BB winner's cash almost done

Published on Monday 5 May 2008 10:37

BIG Brother Celebrity Hijack winner John Loughton has revealed that most of his £50,000 prize money is now gone.

The 20-year-old, who is chairman of the Scottish Youth Parliament, today told how he had bought fittings and furniture for his mother Donna McColl's flat in West Pilton.

He was reported as saying: "I had her crying in a furniture shop the other week.

"She'd never had a sofa of her own before. They were always from charity shops or pass-ons from relatives.

"We ended up arguing over it – she didn't want to take it off me."

He also spoke about how he survived growing up in one of Edinburgh's toughest areas and went on to study politics at Stirling University.

"People ask how I turned out so differently," he said.

"All I know is that there was a flick in my engine towards the end of my time at school and not everybody gets that same flick."

And Loughton revealed how the experiences of George Galloway had almost put him off taking part in the TV show.