EIGHT Australian personalities - half familiar, the others less well-known - entered the Big Brother house last night for the long-awaited celebrity edition of the reality phenomenon.
Keeping each other company are controversial boxer Anthony Mundine, former Wheel of Fortune co-host Adriana Xenides, Home and Away party girl Kimberley Cooper, former Big Brother bum dancer Sara Marie Fedele, music host Dylan Lewis, men's magazine model Imogen Bailey, Hot 30 DJ Kyle Sandilands and drag queen Vanessa Wagner.
Bailey, 25, a bikini model and keen viewer of the first Big Brother series, said she signed on primarily to support charity.
"I am not a wannabe. I am not hoping to advance my career through it," she said.
"I have a niece who is not very well and has been helped by (Big Brother's nominated charities) Ronald McDonald House and the Starlight Foundation Charity. More than anything else, that was a huge deciding factor for me.
"It is actually interrupting a big step in the right direction for me. I have got an American film role happening and I am currently recording an album with, Superfly from the UK."
Bailey said the series would show viewers what she was really like.
"Being five-foot three (160cm), as far as my modelling work has gone, I have always been pretty vocal about the fact that beautiful women come in all shapes and sizes," Bailey said.
"I see this as an opportunity to push that idea because people are going to see how short I really am. Also they are going to see that just because you are moulded as a blonde beach babe, that is not necessarily what you look like when you wake up in the morning."
Bailey admitted to being nervous about how she would be perceived.
"You could come out of there being liked, but you could also come out of the house being absolutely hated," she said.
While Bailey said she was game for just about anything, the stunning single blonde ruled out a housemate romance and being seen nude.
"The first time I was asked (to do the show), I said no because I was concerned by the whole toilet and shower scene but then I was assured the cameras in those areas wouldn't be on," she said.
"I am known as a bikini model, and I have done Black and White magazine and things like that, but that does not mean I am a 'parader'.
"I am like everybody else, I don't like wandering around in the nude."
Instead of intruders, the celebrity version will feature "sleepovers" with the guests voted in by viewers. They are expected to include Kath and Kim stars Gina Riley and Jane Turner.
Bob Downe and Mikey Robins are expected to be Big Brother's "voice".
Celebrity Big Brother kicks off tonight on Channel 10 at 7.30pm.
It will screen on Monday, Wednesday and Friday for 30 minutes at 7.30pm. Nomination and eviction shows are on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday for an hour at 8.30pm.
Sunday Herald Sun
