PETE Bennett has revealed he’s struggling to get work and is having trouble paying his bills 20 years on from winning Big Brother.
The 44-year-old won the show in 2006 and famously had a relationship with the late Nikki Grahame , who was a housemate during the same series.
In a new interview, confessed he now receives and felt forced to sign on for it in order to keep up with his bills.
He said: “I’m not in a good place at the moment. I don’t really get work. I’m very creative, I make puppets, I do acting and music.”
Speaking to The Brighton Coach , Pete continued: “I’m on PIP at the moment, I had to do it.
“I’m trying to figure out something because my bills are really bad. I’d love to do kids’ TV shows with puppets or something or voiceover work for cartoons.”
in 2021 aged 38 following complications from a lifelong battle with anorexia nervosa.
He said: “F”***ing f***ed me up, the whole thing.
“I’m getting there now, it’s taken me five years to get to where I’m at to be able to grieve her and grieve what happened and try and get to a place where it doesn’t trigger me anymore, because it is really triggering, the whole thing is horrible.
“And I miss her a lot, I just wish that I could.. that’s what f***s me up, I wish I could say ‘I’m sorry’ and just give her a cuddle.”
In 2021, Pete told Heat magazine the pair sang and danced to Kate Bush’s song Babooshka not long before her death.
Sharing the , it read: “Hey Petie, all good my end. Starting a clinic on Monday, which is good. And the sun is shining today!’”
Pete revealed he had tried to arrange a special surprise for Nikki in the hope it would help her recovery.
He said: “I was looking to contact Kate Bush to see if she could send Nikki a message as I honestly thought that giving her a boost from her hero would help her start to feel more positive and recover.
“But then we got the news that she was gone. And it was too late.”
