HE was the 23-year-old disco dancer who got booed on his way into the Big Brother house, before winning the public round and ultimately being crowned champion.
And, 20 years later, Anthony Hutton says he regrets nothing from his time in the most famous house in the UK…even that infamous ‘did-they-didn’t-they’ jacuzzi ‘romp’ with fellow housemate Makosi Musambasi.
One of his most infamous moments was when he got drunkenly frisky with housemate Makosi – though he’s always denied they ever had sex[/caption]
It’s now been 20 years since he stormed his way to victory[/caption]
Speaking exclusively to The Sun, the now 43-year-old laughs at the memory of his hot tub legacy.
“It baffles me that there’s still a question mark about it,” Anthony says. “To clarify again – we didn’t have sex!
“But it really does blow my mind. I rarely go out now – I’ve got two young boys at home – but I recently went for a drink and the first thing the barman said to me was, ‘So, mate, what happened in the jacuzzi?’
“I smile about it now. How amazing to be part of such an iconic TV moment.”
Unless you were living under a rock in 2005, you’ll know the moment in question. After a drink-fuelled night, Makosi and Anthony ended up engaging in some heavy petting in the jacuzzi.
But while they then went to bed separately, Makosi shocked the nation the following day by going to the diary room and asking for a pregnancy test.
Thus began one of the biggest debates to ever consume a Big Brother series: did they or didn’t they?
Anthony’s happy to put the matter to bed – so to speak – once and for all.
“No, we didn’t,” he laughs. “You know what’s crazy though? The situation happened. There was a lot of nakedness in the jacuzzi and whatnot.
“Then, and I think this was actually shown on TV, I woke up that morning really, really early and hungover, and I went to get a drink of water. Makosi was already up.
“It was obviously slightly awkward between us. She said to me, ‘Anthony, the housemates think we had sex.’ And I was just like, ‘What, really? Because we didn’t.’ She said, ‘I know.’
“But looking back, Makosi was such a game player and she was constantly doing things that would get airtime.
“So, when everyone woke up, all the gossip was about what happened between me and Makosi. She saw all that and went into the diary room to ask for a pregnancy test.
“She’d obviously seen everyone’s reaction and thought, ‘I’ll make this a story.’”
And what a story it was – going down as one of Big Brother’s most legendary moments ever, even after all these years.
Plus, it paid off when the newly crowned winner left the house and learnt about the furore.
What Makosi did was a stroke of genius, because we both got huge magazine deals from the story
“The first time I got a sniff of it was when I came out of the house after winning the show, and Davina told me about it,” he says.
“It was a huge shock to me, I was just like, ‘What?’ But, on reflection, it was actually a stroke of genius from Makosi, because we both got huge magazine deals – me giving my side of the story, and her giving her side of the story.
“That was my biggest payout from the show! So, I certainly don’t begrudge her for doing that.”
Other memories from Anthony’s series have since gone down in history as just as iconic – and jaw-dropping.
Take the infamous moment that his fellow housemate, Kinga Karolczak, appeared to pleasure herself in the garden with a wine bottle while her gobsmacked housemates looked on.
Housemate Kinga shocked viewers with her antics – which included appearing to pleasure herself with a wine bottle[/caption]
Fans couldn’t get enough of the Geordie boy’s happy-go-lucky personality[/caption]
Two decades later, the incident is still seared into Anthony’s mind.
“It was already a madhouse by then – there were so many kickoffs, and so many mad things,” he says. “But something like that will never cease to amaze you.
“I just couldn’t understand it, because it just came out of nowhere. And it was just like, ‘Erm, you’re on TV.’ It was crazy. But I always say, a picture paints a thousand words.
“Someone recently screenshotted my facial expression of when that moment happened. I think the facial expression pretty much says it all.”
Home sweet home
Anthony was already a Big Brother fan when he auditioned for its sixth series – back when the show was at its zenith in popularity.
He’d been performing as a part-time 70s disco dancer under the name Chico Importante, and also worked as a postman, but dreamed of a bigger life for himself.
So, he drove from his hometown of Consett, near Newcastle, to Manchester at 3AM to audition for the show, and gave them his best Chico Importante impression.
The effort paid off and he made it into the house – where he ultimately spent 78 days under the watchful eyes of the nation.
The cheeky chappy found fandom thanks to his happy-go-lucky nature, and refusal to get wound up by some of the more polarising characters in the house.
He also got extra kudos for his very patient response to housemate Craig Coates, a young gay man who developed a crush on Anthony, and couldn’t handle it when his emotions were unrequited.
Anthony and Craig formed a close friendship inside the house[/caption]
The then 23-year-old was praised for showing patience at a time – 20 years ago – when there was still a lot of intolerance and homophobia[/caption]
Viewers watched as Craig got increasingly possessive and jealous, but Anthony treated him with compassion – something that endeared him even more to the public.
“Craig was a 19-year-old young man and he hadn’t fully come out as being gay to his family,” Anthony remembers.
“On reflection, that was a lot going on for him. I think I responded with softness and empathy. It was just that simple thing of being nice, being kind – those kinds of fundamentals will always see you through any type of situation.
“And I think that was probably another situation that ultimately helped me win the show, because of the way I dealt with it.”
Although, of course, his victory – beating finalist Eugene Sully with 53.7 per cent of the votes – may have also been partly thanks to his proud grandma.
“She managed to rack up a £4k phone bill inside a week voting for me to win,” he laughs. “She must have been a large part of the public vote.”
Overnight fame and fortune
Winning the show, which was the biggest thing on TV at the time, was an instant path to the celebrity high life – and, for a time, Anthony lived it well.
His winnings were £50k – but that paled in comparison to the £250k magazine deal that was waiting for him on the other side for his exit interview.
More magazine offers rolled in, red carpets were rolled out, top agents battled to sign him, and he fulfilled his childhood dreams of being a footballer after competing on the Sky series The Match in 2006, which saw a group of celebrities compete against former players.
Capitalising on his instant fame and fortune, Anthony quickly released his 70s Disco Workout DVD, and starred in panto. For a while, he felt invincible.
“That first year was ridiculous,” he says. “I took to it like a duck to water – I was absolutely loving it.
After winning the show, he found himself the object of everyone’s attention and affection[/caption]
He competed on The Match in 2006 – realising his dreams of being a footballer[/caption]
He partied hard in the wake of his victory, but soon found he was turning to drink and drugs to cushion the pressure[/caption]
“That kind of attention felt really good. I was a young, single man, so in terms of responsibilities or anything like that, it was totally fantastic. And then obviously, when you’re making a lot of money, that will cushion anything.”
Then, in the second year, there was still work, but not as much.
“Over the next few years, it really started to dwindle,” he says. “I probably should have gotten into normal work a lot sooner than I did.
“But it was the fear. It was the pride, it was the ego, it was the paranoia. That was difficult – that realisation of, ‘Woah, am I going to have to get a normal job now?’”
Anthony increasingly turned to booze and drugs as a form of escapism, as the money ran out and the offers dried up.
It was the fear, the pride, the ego, the paranoia that stopped me going and getting a normal job
“I was struggling, going out, partying too much,” he recalls. “It was tough.
“But, you know what? All those negatives have actually still had massive positives in my life. Hitting rock bottom shaped me, the life I now have and the work that I do.”
It was after moving back to Newcastle and training as a barber that Anthony had an epiphany.
“The magical thing about being a barber is that people open up to you in the chair,” he says. “I realised I could really help people – and that led me down the mental health route.”
Today, Anthony still works as a barber, while also touring the country as a keynote speaker, tackling mental health issues and suicide prevention.
He hosts the Never Throw In The Towel podcast, and runs the Never Throw In The Towel Project, which is an initiative dedicated to men’s mental health.
Through that, he runs regular outdoor group activities, like cold water swimming, breath work, walking – all hinged around building community and helping people talk and open up.
He also works with corporations like Amazon, Aldi, KP snacks and various prisons and construction sites, where he talks to people about mental health.
What’s more, he runs pop-up barber shops, which encourage further discussion while people, who might be otherwise averse to therapy, are sitting in his chair.
Anthony’s work as a barber has made him a pioneering force in the men’s mental health space[/caption]
He now runs the Never Throw In The Towel project, which organises community events for people with a focus on mental wellbeing (pictured with wife Sophie and son Cruz)[/caption]
One of his initiative’s recent community activities[/caption]
As far as he’s concerned, he’d have never been in the position he is now to understand and help people, were it not from his experiences – good and bad – during and after Big Brother.
“It actually had more highs than lows,” he says. “And I wouldn’t change any of the lows because the lows have shaped me into the man I am today.”
Doting dad
The man he is today is also a loving husband and father of two – sons Cruz, three, and Xander, one – with a baby girl due in December.
He and his wife, Sophie, married in 2018. She did know him from the show, he says, but “played it very cool and kept her cards close to her chest” when they first met.
Anthony says he hasn’t spoken to his former housemates in years, but would love a reunion one day.
But in the meantime, he’s focused on raising his growing family, tackling mental health up and down the country, and using all his experiences for the greater good.
And finally, fans will be pleased to hear his previous experiences haven’t put him off getting in a jacuzzi.
“I mean, I was actually in one last week,” he laughs. “My wife and I had a lovely spa day.”
Anthony and his wife Sophie got married in 2018[/caption]
They have two sons – Cruz, three, and Xander, one – with a baby girl on the way[/caption]