When be won and they transfered the money to his "account" I remember thinking how odd it was that he had received a prize for winning.

Was it simply because he received such a low fee for going in? Did the producers feel sorry for him and just decided to give him the cash?

Just found out it was £50,000

Bump.

Wasn't it for charity in the early days and people did it for free

I remember it being for charity but I'm not sure if the housemates did it for free, apart from the Comic Relief one.
And proceeds from voting went to charity too.

Your possibly right. I know that bez was bankrupt at the time.

One thing Il say though is I can't see jackie stalling and bridgitte neilsen going in for free.

I know the Jack Dee one was a 100% charity thing obviously.
I have half a memory that for a while, the prize was a donation to a charity of the winner's choice, but that doesn't mean the celebs didn't get an appearance fee.

You're right about Bez as he said he would spend some of his winnings on new teeth, so by then they kept the prize.

Can't remember when the proceeds of the votes stopped going to charity though.

I am sure that it was only 3rd series - bez - which they offered a cash prize.

First series was only a week and was charity based - Jack Dee won it.

I wonder who was paid the most for appearing - Michael Madsen says he regrets going in but they paid him a ton of money.

Dave

I have a vague memory of reading that John and Edward Grimes received the highest ever fee for going in. Think it was £600,000 .

I could be wrong though as I thought Janice dick in son was £1 million

CBB1 was the only charity one. It was for Comic Relief, but it did so well, than we are still here 15 years later.