much, or Ahmed, so it’s really difficult to see them differently.
BBfans: Right, this next question's from Sarah...
Shell: Aha
BBfans: She runs Vanessa's website, and she's met you a couple of times - once was in Notting Hill...
Shell: Oh yes!! Yes! I remember her! She's lovely!
BBfans: She's asked me to pass on a message - she says hi!
Shell: Aww, that's so lovely! She made a card for Ness! She showed me the lovely card she had made for Vanessa just after the show finished, and I also met her at the Wrap party! She's gorgeous!
Sarah wanted to know if Shell found it weird having fans that looked up to her, and how she was coping with being recognised in the street. Shell explained that she does find it slightly weird, but she finds it lovely that people will go up to her, and say hello. Shell mentioned that she’d received no negative reactions, which she had found quite odd, as she was fully expecting some: “On the whole, it’s been really fun. I’ve met lots of new people, and people have been very supportive.”
BBfans: You took part in a photography course with Stuart and Dan as well, on Richard and Judy – how was that?
Shell: It was brilliant. It was so cool. I’ve always had an interest in photography, and Scott’s really into it. He’s taken some lovely photos as part of his degree, so we’ve had a camera in the house for quite a long while, and it was almost like justifying a hobby, because I like taking photos, and it gave me the opportunity to do it!
I asked Shell if she was still planning on shooting the cover for Dan’s album as well. It’s hopefully still going ahead, providing the people at Dan's record company liked it, and she’d received a text from Dan earlier in the evening.
BBfans: Nadia and Michelle are both doing pantomime this year… would you ever consider doing anything like that?
Shell: I am crap at singing and dancing! We always said Nadia was a bit like Margarita Prakatan, and she does have that pantomime aspect to her character, in the nicest possible way, so she’ll be great! Michelle loves the singing and dancing as well, so I think they’ll both be brilliant, whereas I would be crap!
BBfans: Have you got any plans to go and see them?
Shell: Oooh, I don’t know. I might! Actually.. why not! I like going to pantomimes! Why not?!
BBfans: You appeared to be quite supportive of Michelle and Stuart’s relationship in the house...
Shell: Yep
BBfans: Did it ever annoy you, having to watch them kissing all the time?!
Shell: Erm, no, that didn’t annoy me. I think the only time I found it hard was when Michelle had been portrayed as being mad and possessive. I mean, I already had a boyfriend, I didn’t want another one, so that was slightly difficult. Apart from that, when someone’s happy with someone else, that’s all absolutely fine, and it reminded me that I’d got a boyfriend back home, and I was going to be with him soon, and I’d be able to do that! I suppose in some ways they’re very different people, but they do say opposites attract!
BBfans: I met them at the National TV Awards last week, and they seemed really happy.
Shell: Oh yes, they do seem really happy. If they’re happy, they’re happy, and they are. The couple of times that I have seen them, they’ve been very huggy and kissy.
Shell appeared on the front cover of OK! Magazine a few weeks back, with glamour model, Jordan. When I asked Shell what she had made of Jordan, she said that although she had been slightly scared about meeting her, because of what has written in the press, Shell found her to be “really funny”, and “lovely.” Whilst Shell liked Jordan, she wasn’t quite as enthusiastic about what appeared in the magazine:
“I wasn’t very happy with the article though. She’s not my new best friend or anything.” Shell revealed that although she saw Jordan a week later, they haven't kept in touch.
BBfans: Have you got to meet lots of other celebrities as well?
Shell: Erm, I don’t really go to places to meet celebrities. I got to meet Pat Rafter though, which was quite exciting, and I’ve met Joanna Lumley, and she was a cracker, but apart from that..
BBfans: Richard Madeley seemed quite a fan of yours as well Shell…
Shell: He was really nice, we got on quite well.. I don’t know why.
BBfans: That would be because he probably fancied you, Shell!
Shell: (laughs) It was quite funny actually – I used to give him quite a hard time when we used to meet up backstage in the green room. We used to have some good debates, but he was lovely. They both (Richard and Judy) were actually... a very odd coupling, but it works!
I then asked Shell if there were any questions that she was fed up of answering yet in interviews
After thinking for a while, Shell mentioned that questions about whether she is returning to University can get a bit tiresome. She also added that she often feels quite bizarre when members of the public shout out her name as if she were a dog! : “Shell! Shell! Shell… fetch Shell.. come here Shell! I mean, would you even call your dog like that?!”
BBfans: Is it true that you’re going to be lecturing at Glasgow University soon?
Shell: Well, I don’t know how that story got out…. I read it on the internet. If I do post-grad, then lecturing is involved in it, but it’s more to do with conducting tutorials with first years, rather than lecturing larger groups. Nothing is confirmed yet.
Finally, when asked what her plans for the immediate future were, Shell replied that she will be mainly chilling with Scott for the time being! The two live together in Glasgow and are very happy together, yet Shell reckons it will be at least another 10 years before they consider marriage!
A huge thank you to Shell for giving up her time, (and using up her free minutes!) to chat to me.
Nicki
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