Castleford holiday rep enters Big Brother house

Ellie Young, who is known for her time on ITV2’s Ibiza Weekender programme about 18-30s on the Spanish island, was unveiled as one of 15 ‘housemates’ during the launch of the 2017 Big Brother show on Channel 5 last night.

The 23-year-old, who has a degree in broadcast journalism but has been recently working at the trampoline park, Gravity, at Xscape, found out recently that her application for the show had been successful but was sworn to secrecy.

Her mother, Julie Young, explained: “We found out four weeks ago that she was going in but we were not allowed to tell anybody.

“When she was told over the phone she had it on loudspeaker and we all screamed. It’s all she’s ever wanted to do since she was 10-year-old.

“They started the audition process back in January and it’s been going on since then, she’s seen psychologists and all sorts.

“It’s been a long process, it’s not just because she has been on TV before.”

Now in its 18th year, Big Brother sees contestants isolated in a custom-built house filled with cameras filming 24-hours a day, often for months.

Each week the housemates nominate who they think should be voted off before a decision made by a public poll.

The last remaining contestant wins a cash prize.

And Julie is keeping her fingers crossed that Ellie, a former head girl art Castleford Academy, can entertain the general public and put her in with a chance of winning.

She said: “I think she will be really funny, she’s always got a smile on her face but will stick up for herself.

“She’s a bit of a party girl and likes a drink like any other 23-year-old, I think she’ll be entertaining.

“We’ve had no contact with her for 10 days before she went in but Big Brother rang us to say she was nervous about it but very excited.

“She has a good chance I think, as long as she’s not voted off the first week, that’s her big fear.”