Reggie Bird: ‘All my Big Brother prize money is gone’

Big Brother fan favourite Reggie Bird gives her first interview ahead of new season, and says none of her winnings are left.

For a TV series predicated on throwing ordinary people into a house, monitoring their every move, and seeing who can avoid eviction the longest, Big Brother Australia has created some surprisingly enduring stars. One of them, Reggie Bird, rode her earthy appeal to victory in 2003. But in the 19 years since, she has faced more than her fair share of setbacks and challenges. Perhaps, Bird tells The Binge Guide, a second stay in the house will see her rise to the top once more.

In the days before social media, when reality TV was still in its infancy, a then-unknown Tasmanian fish-and-chip worker named Reggie Bird first set foot in the Big Brother Australia house.

With her down-to-earth humour, strong work ethic and charming naïveté, Bird became an overnight celebrity, claiming a whopping 72 per cent of the viewer vote to win the 2003 series and pocket the $250,000 prize over runner-up Chrissie Swan.

Fast forward 19 years and things are very different in the Big Brother house now, Bird tells The Binge Guide.

Reggie Bird: “This was luxury. They even have a sandwich press!” Picture: Nigel Wright.

“Oh my God, they have carpet,” she exclaims. “We only had floorboards and a trough outside to wash all our clothes and dishes. This was luxury. They even have a sandwich press!”

It’s not just the accommodation that’s changed. Since her victory, Bird has become a single mother of two.

“I love Big Brother so much, but the minute they asked me [to return], the kids came into play,” she says of daughter Mia, 15, and son Lucas, 12.

In particular, she was concerned that Lucas, who has cystic fibrosis, a life-threatening genetic disorder that affects the lungs and digestive system, could become sick while she was locked away filming.

“But then, at the end of the day,” she reasons, “I’m like, ‘Yeah, I’ve got to do this for my kids.”

With her 2003 prize money now all gone, the prospect of a second win to shore up

her family’s financial security is certainly motivation. But more than that, Bird wants

to prove that a disability doesn’t have to hold anyone back.

In 2008, Bird was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative eye condition that will eventually leave her completely blind.

Although she has already lost her peripheral vision and her ability to see in the dark, Bird isn’t concerned her diminished sight will hamper her in the gruelling physical challenges that now determine who stays or goes from the house.

Reggie Bird returns to the Big Brother house. Picture: Nigel Wright.

“Watching the Paralympians do their thing made me think, ‘They can do anything, and so I can do anything, too,’” she says.

“I still go to the gym. I still go for walks. I don’t let my eyesight stop me from doing anything and living my life. I just take each day as it comes and make each day count. Knowing that the game’s changed dramatically from when I was in it [didn’t put me off]. I’m up for anything.”

Season 14 of the series will see Bird – who admits she’s not a natural strategist and won the game by simply being herself – face a new generation of camera-savvy contestants, one that has been raised on a diet of reality TV shows.

She will also mix with other similarly experienced ex-housemates such as 2013 winner and unabashed game-player Tim Dormer, controversial ex-lovebirds Tully Smyth and Anthony Drew, and David Graham – aka Farmer Dave – who famously came out in the 2006 season.

While Bird isn’t worried about fitting in, she says her popularity makes her a “huge target,” particularly since viewers don’t get a say in voting until the final eviction.

Even so, she insists the hardships she’s experienced have given her a winning edge.

Reggie Bird stars on the cover of this Sunday’s The Binge Guide. Picture: Seven Network.

“I look at life in a different way. I know that sounds like a stupid thing to say when I’m going blind, but it’s true,” she says with a laugh.

“It gives you a different perspective knowing that [you’re] going to wake up one day and not be able to see again. It’s the same with my son, Lucas, having cystic fibrosis. We don’t know how long he’s going to live, so we make the most of everything that we can.”

Big Brother Australia premieres at 7.30pm on Monday on the Seven Network.