Big Brother has been revived by Network 10, with a whole new host of cheeky housemates hoping to make an impression.
With Mel Tracina hosting, it remains to be seen whether any of the 2025 cast will rise to icon status like so many of their predecessors.
One housemate who won over Australian viewers was Sara-Marie Fedele, from the first season of Big Brother way back in 2001.
With her infectious personality, bunny ears, and bum dance craze that took over the country, how could the Australian public NOT fall in love with her?
Though she was nominated for eviction six times, the then 22-year-old finished in third place in her season.
In fact, she was so popular that she had her own self-help book published, The Sara-Marie Guide To Life, released a song, and also had her own line of pyjamas.
But what has she been up to in the two decades since leaving the show?
Scroll on to find out everything you need to know!
Where is Sara-Marie Fedele now?
After appearing on Celebrity Big Brother and Dancing with the Stars and a hosting stint on Totally Wild, the reality TV star eventually faded into normality.
In a move away from her massive noughties TV fame, Sara-Marie has kept a relatively low profile and generally leads her life away from the cameras.
She lives in Perth with her daughter, whom she welcomed in April 2015, and was recently reported to be studying to be a teacher’s aide for children with special needs.
However, she is also represented by the Sydney-based talent agency Harry M Miller, and is available to be booked as a host or special guest at local events.
In July 2025, Sara-Marie revealed she hadn’t expected to win over so many fans on Big Brother, having walked into the house as a complete unknown.
“It was hard to understand because I lived in the house, not understanding the hype of it all,” Sara-Marie told TV WEEK.
“I said, ‘I really want to go to the shop and get new clothes.’ And I couldn’t even go to the shops. There were just people lined up everywhere.”
Her fame was so massive that she cashed in on with her now-iconic “bum dance” craze with her single, I’m So Excited (The Bum Dance), which reached number 12 on the charts.
“I did that much stuff that I just feel grateful. I’m really lucky,” she gushed.
While many of the Big Brother housemates made nightclub appearances after leaving the show, Sara-Marie opted not to, because fame was never her top priority.
She appeared on Dancing With The Stars and was offered places on many other major shows, but instead stepped back from the craze to focus on raising her daughter.
“Over the last 10 years I’ve been asked to do many other ones but I’m also a mum, so just wanting to be near my daughter has been more important,” she said.
However, she has not ruled out a return to reality TV and said she would consider appearing on I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! as her daughter gets older.
But fame is not her top priority, as she simply wants to have “fun” in life, rather than win over legions of fans.
What has Sarah-Marie Fedele said about Big Brother?
In a rare television appearance on Sunrise in June 2023, Sara-Marie reflected upon what made her a fan favourite on her season of Big Brother.
“The bunny ears were so I didn’t have to do my hair, the bum dance was to send a signal to my sisters that I was happy, and the pyjamas were because we weren’t going anywhere, so I couldn’t be bothered to be dressed. Very simple things…crazy.”
In February 2018, Sara-Marie also appeared as a guest on the Studio 10 panel and filled viewers in about what had been happening in her life since finding TV fame.
She briefly started an online business called Words on Rice, which involved her selling personalised grains of rice with names or messages on, but she is not believed to still be offering the service.
But fame wasn’t always easy for Sara-Marie as she admitted she often felt like a “character” and couldn’t get used to having so many fans.
“It was really hard for me to grasp because I was loved for being confident but then I had to learn a new confidence,” she revealed to Mamamia’s Mia Freedman. “I had to stand on stage and talk in front of thousands and hundreds of people.”
“I’m a confident person in my own circle but that doesn’t mean I’m real good to get up on stage and tell everyone I love myself. I had to learn that as well which people don’t realise.
“Sometimes I felt like a performing seal when I did a book tour. I’d have to stand on stage and slap my arse. I felt like I became a character.”
Sara-Marie also appeared on the ABC’s You Can’t Ask That in July 2018 in an episode dedicated to former reality TV stars that saw her answer controversial questions about her time in the spotlight.
Despite success after the show, which included a free boob job and an occasion where she earned $10,000 for a doughnut shop opening, the former reality star confessed she felt lonely in the period after Big Brother and the abuse she copped from members of the public.
“I was at a bar in Sydney and he said to me ‘If you weren’t on Big Brother you’d be nothing but a big fat f***ing heifer’ and I said ‘Excuse me?’ and he said it again really loud,” Sara said of a previous bad interaction.
Does Sara-Marie Fedele have children?
Away from the limelight, Sara-Marie welcomed a daughter in April 2015, but when she turned 40, she had a hysterectomy after suffering from bad pains.
“I knew at the time I wasn’t having any more children,’ Sara-Marie told Mamamia, adding that she’d had endometriosis and cysts throughout her life, but the hysterectomy “went terribly wrong”.
“They accidentally cut through my bladder so badly that I was in surgery for six hours having bladder surgery after my hysterectomy,” she revealed.
“Then I was in hospital for a week with a catheter and then I was at home for a week with a bag praying for my life that this is the only two weeks I have to have one,” she added.
Fortunately, Sara-Marie made a safe recovery and has continued living away from the spotlight in Perth.
“I haven’t been in hibernation, I just didn’t care to be known,” she added. “I’m still the same person before, but a grown-up version. I did what I did and then I was happy to go.”
