Big Brother legend Lisa Appleton was left homeless after finding fame on the reality show.
Since stepping out of the iconic house in 2008, life has thrown its curveballs at Lisa - her marriage collapsed due to a scam artist, and financial woes nudged her into delivery gigs for Amazon. Despite the setbacks, she keeps treating her followers with "racy glamorous pictures and videos", maintaining her status as a fan favourite.
Lisa, known for being a Big Brother icon in season nine with her then-beau Mario Marconi (who popped the question on the show), grabbed headlines after her unforgettable escape for some off-camera indulgence ending in an injury, which branded her the "Kim Kardashian of Warrington".
READ MORE: Join the Daily Star Soaps WhatsApp for all the latest spoilers and exclusives
Post-Big Brother had her raking in the pounds, tying the knot with Mario and scoring deals left, right and centre. Yet it all came crashing down when they fell victim to convicted fraudster Selva Carmicahel, who conned them with sham business opportunities.
Big Brother star Lisa has also spoken out about how she was left feeling suicidal after being conned by her former manager, Selva Ramasamy, who convinced her and her then-husband Mario Marconi that they were starring in a reality TV show. In an exclusive interview with the Daily Star, Lisa revealed: "The show includes footage from the fly-on-the wall documentary that we shot when we were getting conned."
She added: "Selva was nothing more than a conman. When he disappeared we were penniless and homeless, we had nothing. We had banked on the show to bring in money. It left a devastation of emotions behind – I had a total breakdown."
The 55-year-old reality star admitted that she hit rock bottom, struggling with depression and anxiety, and even considered giving up. After her divorce from Mario in 2013, Lisa had to rebuild her life from scratch. In recent years, she has maintained a social media presence, but the pandemic and cost of living crisis took a toll on her finances, forcing her to take a job as an Amazon delivery driver to make ends meet.
Speaking to The Sun, Lisa said: "Obviously with the lockdown, a lot of my projects at the time got cancelled." "So in the meantime, because of the cost of living crisis and stuff like that, food has gone up, everything has gone up. I can't believe the prices sometimes, they have added a pound onto things. Electricity has gone up so I thought as a boost to my income I would get a job at Amazon."
Lisa trained with Amazon for four days before being sent out on the streets alone and she later opened up to Closer magazine about why the gruelling shifts were not worth it. She said: "I thought Amazon would suit me because I just wanted to be adventurous and travel, but it was a bit of a nightmare, to be honest."
"People kept wanting selfies with me and we had a little chat and stuff, which was lovely, but everything went up - my stress levels, my blood pressure, my heart rate. I lost 2st just running from house to house. I hope I haven't lost too much though, I like to be curvy."
But despite letting her job at Amazon go, she recently found work with a True Crime documentary called Hollywood Files. And like a host of other reality TV stars, she also pockets a regular income by selling titillating snaps on OnlyFans.
Last year, she chatted with Closer about the attention she receives from her fans, expressing that she's "flattered and grateful" for the admiration despite the competition. She remarked: "They've all seen my knockers and they all give me compliments. They're all young men. You should see my private messages. The amount of people who want to take me out for a meal, it's really tickled me."
After her split with Mario and being swindled by the convicted conman, Lisa soon fell on hard times and ultimately ending up on benefits and living in a treehouse. After coming off benefits she got a job in sales but 18 months later she was still struggling to make ends meet and ended up living in a £5-a-night treehouse which was located on a farm.
The mother-of-one soon turned to comfort eating, revealing she developed an addiction to pork sausages and at her lowest point scoffed up to 50 bangers a day.
Lisa told the publication: "'I'd buy loads of packs of eight or 10 a day,' she shared. 'I would make my sausage casserole. I would make sausage on toast. I would make bangers and mash.
'I would cook them on the grill, and I would just munch. I became addicted to sausages. It was comfort thing. Some people have cream cakes and chocolate bars but for me it was sausages.'
For more of the latest showbiz and TV news from the Daily Star, make sure you sign up for one of our newsletters here.
English (US) ·