Published: Wednesday, 10th September, 2008 10:00
BB Mikey's exclusive interview with the Post
By Colin Hutton
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Bankie can't wait to come home
BIG Brother’s Bankie Mikey Hughes has revealed that he cannot wait to get back to Clydebank after finishing second in the reality TV show.
Having lived in the town for five years, the 33-year-old radio producer thinks of Clydebank as his home and cannot wait to get settled back into his normal lifestyle.
As the first ever blind contestant in the show, Mikey was popular from the off, but it was his quick tongue and hilarious one-liners which made the Parkhall man a firm favourite with fans.
And although Mikey finished runner-up in the Channel 4 show, when he emerged from the house on Friday it was to a “hero’s welcome”, which is in stark contrast to the winner Rachel who was booed by some of the crowd.
During an eventful stay in the most talked about house in Britain, Mikey entertained viewers by dressing-up, shaving his head and eyebrows and memorably eating a whole Scotch Bonnet chilli — reputedly the hottest in the world — with hilarious consequences.
And even though he missed out on the top prize of £100,000 Mikey, who was the bookies’ favourite to win, is now more concerned about coming back to Clydebank — because so many people will have lost money voting for him and betting on him to win.
He told the Post: “I’m a bit apprehensive about getting back home because a lot of people voted for me because I was the bookies’ favourite — so I’ve cost a lot of people a lot of money.
“Even my sister says she is wanting £300 back that she spent voting for me, but I told her where to go because I’m broke.
“It was a big, big shock on Friday night because I’ve been in the house for thirteen weeks and to come out and get a hero’s reception with everyone shouting Mikey was amazing.”
Throughout his stay in the house Mikey always amused his housemates with his antics and is overjoyed with his experience.
He said: “Apparently the best highlight was me eating the Scotch Bonnet chilli, that was not my highlight because I was on the verge of a heart attack.
“And then the time that I got hit on the back of my head with a ball seems to have been popular because I’ve been told my reaction was a typical Scottish reaction — that was not a highlight for me either.
“Dressing up as a bunny was a highlight as was giving Mario a good scrub down in the bath during his stag night.
“But I really loved it when all the other housemates had to dress up as me and wear blindfolds.
“It gave me the chance to get my own back on them and I also felt like we were on an equal footing.”
Back on the outside world Mikey is finding it tough to get used to life again but is relishing getting back to work.
He said: “I’ve still got my job with Insight Radio so I will go back to that and would love to do more stand up comedy.”
He added that he keeps up to date with the Clydebank Post with the aid of Bankie Talk — the talking newspaper for the visually impaired, which records stories from the paper.
He added: “I also get people to read me bits and pieces from the Clydebank Post so I’m looking forward to hearing about all that’s been written about me.
“I went into the house because I wanted to bring blindness into the mainstream and although every blind person is different I hope I showed that despite being blind I’m a person as well.
“I wanted to entertain and I sure did that.”
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