Apr 28 2006
The
Uddersfield Daily Examiner
BIG Brother contestant Lesley Sanderson is suing the Sunday Sport paper over sex allegations.
Lawyers acting for the 20-year-old from Skelmanthorpe have filed a libel writ over an article published on June 5 last year.
It appeared under the headline "I roasted Lesley with my big bruv".
Top London solicitors Carter-Ruck are acting for the reality show entrant.
The writ was lodged in the High Court by Carter-Ruck partner Claire Gill.
She represented Jonathan Agnew, the BBC cricket correspondent, when he won damages against Private Eye over allegations published about him last August.
Her firm has acted for a string of personalities, including Sir Elton John, actor Ewan McGregor and model Caprice.
Lesley has had troubled times since being booted out of the Big Brother house in week two last year.
She said the show had ruined her life and led to her being attacked in nightclubs.
Her £15,000 earnings were blown on drugs, booze and partying.
A further blow came in March this year, when lawyers decided they would not prosecute a man accused of raping Lesley in a Leeds hotel.
She spent 24 hours on suicide watch in hospital after being left distraught by the decision.
In a rare interview, Lesley told the Examiner: "I regret going on the show and would advise anyone who wants to go on to forget it.
"I think Big Brother is a fix. They decide who they want to keep in from an early stage and then manage the coverage.
"It seems like one rule for one housemate and a different one for another.
"I am very upset at some of the things that have been in the newspapers about me.
"People who I know but who are not friends of mine have lied in the papers."
Sport Newspapers, publishers of the Sunday Sport, based in Manchester, refused to comment about the libel writ.
Lesley lives with her builder dad Paul and mum Heather in Skelmanthorpe.
She sensationally arrived in the Big Brother house wearing a skin-tight, PVC nurse's uniform.
Within 90 minutes of going into the house she was seen topless by millions of viewers during a jacuzzi dip.
She said her unique selling points were her "big brown Bambi eyes" and "very busty and curvaceous" figure.
But she admits that her life spiralled out of control since leaving the show.
"If I could pay £100,000 to go back to my life before Big Brother I would. I regret it and my advice is don't do it," she said.
