Ian Watkins aka H

Ian Watkins born 8 May 1976

Ian Watkins (born in Llwynypia, Rhondda, Wales), better known as H from Steps, is a Welsh Pop singer, one of the five members of the now defunct pop group Steps. He has said that 'H' stands for 'hyperactive', describing his character - it later emerged that it may have meant something else entirely. Before joining Steps, he worked as a redcoat for Butlins holiday parks.

As a result of his hyperactive, camp persona and seemingly limited contribution to the success of Steps, he was voted number 8 in a 2003 poll of the 100 Worst Britons.

After Steps split in 2001, he formed a duo with fellow ex-Steps member Claire Richards and became H & Claire. They released a few singles and then went their separate ways. He then decided to take a musical theatre course at the Royal Academy of Music. He was filmed through the course and it was broadcast as a reality TV series, H-side Story, which followed him as he tried to make a new career in acting. At the end of the course H passed his exam and graduated from the academy. After graduating from the academy H travelled to New York to continue refining his acting skills. Following his extra tuition in New York, H has successfully obtained a job on the West End, and toured the country starring in the production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat in Autumn 2006.

In June 2006, Watkins appeared in a special week of episodes of the BBC Radio Drama Silver Street on the BBC Asian Network. He played the character of former solider Dave in episodes set in the Welsh countryside.


On 3 January 2007, Ian Watkins came out as gay in an interview with The Sun newspaper. He also revealed that he had been involved in a ten-year relationship with Steps' manager, Tim Byrne, though this had ended several months earlier. Prior to this, Ian had hidden the fact he was gay from fans, although rumours were widespread. His interview was published the same day he entered the Celebrity Big Brother house...

Watkins has continued to find regular pantomime work.

There is talk of a one-off Steps reunion.

Gok Wan

Gok Wan born 9 September 1974

Gok Wan (born Ko-Hen Wan, meaning 'Noisy Big City' in Cantonese, is a British fashion consultant, author and television presenter of British Chinese heritage.

Gok Wan was born in Leicester, England, to a Chinese father, who was born in Hong Kong, and an English mother. He grew up on one of the city's council estates and his parents ran a local restaurant there. Wan stood out from his peers from a young age and the fact that he was mixed-race, tall, overweight and gay led to bullying from other children. He was 21 stone (133 kg) in his teenage years and later confessed, 'I was really fat'. He was drawn to performing arts and began attending a course at the Charles Keene College of Further Education. After receiving a diploma from the college, Wan enrolled at the Central School of Speech and Drama and continued to study performing arts. However, the other students had backgrounds very different to his and he felt that his weight was beginning to dictate his life.He felt restricted and unhappy and eventually dropped out of the course, returning to live with his family.

Wan set about losing weight and at the age of 20 he began a crash diet, losing nearly half his weight in several months. Despite the sudden change, he had no problem with having been overweight, later reflecting: 'I don't regret having been fat at all. I know how to throw jokes at myself and I use humour before anything else, and those skills allow me to do the chatshows. So I'm thankful for that." He even lamented that, after losing weight, he had to try harder to attract attention, saying that his weight had, to an extent, defined him.

Fuelled by his personality and charm, he moved in to the world of fashion. Over the next 10 years, Wan worked with many celebrities including Bryan Ferry, All Saints, Damien Lewis, Erasure, Vanessa Mae, Wade Robson, Lauren Laverne, Wet Wet Wet, and Johnny Vaughan. He also offered his opinions to magazines, becoming a fashion consultant, and his work has been published internationally in several magazines, which include Tatler, Glamour, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan and The Face. He has also worked with photographers such as Rankin, Mike Owen and Jason Joyce.

Wan has also worked as an 'on-screen' fashion consultant on many television shows including: MTV Shakedown (MTV Europe), GMTV (ITV), LK Today (ITV), Big Brother's Little Brother (Channel 4), Battle of the Sexes (BBC1), The Wright Stuff (Five), Make Me a Grown Up (Channel 4/T4), The Xtra Factor (ITV2) and T4 (Channel 4).

In 2006, Wan was approached by Channel 4 and asked to present his own fashion show, How to Look Good Naked. In addition, he wrote a book to accompany the series, entitled How to Look Good Naked: Shop for Your Shape and Look Amazing!, that was published in April 2007. A second series was commissioned and was broadcast on Channel 4 in mid-2007. Along with the second series, he appeared on The New Paul O'Grady Show, in which he persuaded Paul O'Grady to strip 'naked'. A third series was shown in early 2008. His new series, entitled Gok's Fashion Fix was broadcast on Channel 4 in mid-2008.

Gok presented a documentary which was first broadcast in January 2009, entitled Too Fat Too Young, examining overweight kids in the UK. He reflected on his experience of being obese to help these teenagers.

Anthony 'ANT' Kalloniatis

Anthony 'ANT' Kalloniatis born 22 August 1967

Anthony Steven Kalloniatis, known professionally as ANT, is an American stand-up comedian and actor.

A native of Londonderry, New Hampshire, ANT performed at comedy clubs across the US. For four years starting in 1995, he was a semi regular cast member on the WB series Unhappily Ever After.

With the end of that show and looking for ways to supplement his income, ANT recruited several men to become internet models. His involvement in the internet sex trade is documented in the 2001 film WebCam Boys, which he also co-produced.

Having gained nationwide attention in 2004 as a contestant on the second season of Last Comic Standing, ANT is the only comedian to appear in three of that show's four seasons. The same year, he released a comedy album, Follow My Ass.

He is the host of VH1 reality series Celebrity Fit Club and a regular judge of talent on Steve Harvey's Big Time. His television series, U.S. of ANT, premiered on MTV Network's gay-targeted Logo cable channel in the summer of 2006. ANT also frequently appears as a commentator on such shows as VH1's Best Week Ever and CNBC's Dennis Miller, and is a regular guest on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and the Tyra Banks Show.

Jay Manuel

Jay Manuel born 14 August 1972

Jay Manuel was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, to an Italian mother and South African father, and is a make-up artist and fashion photographer, most recognisable as the creative director of photo shoots on the popular reality television show America's Next Top Model and the host and chief judge of the second and third cycles of Canada's Next Top Model.

He and friend J. Alexander, also an ANTM personality, often appear on E! Network's Fashion Wrap with Debbie Matenopoulos. Manuel hosts his own show Style Her Famous on the Style Network and recently introduced his own make-up line, Manuel Override on QVC.

Manuel was a pre-med student at New York University (NYU) when he began working as a make-up artist in the fashion industry.

More than just a make-up artist, Manuel's unique vision extends much further, having designed ad campaigns and provided stunning conceptual direction for various fashion editorials. His collaborations with legendary photographers Herb Ritts, Richard Avedon, Annie Leibovitz and Francesco Scavullo have enhanced the pages of Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Marie Claire and the Victoria's Secret catalogue.

Jay Manuel official site

Richard Newman

Richard Newman born 28 July 1972

Richard Newman was a contestant on Channel 4's seventh series of Big Brother in 2006.

He is a former-waiter from London who moved to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada at an early age, and returned to the UK ten years ago. An out gay man, Richard described himself as a 'sexual terrorist' when he entered the Big Brother house for BB7 in May 2006. He took on the role of the 'father figure' in the House. Richard often mediated during fights between other housemates. He is also something of an agony uncle and was always giving advice to other housemates - ironic for a man in his thirties wearing a series of vests, naval caps and assorted diamanté jewellery.

He holds a record of surviving eviction 6 times, the most in Big Brother UK history. On the night of the Final, Richard came fourth.

From October 2006 Richard worked on the award-winning digital station GaydarRadio, hosting his own weekend show and co-hosting the Dickie & Dolly Show with former BB housemate and now good friend, Lea. Richard left the station after a shake-up of the schedule of Gaydar Radio was announced in July 2008 .

Richard has since become an accomplished freelance writer contributing mainly to the gay press in the UK, Europe and his native Canada. He has written for Boyz, QX, Scene 24/7 and Winq Magazine. Richard also writes his own blog, Richard Says! Musings From a Former Reality Star.

Brian Dowling

Brian Dowling born 13 June 1978

Brian Dowling was the winner of the second series of the British reality TV show Big Brother in 2001 and has since gone on to become a television presenter.

Before he became famous, Dowling, from Rathangan, County Kildare, Ireland, trained as a holiday rep and air steward. He came out to his parents only two weeks before appearing on Big Brother.

Brian went on to present SMTV Live, becoming the first openly gay children's television presenter. He also went on to present his own show on ITV, Brian's Boyfriends, as well as narrating the Channel 4 reality show The Salon.


Brian regularly stood in for Liz Bonnin on LivingTV's Celebrity Extra show. He has also voiced numerous adverts and TV series Trolley Dollies, and has presented the companion show to I'm Famous and Frightened!. In 2005, he had a short role in a new spin-off drama from Footballers' Wives.

Brian was voted the number 1 UK Big Brother housemate in the first five years of the show, in an official vote conducted by Channel 4. The countdown was broadcast on E4 and Channel 4 in May 2005.

Brian was reintroduced as a presenter on ITV in April 2006 when the network launched its ITV Play subsidiary. Along with six others, Brian was signed up as a presenter of the network's interactive telephone show, The Mint. However The Mint was axed after getting caught up in the great TV phone-in scandal.

Brian was a contestant in the ITV reality series Hell's Kitchen during September 2007, in which he competed against other celebrities to impress celebrity chef Marco Pierre White; he finished in third place. Whilst participating, he had numerous clashes with fellow contestant Jim Davidson because of what Brian and others interpreted as Davidson's homophobic slurs. Davidson was subsequently asked to leave the show as a contestant due to what ITV described as 'unacceptable remarks' against Dowling.

In recent years Brian has been appearing in pantomime in Dublin. A mainstream TV career has eluded him but he continues to find work in the media and TV.

Scott Thompson

Scott Thompson born 12 June 1959

Scott Thompson is a Canadian television and film comedian, best known for his time as a member of the comedy troupe Kids in the Hall.

Thompson was born in North Bay, Ontario, Canada, and grew up in Brampton, Ontario. He is the second oldest of four brothers. He attended Brampton Centennial Secondary School and was a student there at the time of a 1975 shooting massacre. He enrolled in York University but in his third year was asked to leave for being 'disruptive'. He joined the comedy troupe The Love Cats and while performing with them met Mark McKinney. In 1984 he became a member of The Kids in the Hall, who went on to have several successful TV series shown in Canada, the US and the UK.

Openly gay, he became best-known on the show for his monologues as the effeminate, Truman Capote-esque Buddy Cole, as well as his appearances as Queen Elizabeth II. He also acted regularly on The Larry Sanders Show and made numerous guest appearances on other television series including Politically Incorrect, The Late Show, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and Train 48. Scott Thompson was also the host of a reality television program in Canada called My Fabulous Gay Wedding.

Reichen Lehmkuhl

Reichen Lehmkuhl born 26 December 1973

Reichen Lehmkuhl, born in Cincinnati, Ohio, became famous in the US for winning season four of the reality game show The Amazing Race with his then-'husband' Chip Arndt.

After Lehmkuhl's parents divorced when he was five, his family moved to Norton, Massachusetts and his mother remarried. He later changed his first name legally from Richard to Reichen. At age 16, he received his nomination from United States Congressman Barney Frank for admission to the United States Air Force Academy. After graduating in 1996, he served five years and attained the rank of Captain before his honourable discharge. He has since advocated for gay rights in the military as a spokesperson for Servicemembers Legal Defense Network.

Lehmkuhl was working simultaneously as a Physics teacher at Crossroads School for the Arts and Sciences, flight instructor and model in Los Angeles when he was approached by a casting director for The Amazing Race. Lehmkuhl and Arndt were a happy couple during the competition but have since split. Lehmkuhl moved to Dallas, Texas briefly after his win on The Amazing Race but before all episodes had been broadcast. Reichen's spending habits at that time caused speculation that he had won The Amazing Race — and that he and Arndt had broken up.

Lehmkuhl hosted The Reichen Show on Q Television Network until Q Television ceased operations on May 2006. His autobiography Here's What We'll Say, about his time in the Air Force under the military's commonly called 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy, was published in October 2006. He publishes a beefcake calendar each year and has appeared on sitcoms, soap operas, and other reality shows.

On July 26, 2006, former 'N Sync band member Lance Bass told People Magazine that he was gay and in a relationship with Lehmkuhl. The revelation was prompted by a highly active rumour mill generated by the celebrity blogging community. Lemkuhl moved in with Bass shortly thereafter.

After much conflicting tittle tattle concerning their relationship Lehmkuhl and Bass spilt up in January 2007.

Lehmkulhl is now in a relationship with personal trainer, model and new 'face' of Emporio Armani underwear Ryan Barry.

Reichen Lehmkuhl

Christopher Biggins

Christopher Biggins born 16 December 1948

Christopher Biggins is an English television and pantomime actor and the fifth male winner of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! 2007.

Biggins is most famous for being a comedy actor, appearing as the regular character Lukewarm in the popular sit-com Porridge starring Ronnie Barker. Other comedy shows he appeared in include Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? (1973) and Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em (1973 & 1978).

He played Nero in the acclaimed BBC dramatisation of I, Claudius by Robert Graves, having been selected for the role partly on the strength of a television commercial in which he had played a Roman emperor presiding over the games. He also appeared in the BBC's famed adaptation of Poldark.

On children's television he had a regular role in the children's television programme Rentaghost (1978-1983) as supermarket manager Adam Painting and in Southern Television's Brendon Chase, produced in 1980.

Biggins appeared in the Big Finish Productions audio drama The One Doctor, based on the television series Doctor Who. His film roles include The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). His theatre roles have included the stage adaptation of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

He was co-host on Surprise, Surprise and hosted children's quiz On Safari (TV) in the 1980s.

In 2003, he appeared as himself in two episodes of the fifth series of cult ITV1 prison drama, Bad Girls. The plotline saw Biggins being held hostage by the inmates during their protest at HMP Larkhall going private. However, Biggins ended up supporting their protest and joining in.

These days Biggins often appears on television as an expert on pantomime, and plays the dame most seasons. He has also become something of a cultural reference point for anyone wanting to refer to z-list celebrities, mainly amongst the young and right-on comedy circuit, although his career is surpringly distinguished.

Biggins always plays Cupid on Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway.

Biggins took part in the 2007 season of ITV hit show I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! and was voted the eventual winner.

Biggins formed a civil partnership with his partner Neil Twimaps, who works for British Airways, on December 30, 2006 at Hackney Register Office. The couple live in the fashionable Lauriston Village, by Victoria Park, East London.