Big Brother's Nadia Almada reflects on how much has changed 19 years after win
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Former Big Brother winner Nadia Almada has reflected on how much has changed nearly two decades after her win.
The TV star emerged as the victor of the 2004 series of the show, and was the first and so far only trans person to do so.
Speaking to Metro about the aftermath of her win, Nadia said that the "best part" of the show was "the acceptance and embracement".
"I didn’t know acceptance, or even tolerance was possible aside from through my closest friends. I had a complete absence of positivity and embracement in my life."
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She added: "When I got out of the show it was the complete opposite. I get goosebumps talking about it now because it was real.
"I was embraced and that was a beautiful thing. It came from cisgender males, cisgender females, everyone! The whole country was behind me and they adored me. On Big Brother, I could finally just be me and it was embraced."
Addressing the upcoming revival series, Nadia joked: "Cockroaches and Big Brother are the two things that always survive. I think that’s the saying. I feel like I’m now passing the baton on to the younger generation."
She also expressed hope that more inclusivity is embraced, adding: "I’d like to see another trans person in the house for sure. I want to see representation and inclusivity, and real people – the foundations of what originally made the show so great."
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However, reflecting on how the world has changed since her win, Nadia suggested that "we are almost going backwards" in terms of trans rights, saying: "It’s very sad for me to say that and I think this is why I’m coming out again.
"I need to speak louder and I need to bang harder on certain doors to remind people what they once saw. I believe in dialogue, all parties need to come together. We can sit down and talk.
"I didn’t want trans to be my defining feature, but now I’m so empowered by it," Nadia continued. "It doesn’t bother me at all. I welcome the visibility. People can see how a real trans person looks and exists in our society and how they live amongst us.
"I don’t know why people are going on so much about who can go to what toilets. Stop talking about toilets. It’s almost like it’s reverting back to a very dark place with the wrong narrative, and wrong sort of message. I don’t like that.
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"It’s just homophobia against the trans community, which is one of the most marginalised communities of our society. Why? We are way less than 1% and we are being dehumanised."
She went on to suggest: "It’s important that there is a new generation of fabulous trans people that are representing the community and taking up space.
"Representation on reality TV in the UK was non-existent before I did Big Brother, and there hasn’t been enough since. People have curiosity and that’s okay. It helps start conversations."
Big Brother will air on ITV2 this autumn.
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