Celebrity Big Brother is already looking for candidates for its 2025 lineup, following a tremendously successful 2024 resurrection on ITV – and one former England hero is on the list.
The reality competition made a triumphant return to television earlier this year, with David Potts emerging champion from a house that included Louis Walsh, Sharon Osbourne, and Fern Britton.
According to sources, Celebrity Big Brother executives are interested in ex-footballer Paul Gascoigne, with arrangements for the 2025 series already underway.
After reportedly handing Sharon Osbourne £100,000 for each of her eight days in the Big Brother house, Gascoigne, 56, also known as ‘Gazza’, is a ‘high target’ for the upcoming series.
According to a source, bosses are working hard to organise this autumn’s civilian series, but they are also keeping an eye on 2025’s celebrity series because the top names fill up quickly.
‘Gazza is considered a top priority after the brilliant reception he received on Channel 4 reality show Scared Of The Dark last year, whether it be for this series or one down the line.’
Gascoigne, a gifted player, rose to prominence while playing for Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur before moving on to Lazio and Rangers in Scotland. He retired in 2004, following a 19-year career.
However, he is most known for his participation in the 1990 England World Cup semi-finals and the 1996 England European Championship semi-finals.
However, his public image has been heavily influenced by his difficult off-field life; he initially went into the Priory mental health institution in London in 1998.
He has struggled with alcoholism since the mid-1990s and was diagnosed with bipolar illness in the early 2000s, before being sectioned in 2008 after being placed in protective care.
In 2010, Gascoigne came at the site of a police standoff with wanted murderer Raoul Moat, claiming to be a relative. He was refused access to Moat, but later sued The Sun, alleging that the newspaper’s reportage had an impact on his alcoholism treatment.
In the early 2010s, he continued to struggle with his illness, but was arrested for driving under the influence and later joined two separate rehabilitation institutions in 2014 and 2017.
Gascoigne obtained over £200,000 in damages in 2015 when the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror, and The People published up to 18 items about him as a consequence of a hacked mobile phone.
If he were to enter the Celebrity Big Brother house in 2025, he would not be the first former footballer to do so; he would join the ranks of former Tottenham and Liverpool players who attempted to revive their careers after retirement.
Jamie O’Hara reportedly received a six-figure sum in 2017 to compete in the home alongside Gascoigne’s daughter Bianca. Jamie, who has played for Tottenham, Wolves, and Fulham, finished eighth that year.
The next year, former Liverpool footballers John Barnes and Jermaine Pennant entered the house, with Jermaine finishing eighth during the Ryan Thomas-Roxanne Pallet ‘punchgate’ affair.
Catch up on Celebrity Big Brother on ITVX.
Source My Celebrity Life.
