Rylan reveals he was paid £100k for Celebrity Big Brother after first auditioning in 2006

Rylan Clark-Neal has revealed how he scooped £100,000 for his Celebrity Big Brother stint.

The X Factor singer turned TV presenter won the eleventh series of the show in 2013.

The victory – and pay cheque – followed Rylan first auditioning for the series in 2006 before losing his place shortly ahead of the launch.

Appearing on Louis Theroux’s Grounded, Rylan said: “When I was 18 I was going into the Big Brother house into the civilian version and long story short, I was in hiding, had my suitcases all changed over ready to go in and a story came out which meant I couldn’t go in and I didn’t end up going in then.”

Rylan went on to appear on The X Factor in 2012, finishing in fifth place.

He was then asked to take part in the Celebrity version of Big Brother on Channel 5.

Rylan said: “I got £100,000 to be in Big Brother. So to me, I’d won the lottery.”

He added: “I think that is the first time I’ve ever said how much I got paid to go on Big Brother. But when you realise how much money there is in television and what other people get paid to do the same experience or less than you, it’s quite, quite shocking sometimes.”

Rylan then spilled: “I’ve known very big payments for people to go into that house. I mean some people have been paid half a million pounds and got evicted first, put it that way.”

Following his time in the Celebrity Big Brother house, Rylan went on to host the show’s Bit On The Side spin-off.

He currently co-hosts Strictly spin-off show It Takes Two as well as ITV’s Supermarket Sweep and BBC One’s Ready Steady Cook.

You can listen to Rylan’s episode of Grounded with Louis Theroux on BBC Sounds here.