I know what you mean. That had never occurred to me until a couple of years ago - I was quite happy to foam with rage if the mood took me - then it became obvious to me that a housemate I had been talking about HAD been reading what I said; I mean, you would kind of cast an eye over DS at some point, wouldn't you? So I try to keep it down a bit. Which doesn't mean I didn't cringe a bit when Luke said he had read his AT, trying to remember what total rubbish I have almost certainly posted over the months, but at least it hasn't been abusive.

The only time I have ever been rude TO a housemate was to Bex after BB9, but she did join DS, apparently, with no other intention than to be as rude as possible to everyone.

Duplicate. Internet gone mad

Some bits from Out in the Northeast magazine:

On coming out of the house: I was shocked - I had no idea I could win because before we went into the Big Brother house, the producers kept warning us that this was not a popularity contest - but actually an unpopularity contest - so we knew not to expect to be adored. When I won it was an amaaaazing feeling. Not only, not to have been unpopular and hated, but that I was actually popular and people like me for who I am. WOW! It was brilliant! I was very cautious at first, but feel thrilled to be accepted by people.

On growing up: I always felt male, like a boy in a girl's body. I was a bit of a tomboy really. All the same I was a pretty popular kid. I was into sport so that helped. Everything went pretty well until puberty. Then things got a bit awkward with the body thing. I fancied girls but to try and fit in - like most people I guess - I did what was expected of me and dabbled with boys. For want of a better phrase I tried to be 'normal' but the truth comes out.

I'm avoiding reading back on my past posts, as I'm sure they're really cringeworthy but at but at least we were all really nice about Luke . I don't know whether he's going post on here now, he hasn't mentioned it since twitcam. I didn't realise that Bex joined digitalspy . The only housemates I've seen posting here are Victor, Lesley (BB8) and Jonty, I guess a housemate would have to have the hide of a rhino in order to face the wrath of the forum.

Thank you It sounds like it was a good read. it's interesting to get some insight into his life before BB. I can't imagine how hard puberty must have been for him . I thought it was good that he felt comfortable enough to share old pictures with us .

I'm sure that everyone has already seen this but I'll up this here in case anybody hasn't,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ub68M...ature=youtu.be


It seems like everyone has abandoned this thread in favor of facebook, which is a shame as I much prefer digitalspy .

I'm glad Luke nfound the courage to go through transition because I doubt he'd ever have the happy life he has now with Becki. And his example will perhaps have helped some others to take the brave decision to follow suit and feel that they too can lead normal lives..

He did what? Well I'm so glad I didn't contribute when the thread turned pornographic for an afternoon Ya'll should be ashamed of yourselves

Not sure if any of you watched BBAU, but this season saw our first ever gay winner. And us Aussies have the cheek to accuse the poms of being conservative. *rollseyes*

I think this AT still has a purpose. I feel more comfortable saying things that are analytical or open to debate here. But I can see that there is a lot of overlap with the facebook group.

I don't even remember it. The facebook group has had its rude moments, but not by me; apart from anything my daughter is also a member of it and I wouldn't want to traumatise her. I don't really do smutty posts anyway - I am happy for other people to do them but it's not really something I do well. I once tried to write a Mills and Boon book a long time ago, and these days they really don't stop at a burning kiss, so I thought I would drink a lot of whisky and see if it helped with the sex scenes. My husband found me passed out across the keyboard at 4 in the morning.

I was a bit sad that Luke has said that he hates digitalspy, but not really surprised. It must be a really arduous experience to see people posting horrible, abusive things about you. Of the ex housemates who have lasted the course on DS, Victor and Lesley B have led rather a charmed life in that hardly anyone says anything nasty about or to them; (of course Lesley does not post under her own name); only Cameron (who left when BB left Ch 4) weathered a load of abuse. He must be made of steel. I was once really flamed on the general discussion forum - it was only for an hour or two, and people did start defending me - but it was a remarkably horrible experience at the time. I felt distraught and scared that everyone seemed to be piling in and having a kick at me. Imagine seeing that day after day.

Having said that, Luke was always quite popular on the main forum compared with ANY insider; if he thought it was horrible going there, think what it would have been like for Caroline or Becky. I think you tend to notice the horrible ones and not the nice ones.

I remember when there were a several pages dedicated to 50 Shades of grey . I wonder where Tammi went.


I've watched the first week on you tube, Ben was the winner, wasn't he? It's surprising that they reached series 9 in order to get their first gay winner. I guess the uk version has only to my knowledge only had 1 gay winner too.


I agree it must have been horrible to read people slating him, I hope he didn't read the comments from certain banned members . However, I think that compared he got off lightly compared to the likes of Becky who seemed to have no support at all at least Caroline had a group of ardent defenders . I probably said loads of nasty things about her during the series . I was searching through old posts and came across this thread which demonstrations how highly a large number of people thought of him http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showt...luke+a+popular.

I feel much more comfortable posting here. I don't like it when they say they hate digitalspy, it's a large forum inevitably there are going be a minority of people who are rude and attack others but I think there are a lot of people who just like discussing big brother.

Interesting but aggravating to look back on. I absolutely agree with the FM who posted:


I mean, someone asks why anyone might like Luke, loads of people say why they like Luke, and the same detractors carry right on saying exactly the same tired stuff, obviously not listening to a single word. caroline's friend was a funny one. She was really hard-core anti-Luke throughout (as you might expect - I assume she was genuinely caroline's friend) then right at the end turned nice and started saying she was happy he had won.


Yes, I don't like it either. I guess all a lot of people know about it is that Luke has said he hates it. But among the maddening and the plain thick there have been some really good, thoughtful, intelligent debates on here. There are FM's I really, deeply respect even when we support totally different people. Look, for example, at teddybear99 supporting Jay last year and Luke S/ Ashleigh this year, so sweetly and tolerantly that every time she appears I find myself becoming nicer.

I do think Luke's main detractors came into two categories: the frankly dim and aggressive people who just went on and on and on and those who were passionately supporting someone else who saw him as a threat.

It's a shame that Luke himself is so averse, as it would have been nice to have had a couple of conversations on here, which even in an appreciation thread is a bit more challenging than facebook.

I'd much rather Luke stayed away. There he was on the youtube video saying the agent has told him not to expect anything because the media just aren't interested (which he expected anyway) and there was me cringing and saying I hope he didn't read my comments on here about how useless I thought the agent was.

You do have to ask why C5 chose an agent who tells his client that he's not going to be able to find him work though. Surely an agent's job is to convince people that their client is worth talking to not just to sit back and say - sorry mate you've got no chance. Is it just me or have Luke's supporters done more for him than the agent has and we haven't got the contacts that (presumably?) he has.

Yes, odd. "I'm your agent. Course I won't find you any work." I still think it's slightly better than last year, when it was obvious that both Jay and Louise, and Aaron and Faye thought they HAD been offered tv work. At least Luke has not been led up any garden paths.

Yes, that at least is a blessing. Better to be aware of it I suppose. Still, everyone here knows how much I loved Aaron but apart from being intelligent, presentable and able to curb his language (2 out of 3 more than J & L) Aaron was no different to hundreds of other TV wannabes. Luke, on the other hand, has two extra selling points (being transgender and a chef) which gives him more to offer than most TV show winners. I still find it extraordinary that his so-called agent couldn't find him work based on either of these and I have to ask did he actually try?

It's much easier here to have longer conversations and pick points up from several posts ago. There have been plenty of times on FB when someone's started an interesting thread but, 60 comments down the line, it's warped into something entirely different and I just get put off giving my original reply because the moment's totally passed.

I might not be the sort to post every single day but rest assured I'm always checking in here and as long as you lot are posting your wonderful thoughts I ain't going anywhere! As much as I'm sure there are several of the FB group who'd fit in well here I think we're down to our hardcore now. Beyond here and FB the next best idea would be for Luke to get a website, either run by himself or the fans, with a members-only forum so we can have a safe, friendly place to meet up and chat about anything.


I know there have been a couple of occasions when Queenie has been approached to pass offers on to him and we certainly tried our best to get the message across to C5 that they were letting a little diamond slip through their hands (although I realised very quickly they had absolutely no interest in listening). I'm glad to see the chef agency's starting to find him work, I know he'll have a lot of fun with that and it could take him down roads like writing cookbooks or designing kitchen gadgets.

There's still LOADS he should be doing for Trans awareness though and this is where he needs to keep his confidence and get pushy. Whenever a Trans story appears in the news he should dive in and pitch a commentary piece to the papers. Nikki Graham's become the go-to girl when it comes to eating disorders, Luke should be doing the same for gender issues.

I know I keep banging on about it but he needs to keep his nerve and get those memoirs written. It'll get all the crap out of his system, open up a massive debate on the issues and give him a great platform to move forward from.

Excellent post Val. I find exactly the same thing with the FB group, while I'm busy formulating a reply to an interesting comment loads others have posted and the moment's gone. I don't think C5 has the interest in the regular BB anyway but more particularly I think they would rather everyone forgot about the last series and Conor's tirade against Deana. The chef's agency things sounds very interesting and I hope more comes from it and I agree that he SHOULD be asked to do more for the Trans community. This is part of the reason why I kept having a go at him about adding the 'A' - it tags him as a BB contestant and that's not necessarily a good thing. If he's going to be seen as a serious chef and/or spokesperson for the trans community it should be as himself, not a reality tv contestant and I honestly believe that if the agent had been doing his job properly he should have mentioned this to him - as well as to be careful about vetting the people he accepts as friends on facebook.

I agree about the memoirs - he should crack on and get them written - but unfortunately unless the agent starts doing his job or Luke gets someone else who can represent him properly there will be no interest in the book from anyone other than hard-core fans and the trans community and that will be a great shame.

Yes, the fact that you can't link to an earlier post on facebook is really frustrating. Someone makes a really interesting point and by the time I read it the thread has been discussing x factor or Mr Grey for ages and there is no way of linking back.

Also I don't think there is any way (if there is I can't find it) of resurrecting an old thread on facebook. Once it has gone, it really has gone, even if you find some new thing that would be interesting on it.

Yes, very good point. I notice in the Independent on Sunday today they hinted that there had been some criticism of their pink list for including rtv people (ie Luke) but they stoutly said that if one young person was saved from bullying because of his inclusion it would be worth it.

I think the suggestion that Luke should create a website and a members only forum is a great idea, there should be sub forums so it's easy to keep track of our posts. He mentioned in his you tube video that he was still waiting for feedback on his autobiography, so hopefully that is still going ahead.

I think that Luke's placing was very well deserved. Rtv is a good platform to raise awareness and change perceptions as it reaches a lot of people who wouldn't normally be interested. I completely agree with their response.

I don't actually think it's very likely, with the facebook group already there. I can see that from Luke's point of view it would seem a bit of a nightmare trying to maintain interest in a facebook group AND a twitter account AND a website forum. But sweet and supportive as the facebook group is, as I have discovered, it really isn't a place for discussions. If someone thinks you are going off message they combust, and it's not as if I am likely to say anything negative about Luke.

.

Exactly, reality TV takes issues like the transgender one and drags them into the spotlight. People can choose whether they go to gay clubs, attend Pride events or watch a tv programme about the operations involved in gender reassignment. Putting someone like Luke on BB forces people think about the issue who would not otherwise have done so and because of the amount of coverage involved in a series enables those watching to really get to know him as a person. In a half hour programme he would be just that transgender guy by the time you've spent weeks watching him facing tasks, getting to know other housemates, learning a little about his past and what he has gone through, seen how much he loves his wife and family, you realise that the fact he is transgender is largely irrelevant - not only is he a decent person he is also far nicer and more interesting, caring and compassionate than most of the others in BB who have not had to face such hardships in their lives.

I am certain that the amount of nominations Luke received especially from people who have never nominated before would have surprised the Independent and make them start to realise the importance of someone like Luke to the whole of the LGBT community. Reality tv reaches people who would normally remain unaffected by LGBT issues and no doubt will have made life a little easier for others in similar situations by showing that you can be transgender but still behave like a decent, normal (I hate to use the word but I'm sure you know what I mean in this context) man.

It was definitely Luke's ordinariness that was his biggest asset and that's such a change from other high profile transsexuals who are normally presented as, at best, a novelty and, at worst, totally flaky. That was the basis of my nomination for the Pink List and I believe others took that line too.

I said to him that I hoped his high placing would inspire him to go on and do something even better. If his agent's given up the ghost then Luke needs to get proactive, put together a firm plan of what he'd like to achieve in the next few years then focus on doing whatever it takes to get there.


There's a comparatively easy (in FB terms, in other words pretty fiddly) way to find old threads providing you've posted on them. Go to your home page, click Activity Log in the top right hand corner. This brings up a list of everything you've posted, liked, etc. There's a drop-down in the top right corner and you can specify Groups which will just show your activity within any groups you visit. Then it's just a case of scrolling down to find what you want and you can resurrect it from there.

I don't know I just didn't get the fame whore vibe from either Luke or Aaron, I got the impression they were BB fans like the show, liked the concept of the show, were happy to be a part of the show but then quite happy to return to their former careers. I don't think either expected the BB experience to launch them into media careers. Luke especially, he seemed a little too reserved to be the type to expect a huge career in the media.

I think his place in life is with food as it always has been and lobbying for trans issues occasionally as a passion and hobby.