Brother’s first Welsh winner was crowned during the show’s Channel 4 era in 2008
Rachel Rice won Big Brother 9 in 2008(Image: Getty Images )
The first ever Welsh contestant to win Big Brother ditched life in the spotlight for an admirable job.
Cwmbran’s Rachel Rice found fame almost 20 years ago when she won the Channel 4 series. Now 42, the former contestant teaches performing arts, including music and drama.
Beyond her professional role, Rachel is also mother to two sons, based on her social media presence. She wed Richard Jenkins in July 2011 and has predominantly remained out of the limelight since her reality television triumph.
She took a very different path to what audiences might have anticipated for someone who won £100,000 on national TV. However, returning to a regular life was always amongst Rachel’s aspirations, even following her huge win.
In an interview after her win, she told Wales Online: “My aim is to go back to teaching. But if I don’t get a job I’d love to do outreach work with underprivileged children. If TV presenting came up that would be a dream – but realistically I can’t see that happening.”
Rachel was a 24-year-old trainee teacher when she joined the Channel 4 programme, having applied amongst thousands of candidates across the UK. “I’d always said I would go on Big Brother,” she revealed after her victory.
“But people would say ‘no chance’. I said to my boyfriend ‘I’m telling you now, I’ll be on there’ and he said with all the thousands of people applying, it would never happen.”
Despite aspiring to become a contestant, she remained astonished at being selected, reports OK!
Although she was an underdog in the house, she went on to claim more than 51% of the public vote, defeating runner-up Mikey Hughes. Yet her triumph was far from universally celebrated, as she emerged from the house to a wave of boos.
Some viewers had labelled Rachel as “boring”, though she robustly defended herself against her detractors following the show. “They said I was boring because I wouldn’t get involved in discussing who’d be out, I wouldn’t b*** and that I sat on the fence. But I knew my friends and family at home knew the real me. I stayed true to myself.”
A fresh group of Big Brother housemates are hoping to emulate Rachel’s success this year. The previous series saw fellow outsider Richard Storry claim the £100,000 prize, having found himself at the heart of a dispute with fellow housemate Caroline Monk.
ITV’s newest series launched just last week and has already generated heated rows alongside budding romances. However, viewers are yet to settle on their favourite to win in 2026.
The latest season of Big Brother continues tonight at 9pm on ITV2 and ITVX
