Big Brother Series 2

Brian

Will Brian become a superstar? Record your views.

Brian has spectacularly won the second series of Big Brother - after millions of viewers voted for him to win.

And his greatest desire after striding out of the Big Brother goldfish bowl was to strip naked and luxuriate in a steaming, soapy shower without the cameras trained on him every second.

As thousands of fans chanted his name on Friday night, he said of his fellow contestants: "I led such a sheltered life before I went in. The first black person I've ever really had a conversation with was Amma. And the first Asian person I've connected with in all my life was Narinder. It's opened up my views. Going into the house there were a few confusions concerning my sexuality, where I was going in life, what I planned to do."

Brian grew up in the quiet Irish village of Rathangan in County Kildare. The son of a builder, he has six younger sisters - Michelle who is ten months younger than him, Valerie, 20, Tracey, 16, Paula, 14, Aoife, 11, and Tara, eight.

He won a job as a steward with low-cost Irish airline Ryanair and four years ago went to live in Bishop's Stortford, Herts - a few miles from Stansted Airport. Now the lovable Irishman, already being dubbed the new Graham Norton, is expected to be offered lucrative TV contracts. He is delighted with the comparisons to top chat show host - and fellow camp gay Irishman - Norton.

"I just take that as a huge compliment," he said. "I'd like to meet him because I'm sure we'd get on well and he'd make me laugh."

Brushing aside comparisons with Posh and Becks, he said: "I wouldn't say I'm famous. I'd just say I'm a guy who was lucky on a game show. I really don't know why I got all those votes."

He was surprised that the Irish people took an openly gay man to its heart and supported him so strongly.

"I was very shocked about that," he said. "Being Irish, Catholic and gay was a big thing for me. I'm still coming to terms with winning and I'm still in shock. I thought that people would find my loudness quite annoying."

He reckons he and runner-up Helen Adams, pictured right with Brian, changed the most out of the contestants.

"In week one I kept saying to her that she was too insensitive and immature," he said. I think she's come a long way. I've changed so much, too. I hope people see me as an honest guy, just being who I am. I guess people will remember me for being afraid of chickens and dogs. I'm not expecting people to throw themselves at me, because they've never done it before. I plan to be single forever. I am single - spread the word!"

And he insists that, despite his �70,000 prize, he expects to return to his job which Ryanair are holding open for him until September 1. He said: "I'm still pushing my trolley down the aisle. I plan to go back to work. I enjoy being an air steward, it's my job. I've been doing it for three and a half years. Whether I go further with this TV thing, I don't know. I'll have to get back to you on that one."

But TV bosses say Brian, left celebrating, has the best chance of any Big Brother contestant of the two series to make it big on the box. They urged him to "play the long game" when planning his future.

A Channel 4 source said: "Brian's a lovely, down-to-earth guy - that's why he's talking about going back to Ryanair. He doesn't want to count his chickens. But he won't be going back to being a trolley dolly. He has a huge future on TV. He is a natural."

Ryanair have backed Brian all the way. They even resprayed a �25 million jet with a message of support for him. The Boeing 737 has the inscription "Good luck Brian in Big Brother" written in huge letters next to the Channel 4 show's logo. Airline bosses gave the NSPCC �1,000 for every week Brian stayed in the house. They said they were delighted to pay the maximum �10,000. Ryanair director of operations David O'Brien said: "All 1,500 of us here in Ryanair were rooting for Brian."

But company boss Michael O'Leary said he does not expect Brian, pictured right in the house, to take up his old job again. He said: "We're all delighted for him. I hear he has lots of job offers and I think he'll be a great success. Everyone at Ryanair wishes him every success in whatever he decides to do."

Brian's dad Gerry told how every one of his village's 2,500 inhabitants was rooting for his son. And his daughters had their computer turned on non-stop to check their brother's progress on the web.

He said neighbours plan a party now that Brian has won. Gerry reckons the secret of his son's success was to behave naturally.

"The Brian you see on TV is the Brian we know and love," he said. Nothing was put on for the cameras. We were thrilled at the way he came across on Big Brother. He got on with everyone. I think he could have a brilliant career in TV. As everyone can see on Big Brother, he's a natural. He's a lovely, sweet-natured guy who viewers really warm to, just like Graham Norton."

Brian has showbiz in his blood - he is a distant relation of Hollywood star George Clooney.

Brian once went sick from work after a woman airline passenger flashed at him. The Ryanair steward went "white as a sheet" as the Italian dropped her knickers to get his attention. During the screening of Big Brother supportive Ryanair bosses unveiled a jet painted with the message: "Good Luck Brian".

Once while inside the Big Brother House Brian revealed that a former EastEnders star once chatted him up during a flight. He told tale but refused to name the ex-soap star. He said: "I�m not going to say anything else or I will make myself look stupid."

He also said he once had to take the afternoon off work after a passenger dropped her knickers at 30,000 feet. Brian was so shocked by the sight of the woman�s bottom he was sent home to recover. Colleague Christine Buchanan, 20, said: "Brian went as white as a sheet and just didn�t know where to look. He had never seen a woman that close up." The incident happened when a 35-year-old nurse tried to persuade Brian, from Rathangan, Co Kildare, to open her locked suitcase on a flight from Stansted, Essex, to Italy. When he refused, she pulled down her trousers and pants.

All the passengers were agog. Brian put up his hand and said: "I can�t deal with this."