A former Big Brother contestant has claimed he turned down ‘£25,000 and a lifetime of Kinder Bueno’ just for a one-minute reunion with his mum.
Jenkin Edwards, 26, entered the Big Brother house for the show’s 2023 reboot after it was previously axed by Channel 5 in 2018 due to low viewer numbers.
The bartender, who hails from Bridgend in South Wales, was known during his time on the show for his ‘miserable’ attitude, something which he attributes to missing his family.
He revealed that Big Brother producers offered him £25,000, as well as a lifetime supply of his favourite chocolate – Kinder Bueno – in exchange for forfeiting a chance to briefly see a ‘mystery family member or friend’ for 60 seconds.
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However, he turned down the offer for a chance to see his beloved mum, Susan, which led to a heartwarming reunion.
Jenkin said: “I struggled with not seeing my family a lot more than I thought I would, from age 12 to 18 I was a carer for my mum, every day we were on the phone.
“My mum has loved the show since season one and so has my nan, I partly went on it for her. She has always been my biggest supporter and the first to bring me back down to earth.”
The show returned to screens on ITV last year, with the upcoming 2024 season promising an AI-themed house and new games.
When Jenkin saw his mum inside the house, he realised how much effort it must have taken for her to get there.
She has previously suffered from liver disease, fluid on the brain and had a stroke, leaving her with limited mobility and using a wheelchair at the time of the show.
He said: “I knew how much it took for my mum to get to that stage, she was in a wheelchair to the door. I know she did that for a signal for me to be like ‘I’m fine, don’t worry’.”
Jenkin had an emotional reaction to seeing his mum and explained that his miserable portrayal on the show came from his homesickness and previous history as a young career. Jenkin said: “The hardest of times was when my mum had a stroke which left her with a stutter, that was a big wake-up call for us.”
Susan joked: “You turned down £25,000 for me to come in for a minute.”
After coming out of the show Jenkin was initially bothered by the way he was perceived in the house.
He said: “I felt like I was on a mission to prove I’m not this miserable person. But I’m not going to sit there and cry about people thinking I’m miserable when my nan is mega proud of me. I can’t be mad at something which I can’t control anymore.”
Now he keeps in regular contact with the friends he made in the house who label themselves as the ‘garden gang’ – which includes, Chanelle, Olivia and Tom.
Ahead of the new season of Big Brother, Jenkin warned 2024 contestants that ‘there is no way you can hide behind a mask in the house’.
Jenkin said: “You can’t keep nothing up in there, I really just think the only person you can be in there is the person you are when you are at home with your family.”
After the show Jenkin said he looks back fondly at the opportunity – and it’s left him feeling more confident. He said: “Everyone has seen me look an absolutely state, I don’t have to worry about what I post on my Instagram because people have seen me look worse.
“In the house, we didn’t know how many people would watch it, we were like ‘OMG, it’s probably flopped’.
Jenkin recalled the best bit of the show was the audition process. He shared the information that he got onto the show solely with his mum for a year which also brought them closer.
He said: “For a full year me and my mum had a secret, I had constant butterflies every time I’d think about it. After I got the call that I was going in, we stayed up all night and spoke about it, me and my mum just spoke about it for four to five hours.
Now Jenkin uses his platform to advocate for Royal Educare – a social care recruitment company in Wales and Bristol – as care work is often an area that is underfunded and overlooked.
