OG Big Brother fans get excited – because two of Australia’s favourite contestants are set to make their return to the Big Brother house ahead of its 21st birthday in 2022.
WATCH: Big Brother 2022 is coming
According to Channel 7, Reggie Bird – who famously won the series back in 2003 – and Tim Dormer – who took the crown a decade later – are confirmed to be among the crop of contestants that have been dubbed Big Brother royalty.
In a sneak peek of the hit show, it was revealed that the latest season will also see fresh faces competing against the much-loved contestants.
“It’s mainly new contestants with a scattering of some of the most iconic Big Brother housemates mixed in,” Channel 7’s Brook Hall recently told TV Tonight.
“There’s a clever way that they’re all brought in…. they enter with a different point of view to the rest of them. That’s all I can say on that one.”
Tim – who was famous for his strategic gameplay back in 2013 – looks to be back to his old ways, as he’s heard declaring in the clip seen by 7Life, “Let’s start some mischief!”
Speaking of her highly-anticipated appearance in the new season, season three winner Reggie is also heard saying, “This may be a new game but I’m still the same old Reggie.”
“It’s just little old me from Tassie.
“Big Brother is in my blood. I just can’t believe I’m here.”
Despite Reggie winning Big Brother and $250,000 in prize money in 2003, it hasn’t come with boundless glitz and glamour, with the star having had quite the harrowing journey since she first appeared on our screens.
Just a year after her season of Big Brother, Reggie, was diagnosed with a degenerative eye condition called retinitis pigmentosa and is now legally blind.
“I’ve lost my peripheral vision and I’ve got 10 degrees of central vision left. I have no night vision,” she said during The Daily Edition in 2016.
Due to her age and the invisible nature of the ailment, Reggie has been on the receiving end of certain personal misconceptions.
“Sometimes when I forget to take my cane to the shops and I bang into people… they look at me because I’m so young and just think I’m being rude,” she explained.
WATCH: Reggie Bird wins Big Brother 2003. Story continues below.
“Even when you’re getting a taxi – I’ve had a few say, ‘you’re only going up the road, why can’t you walk?’ Things like that upset me.”
On top of that, Reggie also suffered a stroke in 2017 as a result of a heart condition, and later faced homelessness.
Unfortunately, the health conditions extend past Reggie’s own, with her youngest son Lucas grappling with cystic fibrosis.
Despite the harrowing trajectory of Reggie’s life post-Big Brother, the recent revamped BB has certainly been on her radar, with the mum previously saying she would be keen to make a return to the house for an all-star series.
“I’d love to go back into the house with past housemates,” she told Now To Love. “I think the true-blue, die-hard Big Brother fans would love to see that happen.”
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