Conor McIntyre - uncovered
16 hours ago
Villain to some, bad boy with a heart of gold to others, Conor McIntyre left Big Brother's White Room yesterday and is back in the open air. He's also a wealthier man than the personal trainer we saw going into the House having pressed his buzzer a split second before White Room rival Luke S, meaning he grabbed himself a cool 50 grand before heading for the door.
In his time in the BB compound, Conor was a man who split viewer opinion right down the middle. There were those who loved his antics and his tendency to pop on a tutu even when the occasion didn't call for it and then there were others who felt some of his remarks were beyond the pale and campaigned tirelessly to make themselves heard. No matter which side of the divide you fall on, it's fair to say Conor will go down in BB history. And he'll also go home £50,000 richer. We caught up with him to see how he was handling the craziness, 24 hours later.
Now then, Conor. You've only just got out of The White Room and, watching the live stream, you seemed to cope a little better with the environment than Luke S did. Do you think that's a personality thing?
I think so because I try to make the best out of a bad situation. We were playing football, we were playing games. I was singing, laughing, I put Sara's knickers on my head. I wanted it more, so I tried to make the time there as easy as possible for myself. Even eight hours in The White Room is tough going and it's hard to adapt – though I didn't think about it that way. I just tried to make the best of the situation. I don't know if it was entertaining. It's crazy that people are saying 'The White Room was your highlight'.
It was very entertaining. We especially liked Big Brother's telephone conversations with you two. 'What's your favourite colour, Conor?'.
Ha! Yeah! I answered with 'What's your favourite dog, Big Brother?' I remember that.
But when you're not on the phone to BB in there, what does your mind turn to with that much time to think?
Oh, man. This is the truth. On Thursday night I was thinking 'Me and Luke S are in this room. There's two of us in here' and I'm thinking to myself 'I've watched previous shows'. Everything was going through my head, but then 'remember that year, that guy Eugene went to the Diary Room, Big Brother asked one housemate to go to the Diary Room and there was £50,000 cash waiting on the Diary Room chair?' I thought 'that's going to happen tomorrow'. Right hand of god, I thought 'that's going to happen tomorrow'.
And it did. The previous night, Big Brother was asking 'so you don't care about the money?' and I said 'nah, I don't care about the money – I want to get to the final' because Luke S was in the room and I knew he was listening. I knew that he knew how much winning the money would mean to me.
So you were saying things, knowing Luke S was taking it all on board? It was all mind games?
Oh yeah. 100 percent. 100 percent.
So you think it's just that you played The White Room game better than him?
I knew that if there was no money involved, he'd let me go through to the final. I had a strong feeling he'd have turned round and let me go through, because it meant a lot to me. I had him saying 'you have more friends than enemies in the House, Conor' and 'you'll get voted in'.
But whatever happened, happened. I'm £50,000 richer so it obviously worked out alright for me.
Now the adrenalin's starting to fade, are you feeling good?
You want to know something? It still hasn't hit me. Everybody back home has been amazing saying 'you've been entertaining'. They told me 'forget about what's been said, put that away. If you hadn't been in that House it would've been so boring. All you wanted to do was have a laugh'. I think that was the main thing for me. Walking away with the 50 grand plus being myself was just amazing.
You're £50,000 richer – are you thinking of a charity donation, a golden toilet or are you going to buy a robot?
A robot?!
£50,000 will definitely buy you a robot.
I could get a robot. I did a lot of cleaning in the House so it would've saved me some time. But I'll give some money to my mum because I know she'll put it to a good cause, so I'll give it to her to let her slowly do what she wants with it. Generosity, y'know? I'm going to throw a huge party and I'm going to have a massive raffle. I'm going to raffle off my 'Conor 25' Big Brother jersey and I'm going to try to get all the housemates to sign it. I'll raffle it off, see how much it gets and give all the money to charity. I think that will work out well. At least, I'll get the housemates who like me to sign it. Becky and Arron, that's probably it!
It's strange you say that, because though in the outside world quite a few people were upset, in the House you were getting on okay. You were almost friends with The Outsiders by the end. You got on with Adam, you were friendly with Luke A. With Deana, by the end, you were both civil and sometimes joked together.
I haven't got a malicious bone in my body towards Deana at all. What I said was totally disgusting and I do apologise, but I never had a full blown, controversial row with Deana. I never allowed myself to get into that situation. I felt she was bitchy and had a split personality but I didn't want to be a bully and direct all my anger to her. That's not me. Whatever way that's perceived, that's that. At the end of the day Adam and Luke A had a gameplan. I think they wanted to be the two left at the end.
I guess some people would say the minute you're in the game you've got a gameplan, whether you admit it or not...
I guess.
The whole Insiders / Outsiders split, which you've probably heard about now...
I've heard about it now but I hadn't when I was in the House. Yeah – it's crazy.
We used those terms simply because you guys were inside and they were on the outside.
Exactly – I get that.
Do you think that divide was down to personality clashes?
Nah. It was definitely because they smoke. Adam, Luke A, Benedict and Lydia – they'd sit out, in the hot-tub or smoking, so that's how they grew their wee group. I don't think it's personalities. If you look at Shievonne and Adam, they came together because of smoking. But then they exploded because of whatever...
When it comes to people saying things they don't mean and wish they hadn't come out with, do you think it's the House itself that makes people lose their filter and also makes them stubborn when it comes to apologising?
Yep. I needed that kick up the arse from Big Brother to help me wake up and realise where I was. I was absolutely devastated. [The reason I was angry with Deana was] I wanted a letter from home and Big Brother builds it up. 'You're going to get a special reward'. That's all you're looking for – a letter from home because you've been in there so long. When I found out she'd failed I was devastated. I'd eaten that egg and all she had to do was eat spam. All I wanted was a letter from home and whatever I said, I realise I completely overreacted . It was so wrong and I apologise for what I said. I'm not a bully or whatever I was perceived as over some stupid words.
So you’d say it was down to circumstance. The nomination on Day one followed by the spam thing. It all kind of worked against you and Deana?
It was that and a personality clash. Nothing else.
Do you think you'll stay in touch with any of the other housemates or, now you're a bit wealthier, are you taking the money and running back to Derry?
Nah! No, no, no. Me and Arron – I was talking to Arron and me and him are going to have an absolute ball when we get out of here. And Shievonne's been amazing too – she's a complete character. She's been so nice to my family and she's an absolute star. Caroline too – she's been amazing. I was talking to Arron last night and he said 'you're paying for my trip over, my bags are packed' so I've got to pay for that. So that should be fun.
You're spending the money before it's even cleared.
Flights over to Derry are only 40 quid – but don't tell him that.
Have you learnt much about yourself?
Yeah. Think before you speak. 100 percent I need to think before I speak.
You're not alone - we could all do with remembering that at times. Finally, congratulations, Conor. Enjoy your newfound wealth and, before you go, can you lend us a tenner?
Easy! No probs. It's in the post.
Well they say he works in mysterious ways, even if it's through voters saving the soldiers 
am all twitted out for today 
