Dermot O’Leary commemorated the end of ‘Big Brother’ at an "impromptu wrap party" alongside crew members and former housemates.
The 45-year-old TV presenter hosted the programme’s spin-off series ‘Big Brother’s Little Brother’ from 2001 to 2008, but had "mixed feelings" about the long-running reality show coming to an end on Channel 5 last year.
And while Dermot was pleased to see some former housemates he’d forgotten about, including teddy bear-carrying Jonty Stern, at the event, he admits it also felt like "a wake" because so many people had lost their jobs.
When asked how he feels about the show ending, he told this week’s Series Linked TV Podcast: "I don’t know. I guess I’ve got mixed feelings about it. We had this incredible, impromptu wrap party that wasn’t really a wrap party.
"It was organised by people that used to work on the show the day after the last series finished.
"This email went out, and it went out over Facebook and I’m not on Facebook, so I got told about it second hand through mates that used to work on the show and said, ‘You coming down for it?’
"I thought, ‘I’ll pop down for a drink,’ and a lot of people didn’t go, because they thought it might be a bit too weird, and it was weird, but it was the nicest weird.
"It was people you haven’t seen for 10 years just turning round going, ‘Oh, my God, you look … Hey, how’s it going?’
"It was so lovely to see old colleagues and friends and some old housemates, who I genuinely haven’t even thought about for 10 years.
"You remember the guy who was quite public schoolboy, used to have a teddy, and he came in, I think, halfway through one of the series? Jonty, I think his name was.
"I literally was in the queue to get my coat or put my coat in, and I turned around and he was there, with his bear, and I turned around and went, ‘Hey, Jonty.’
"His name hasn’t been in my head for 10 years. How in the world I remembered that, I’m not entirely sure, but he was with Eugene. Remember, the guy who was a massive ‘Big Brother’ fan?"
While Dermot – who will host new game show ‘Small Fortune’ on Saturday (02.02.19) – admits it was a "really odd night" at the wrap party, he has great memories of the seven years he hosted the spin-off show.
He said: "It was a really odd night, because it was full of wonderful nostalgia and genuine love for a show that a lot of us have cut our teeth on and made our names on.
"Yet, there was a huge proportion of people that were there who are just thinking, ‘I lost my job today, so this is kind of a wake as well.’
"That kind of, for me, summed up how I felt about the whole show finishing, it’s mixed, I suppose, but seven of the best years of my life on that show. I absolutely loved it."
Dermot O’Leary commemorated Big Brother end at ‘impromptu wrap party’
