In 2004, she won the show by the highest margin to date, after a summer of chain-smoking, dancing and opening the eyes of the British public. She looks back on how her life changed for ever
‘I’m in denial,” says Nadia Almada, arching a well-groomed eyebrow. “I don’t understand how it’s been 20 years.” She pauses: “Twenty years? I need a trigger warning … ” Then comes that full-throated laugh, instantly recognisable to anyone who spent the summer of 2004 watching Almada chain-smoke, dance, cry, flash and fight her way through the fifth series of Big Brother. She won that by the highest margin to date, racking up almost 4m votes despite starting the show as a 50-1 outsider.
At the age of 27, she was also Big Brother’s first and, to date, only transgender winner – her gender identity shared with the viewers but not her fellow housemates, at Almada’s request.
