Chantelle Houghton

After various friends suggested she would make a good model, Houghton entered a 2001 competition run by Motor Cycle News magazine, and after winning it became a promotions girl.[6] Wanting to be like her heroine Jordan, she undertook some glamour modelling starting out by having her mother take some topless shots in a local park. In 2003, she entered a Daily Star competition as a Page 3 girl, which she did not win, but appeared once in the tabloid newspaper.[6]

Houghton appeared as a Soccerette model on the Soccer AM show for Sky Sports[7] and also worked for a lookalike agency, portraying Paris Hilton.[8] In 2005, she competed in a Miss Greater London beauty pageant, where she lost to Jenny Velasquez.[9]

Houghton had originally applied to be in Big Brother 6 and was a stand-by for that series but was never called up, however producers decided to use her for the upcoming celebrity version as a "fake celebrity".

Houghton entered the house on day one and became the first non-celebrity to enter Celebrity Big Brother. She was told by Big Brother that her cover story was that she was a member of a fictional band called Kandy Floss.[10] According to Big Brother, Houghton was the lead singer. Their singles were "I Want It Right Now", "Come Back", and "More More More". "I Want It Right Now" was their biggest hit. Had she failed to convince them, she would have been evicted from the house. She successfully fooled her housemates and survived to the end of the show. In her Big Brother profile page Houghton described herself as a "bright, blonde bimbo" (despite not being a natural blonde). She said, "I look like Paris Hilton, not on purpose but it's just the way it turned out".

On 8 January (day four), Big Brother set a task to the group to rate themselves by how famous they thought they were. The celebrity they thought was the most famous stood on the No. 1 podium and the person they considered the least famous stood on the No. 11 podium. Houghton had to avoid being put in the No. 11 podium to prove she had fooled the real celebrities that she was famous and to stay in the house. Houghton survived the task, being chosen to stand on the No. 9 podium, ahead of Samuel Preston and Maggot, who insisted on placing themselves last (they apparently realised she was not in the music business as they were). She was then called to the diary room to discuss her identity with Big Brother. This was simultaneously shown on a television screen in the lounge, in front of the other housemates.

Houghton was nominated for eviction on Day 21, but was saved from eviction by the public as the other two nominees (George Galloway and Dennis Rodman) left the house in a double eviction. While in the house, Houghton established close bonds with Jodie Marsh and Preston.

Houghton won the show on 27 January with 56.4%[11] of the public vote, ahead of Michael Barrymore on 22.7%, earning her £25,000 (the celebrities were reportedly paid fees of up to £150,000 each).

Houghton re-entered the Big Brother house for Ultimate Big Brother, following the conclusion of Big Brother 2010, and to signal the end of Big Brother on Channel 4. She entered the house with her ex-husband Preston. During the show, Houghton reformed the fake band Kandy Floss with fellow Ultimate Big Brother housemates Victor Ebuwa and Nadia Almada for a task. Houghton survived eviction on Day 11 and subsequently landed third place on the finale with 20.51% of the final three-way vote on Day 18, finishing behind Nikki Grahame and winner Brian Dowling.

Houghton also had her own post-Big Brother show called Chantelle: Living the Dream.

In May 2006, she signed a £300,000 deal with Random House to publish her autobiography. It was released in October 2006 called Living the Dream which sold 50,000 copies. Extracts from the book were read out by Simon Amstell on 14 February 2007 edition of Never Mind the Buzzcocks which caused Preston, who was a guest on the show, to angrily walk off the set.[12]

Houghton was nominated in the Most Popular TV Contender category at the 2006 National Television Awards, but was beaten by Nikki Grahame, herself a former Big Brother contestant.[13]

Houghton has "written" several columns in magazines, most notably as OK!'s Big Brother 7 columnist and New!'s Big Brother 8 columnist. Before becoming New!'s BB8 columnist she had another column in the magazine titled "I Want It Right Now" in which she shared makeup and fashion tips.

In June 2010, Houghton fronted a campaign for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, called 'Fight Impotence. Go Vegetarian'.[14]

In September that year, Houghton was named as the new face of the La Senza underwear range.[15]

Houghton has appeared as a guest on several TV shows since winning Celebrity Big Brother. These include:

• Channel 4's The Friday Night Project on 10 and 17 February 2006 as a co-presenter to Alan Carr and Justin Lee Collins, replacing Debra Stephenson, due to her heavy filming schedule for Coronation Street.
• TV3's The Brendan Courtney Show when she jetted in-and-out of Dublin in a matter of hours.[16]
• Channel 4's 8 Out of 10 Cats, as a celebrity contestant on 10 March 2006
• ITV1's The Mint, as a special guest
• BBC's The Weakest Link, as a celebrity contestant on 5 May 2006, which also featured some reality TV stars Michael Barrymore and Russell Grant; and Big Brother's Big Mouth on 17 August 2006, during the final week of the seventh series of Big Brother.
• CBBC's Comic Relief does Beat the Boss, alongside Dragons' Den star Duncan Bannatyne and comedian Joe Pasquale
• ITV's GMTV, for an interview in November 2007
• ITV1's Call Me a Cabbie as a trainee in 2007
• BBC One's Hotel Babylon as the girlfriend of Chris Moyles.[17]
• BBC Three's Snog Marry Avoid? on 16 February 2009
• Big Brother spin-off show Big Brother's Bit on the Side for Channel 5.[18]
• Come Dine with Me for Channel 4, broadcast from 10 to 14 October 2011[19]