Craig Phillips believes his time in the ‘Big Brother’ house helped him prepare for the coronavirus lockdown.
The 48-year-old star – who was the first ever winner of the reality series back in 2000 – suggested being in the famous reality TV digs was the perfect training for being stuck inside amid the current pandemic.
He told Grazia magazine: "When we started locking down at home, we were talking about how it was like the ‘Big Brother’ house – although Laura (Sheriff, his wife) was still in school then.
"I was thinking about how I did it. Our house had nothing, no doors except into the garden, no windows. No social media or phonecalls or texts. 64 days of living with people I didn’t know.
"I know that we didn’t have this level of stress from a global pandemic, but some of the strains, and what we went through, is just like what we’re going through now. You lose track of time."
Craig ran a building company before he took part in the show and admitted he struggled without work during his time in the house.
He explained: "Before I went into the house, I had a building company, chasing work, organising staff, managing materials.
"I was run ragged, and it was my choice but it was hard. To go from that, to being in a house with no diary or wallet. I didn’t have to be anywhere. I had no appointments. No picking up materials. All of a sudden it was gone, and I didn’t know what to do.
"You find yourself recapping your own life, your business, your social life. You start to think about game plans and how you’re going to get by, with all that time on your hands."
Craig also admitted that he has never watched the series back.
He said: "I’ve never watched the series. So I’ve never known for sure how I was presented, but you hear what people thought and people’s favourite bits.
"But for me, sitting on the sofa, without the clever editing, I was bored. The hardest thing was keeping your brain occupied."