John: BB was a gamble
Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack favourite John Loughton confesses that coming on E4 show represented massive risk for him.
Friday, 18, Jan 2008 11:20
Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack favourite John Loughton has confessed that coming on the E4 show represented a massive risk for him.
Talking to internet entrepreneur Liam Young, the young politician explained the stresses of his work as chairman of the Scottish Youth Parliament.
John has emerged as the something of a father figure in the house, a remarkable turnaround given the bizarre antics he was forced into during the show's launch night by celebrity hijacker Matt Lucas, who relayed instructions to John via a secret earpiece.
But passing the task earned John immunity from eviction for the entire series and marked the Scot as the favourite to win the show.
"The thing is, this is the most spontaneous thing I've ever done. It was a gamble for me," he told Liam.
He explained that while he certainly aspired to a career in politics, he'd seen many of those in his field "walking past the same blocks on the Monopoly board" and had viewed a stint in the Big Brother house as a chance to approach his ambitions in a different way.
John's friendliness could turn out to cost him dear, however, as he emerges as something of a go-between for boxing hopeful Anthony Ogogo and musician Calista Robertson.
Calista cornered John for a "deep conversation" and made little effort to disguise her desired topic of conversation, telling John: "I just hope that if I got the wrong end of the stick or was misreading things that someone would tell me."
But John responded: "It's not my place to say.
"Don't be paranoid. Just remember where you are. It's only ten more days and then you can do what you want without worrying about the consequences."
Anthony then confessed to being confused about his feelings for Calista due to the intensities of the house.
"She's a brilliant girl but I don't know," he said. "It's hard to explain. When you're in here I don't think you can trust your feelings. It's harder to assess."
He continued: "I don't know if I do like her in that way and I won't be able to tell till I get out. I said to her, 'I don't want to make presumptions' and she said 'you can make presumptions because I really like you'."