“The death of my mother was a massive challenge to me, she died quite young of bowel cancer," Shane admits.
"Chad had the loss of his father as well, we both connected on that level of losing parents quite young.”
He goes on to explain that the loss of his late mum took a huge toll on his “mental health”.
“It was over a decade ago now, but we were close. I was a bit of a mummy’s boy.”
While it wasn’t easy to open up to someone else in the house, Shane says he and Chad were often up late chatting from their beds, which were positioned next to one another.
“You have to be vulnerable and let someone in at some stage," he said.
"It’s hard during Big Brother when you have to sit back and forget about the cameras, but you have to trust someone in there. It ended up being Chad for me.
"He’s got a big heart, he’s a very attractive man [laughs], he’s a legend of a bloke."
Since returning home to his family Shane has been watching the show back with his kids who are loving every moment of the series.
“We all sit down and watch it; the kids get a kick out of seeing dad on the telly.
"When I go pick them up from school, all the kids run out and go, ‘I can't believe you were in a cage or you were out in the rain for so long!’ It’s kind of cool," he said.