Pete Bennett

Peter Alexander Bennett^[1] (born March 22, 1982 in Camberwell, London to Mark Bennett and Anne Stephenson), better known as Pete, was the winner of Big Brother 7.^[2] He is a rock n roll singer, formerly with Daddy Fantastic. He lives in Brighton and has Tourette syndrome.^[3][4] His characteristic phonic tic is a loud shout of "wankers", and he is also renowned for his catchphrase of "Eezamana!"

Pete was bullied at school from an early age, and was diagnosed with Tourettes at the age of 14.^[5] He was deemed an outcast by fellow children at this time. Pete's father walked out on his mother when he was very young, and he did not see his father from the age of 14 onwards, although he has always kept in touch. However, in a letter he received on Big Brother, he found out that his father wished to see him again, though this has apparently not yet happened.^[6] Pete also has a younger half brother, Alex.

Pete's Tourettes has been publicised as being aggravated by an addiction to ketamine,^[7][8] a dissociative anaesthetic drug generally used in veterinary practice or for pain relief in burns treatment of children. This drug use contributed to his "own personal hell" and led him to "go completely bananas" a year before he entered Big Brother.

Pete's surname is Bennett, as his mother wrote it on his birth certificate because she was in the belief that her and his father were going to marry. This didn't happen, and Pete's father left them both and has not been in Pete's life a lot.

Pete's prized possession is a teddy-bear given to him by Robert Smith, lead singer of band The Cure with whom his mother has played.^{[citation needed]}

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Daddy Fantastic

Prior to entering the Big Brother house, Bennett had been the lead singer with a psychedelic rock band called Daddy Fantastic, until record company's advice led to him leaving the band to pursue a solo career. There are no hard feelings between the band and Pete and they understand his decision to leave. Pete and Wobbly Bob, the band's guitarist, are very good friends.

Big Brother

Pete originally auditioned for Big Brother 5, but didn't get in. He can be seen very briefly in the very first episode of BB5. Pete was the second entrant into the Big Brother house, and made an immediate impression as he tumbled down the stairs.

Pete was the bookmakers' favourite throughout the duration of the series, and had the shortest odds of any Big Brother housemate at the halfway stage of any series, at 1/8, according to John McCririck on Big Brother's Little Brother. On August 18, 2006, Pete won Big Brother 7 with 61.2% of the final vote.^[9]

Big Brother 7 producers were crtiticed for letting a man with such a condition onto the show, saying he was 'vulnerable'. The show has been accused of exploiting Pete'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'."^[10] Some viewers expressed concern that the show had exploited Tourette's, while others felt it was educational.^[11]

After Big Brother

Since winning, he announced that he would give the £100,000 prize to his mother, so that she could pay off her mortgage.^[12] Also since winning, he sat on the triumph chair as the winner of the series on Big Brother's Big Mouth, along with the other ex-housemates, whilst being lauded by John McCririck, Paul Morley and Toby Anstis. John McCririck called Pete 'a hero' for "costing the bookmakers hundreds of thousands of pounds".

Pete's autobiography "Pete: My Story" was published in hardback in November 2006. Pete promoted this book release by giving interviews to several newspapers and magazines. On top of this, Pete went on a book signing tour in book shops across the UK. The book was reissued in paperback in 2007, this time under the title of "My Journey With Tourettes".

Pete has since received many chatshow offers as well as offers for personal appearances. The Daily Mirror has recently revealed that Pete has left his band Daddy Fantastic after agreeing with a record label that he should go solo.^[13] Pete has written music with songwriter and record producer Guy Chambers.^[14] Pete has also released his autobiography entitled 'Pete: My Story'^[15] and spent some time DJing at London club, Circus.

After leaving the house Pete continued his highly publicised relationship with fellow contestant Nikki Grahame but ended the relationship after a few weeks. He is now unofficially married to his long-time friend, Gemma "Cherry" Costin. They unofficially married at the Glastonbury Festival in 2007.

Pete's music career has already begun, with his debut single "Cosmonaut" to be released in October 2007 on iTunes. Cosmonaut, along with a selection of Pete's other tracks can be heard on his MySpace page ^[16]. Pete has just finished performing a number of gigs across the UK, including the Glastonbury festival.

Pete was also a guest on The Friday Night Project, wearing the 'Coat of Cash' and later dressing up as a giant question mark for the end-of-show game.

References