Big Brother star Alex Sibley has made an unlikely pivot into the world of politics, after winning a council seat for Reform in the local elections.
The reality star, 47, famously appeared alongside Alison Hammond and Jade Goody on the Channel 4 reality show, finishing in third place.
Alex took a noticeable break from the spotlight after butcher Kurt Lange, 63, was killed when he ran in front of his BMW in Essex. The case dropped in 2006 due to insufficient evidence.
But last month, Alex announced on Instagram that he was standing as candidate for Nigel Farage’s Reform party, campaigning for a council seat for Emerson Park in Havering.
On Friday it was revealed Alex had won a seat with 1255 votes, alongside fellow Reform candidate David Johnson.
Reform won the majority vote in Havering, making the council the first in London to be controlled by the party, replacing the local Residents Association, which had held a minority control since 2022.
Big Brother star Alex Sibley has made an unlikely pivot into the world of politics, after winning a council seat for Reform in this week’s local elections
Alex shared his position as a candidate last month, writing on Instagram: ‘It’s Official. 7th May 2026.
‘With a combined age of 126 years old and no degree from Oxford or Cambridge in Politics, we are Emerson Park candidates for Havering and Reform UK.’
After his Big Brother stint, Alex cashed in on his time on the show, with his obsession with hygiene leading him to land a £250,000 deal with Domestos.
But two years later, his career ground to a halt when Kurt died after he ran in front of his car. Alex denied driving dangerously and the case was eventually dropped, but he has since admitted he retreated from the spotlight after work dried up.
Alex went on to start a career in affordable housing, and he has since said he was devastated to see his TV success end, as he had hopes of appearing on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!
He has since tied the knot with a French ballerina and they have four children.
Alex spoke about his collision ordeal during an interview with The Sun, saying: ‘A major thing happened in my life. A guy ran into the side of my car and died from his injuries.
‘I lost my kids TV programme. I had a live show on Nickelodeon, and I was about to do panto.
The reality star famously appeared alongside Alison Hammond and Jade Goody on the Channel 4 reality show, finishing in third place
‘Because that all lost I then started f***ing hating Big Brother because it was my stepping stone into doing something else. I was making a lot of money. The first year I made nearly £250,000 which is insane.’
Alex said his attempts to sign with an agent failed, and he ‘blames’ the police for the length of the investigation.
He was just 23 when he entered the Big Brother house during its third series, but lost out on the £70,000 prize money to winner Kate Lawler.
Farage boasted of a ‘truly historic shift in British politics’ and said he is heading for No10, as Reform plundered seats in previous Labour strongholds in the North and Midlands. It also seized Newcastle-under-Lyme council from the Tories.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he would not ‘sugarcoat’ the ‘tough’ situation and it ‘hurt’. He admitted ‘unnecessary mistakes’ had been made.
But he said would not ‘walk away’ and was planning announcements in the coming days to convince the public that ‘things will get better’. ‘Days like this don’t weaken my resolve to deliver the change that I promised,’ Sir Keir added.
Classic ‘Red Wall’ seats in Chorley, Lancashire, Salford in Greater Manchester and Merseyside also dramatically switched. Things were little better in the South, with Labour booted out of control in Southampton and Wandsworth.
Results are currently on track to be dire – although perhaps slightly short of the most extreme predictions. There were claims overnight that Ed Miliband has told the premier he should consider setting a departure timetable.
Loyalist Cabinet ministers attempted to circle the wagons round Sir Keir this morning, with Defence Secretary John Healey insisting he remains the right leader to ‘turn this round’.
In a crumb of comfort for the PM, there is limited evidence so far of a Green wave sweeping through urban heartlands. Zack Polanski’s Left-wingers lost five seats to the Lib Dems in Richmond.
Labour also clung on in Hammersmith & Fulham, as the Greens were prised out of two wards. Sian Berry, one of the party’s MPs, admitted Mr Polanski’s criticism of the police over the Golders Green attacks had been damaging on the doorstep.
However, one senior Labour source warned that Mr Polanski’s vote share was up and his main target boroughs had yet to count.
‘You can see a big move of voters from Labour to Green,’ the source told the Daily Mail.
Speaking in Ealiing, Sir Keir said: ‘The results are tough, they are very tough, and there’s no sugarcoating it.
‘We have lost brilliant Labour representatives across the country, these are people who put so much into their communities, so much into our party.
‘And that hurts, and it should hurt, and I take responsibility.’
He added: ‘When voters send a message like this we must reflect and we must respond.
‘I think the vast majority of people do understand that we face huge challenges as a country.
‘We’ve had a series of economic shocks in recent years and there’s a very difficult international situation at present, they know that.
‘But they still want their lives to improve, they still want to see the change that we promised, they know the status quo is letting them down and they’re frustrated, they don’t feel the changes.’
Reform has had some success in Tory Essex, securing 11 out of 14 available councillor posts in Basildon. And on the county council Reform had picked up 28 out of 43 when counting stopped for the night.
Farage told reporters at the party’s Millbank headquarters: ‘I think what you’re witnessing is an historic change in British politics. Forget left-right, there is no more left-right. It is gone, it is out of the window, it’s finished.’
