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Pete Bennett

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Peter "Pete" Alexander Bennett[1] (born 22 March 1982 in Camberwell, London) is an English singer, who won the reality television series Big Brother 7 in 2006.[2] He has Tourette syndrome.[3][4] He lives in Brighton.

Media career
After unsuccessfully auditioning for the 5th series of Big Brother in 2004, Bennett was selected as one of the original housemates for the 7th series in 2006. He was the bookmakers' favourite throughout and eventually won with 61.2% of the final vote.[5] The show has been accused of exploiting Bennett's Tourette's syndrome: The TSA UK claimed "the broadcaster had deliberately cast someone with relatively strong symptoms in order to make him a 'figure of fun'."[6] Some viewers expressed concern that the show had exploited Tourette's, while others felt it was educational.[7] Bennett was nominated for a National Television Award in 2006 for "Most Popular TV Contender" , however former Big Brother contestant Nikki Grahame won the award.

Bennett's autobiography Pete: My Story was published in hardback in November 2006.[8] The book was reissued in paperback in 2007, this time under the title of My Journey With Tourettes.

Bennett was lead singer in a band called Daddy Fantastic, but he quit the band after agreeing with a record label that he should become a solo artist.[9] He wrote music with songwriter and record producer Guy Chambers, but failed to gain commercial success with any releases.[10] Bennett went on to form another band, Pete Bennett And The Love Dogs; they have played at Glastonbury 2007 and venues such as IndigO2 (The O2) London and The Cavern Club in Liverpool.[11] The Daily Mirror reported in 2009 that Bennett had earned £1.5 million since appearing on Big Brother.[10]

[edit] Personal life
Bennett's father walked out on his mother when he was young, and he did not see his father from the age of 14 onwards, although they kept in touch.[12] Bennett was bullied at school from an early age. He was diagnosed with Tourette syndrome at the age of 14 and as a result he missed much school time yet he managed to gain an A* in GCSE Art while attending a pupil outreach centre, Briset Centre in Eltham, Southeast London. It was around this time that Bennett began taking an interest in music, two years later he entered a competition organised by BT called 'Get Out There' in which his entry reached second place.[13]

Bennett dated Big Brother 7 contestant Nikki Grahame. The duo's romance began in the last week of Big Brother.[14] However in September 2006 Grahame announced that Bennett had made the decision to end their relationship, just over a month after it began.[15] He subsequently began dating his friend Cherry - real name Gemma Costin - whom he described as his soulmate. Bennett and Costin married in February 2010, which featured on the Living programme Four Weddings.[16] He has indicated that he has experimented with fetishism and drugs, saying he was addicted to ketamine.[
Image size
2736x3648px 2.6 MB
Make
SAMSUNG TECHWIN CO., LTD.
Model
Samsung S1070 / KENOX S1070
Shutter Speed
1/60 second
Aperture
F/3.0
Focal Length
6 mm
ISO Speed
80
Date Taken
Feb 24, 2010, 1:32:41 AM
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