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CRAIG PHILLIPS |
| Craig was born in Liverpool in 1971, his family moved to Shropshire in the 1980s. At 18, Craig secured a bricklaying apprenticeship whilst employed with Wrekin Council's construction department. Determined to excel in his chosen profession, he attended further night school classes in advanced brickwork & civil engineering. |
| Having qualified with City & Guilds, Craig set up his own building company running this successfully for 10 years throughout the 1990s & began to build his own property portfolio in the process. Throughout the 1990s Craig had 30 employees & had a turnover in excess of £1milion, today he has 30 dwellings in his private property portfolio. |
| In 2000, watched by over 10 million viewers, Craig received 3.7 million votes on the final night becoming C4's first Big Brother winner, donating his entire £70,000 prize money to a Downs Syndrome friend, Joanne Harris. Joanne sadly passed away in April 2008. 25 charities have so far benefitted from donations from the total £250,000 Joanne Harris 'Heart for Jo' appeal trust which is still actively supporting good causes. Most recently £20,000 was donated in June 2010 to the Rhys Jones Memorial Fund. |
| Craig has to date raised over £500million for charities & charitable causes. Charity activities to date include; abseiling off one of London's tallest buildings, zip-lined 600ft across an open quarry, took part in 12,000ft sky dive jumps, completing the London marathon, wing walked at 2000ft & swimming with Europe's largest collection of sharks. |
| Craig has presented or appeared as resident DIY & building expert on over 850 TV shows including ; 60 Minute Makeover (ITV1), Housecall (BBC1), Big Strong Boys (BBC1), Conversion (Discovery Realtime), Trading Up (BBC1 & UK Style), Hung, Drawn & Quartered (British Forces Broadcasting Service), Renovation Street (ITV1 & Discovery Realtime), Builders Sweat & Tears (BBC1), Our House (UK Style), Housecall in the Country (BBC1), Craig's Trade Tips (BBC1) & Boyz in the Wood (Discovery Realtime). |
| He has presented in Canada, Gibraltar, Falkland Islands, Germany, Cyprus, Kosovo, Bosnia, France, Spain & Ascension Island. Craig's shows have aired & continue to air throughout Europe, Korea, New Zealand & USA. He has made guest appearances on countless well-known TV shows & appeared as a regular in C4 cult comedy show Bo Selecta! |
| In 2003, Craig formed his own TV company Avent Productions. Craig has executively produced & presented 2 series via this for Discovery Realtime & British Forces Broadcasting Service, reaching 17 countries within the United Nations. The company also produce corporate projects for various clients including building companies, building materials suppliers as well as national supermarkets, charities, hotels & restaurants. |
| In 2005 Craig set up the largest independent construction training centre in the North West. The 25,000sq ft facility was designed & built by Craig & his team to simulate a real construction site environment. After 2 years planning & development, Cherie Blair formally opened the doors to the first 152 students. Today the facility delivers work based learning courses in numerous disciplines (including brickwork, carpentry, plastering, painting & decorating) with capacity to train 500 students on site. |
| Over 1000 young people have graduated with NVQ or equivalent qualifications to date & the facility is now 100,000sq ft & is currently owned by Newcastle College which is part of a network of building schools forming the National Construction Academy. Craig remains passionate about construction industry education nationwide having delivered motivational speeches to trade professionals & young apprentices across the UK on behalf of Learning & Skills Council, CITB & other awarding bodies in addition to fronting construction safety campaigns for the HSE & various corporate clients over the years. |
| In 2009, Craig released his autobiography My Story: Building Beyond Big Brother. |
| Craig has starred in 6 successful pantomimes, raising the roof on hundreds of performances, playing to sell-out audiences around the country & breaking box office records in 5 seasons. He has appeared in the timeless fairy tale stories; Jack & the Beanstalk, Beauty & the Beast, Aladdin & Cinderella - more than any other BB housemate.... |
| Craig's Christmas pop single, At This Time of Year reached No. 14 in the charts raising £40,000 for the Downs Syndrome Association. He's also appeared in videos to 2 other Christmas hits. The song achieved silver disc status on first day of release. Ten years later this remains the highest chart placing of any Big Brother contestants record (& there have been many!). |
| Craig is a patron of the Downs Syndrome Association & the PDSA in addition to supporting various charities & causes. He was the Lord Mayor of Liverpool's chosen charity appeal ambassador for the record breaking appeal during European Capital of Culture year 2008. |
| He is also a patron of the road safety charity Brake! as his dad was killed by a drink driver in the 1980s. As such he has fronted national & regional Drink Drive road safety campaigns across the country on behalf of the Department of Transport, Think! campaign & regional constabularies road safety initiatives. In 2008 the Minister for Transport wrote to Craig to express the departments gratitude for his continuing support. |
| Other facts further emphasising Craig's recognition & achievements include; |
| - | He also featured in 2008 PDSA Pet Pawtrait's calendar, C4s 25th anniversary book, Big Brother: The Unseen Story & Ricky Tomlinson's celebrities book. |
| - | In 2005 the Yellow Pages undertook a national survey into 'Great Britain's'. The survey revealed that 69% of 18-24 year olds surveyed correctly identified Craig Phillips as a builder being the original Big Brother winner & television personality. |
| - | When Craig confronted Nick Bateman, the UK TV industry came to a virtual standstill. The stand off watched live on the internet by a record 10 million people was quoted by Intel as 'the most traffic ever seen live on one website' landing Craig a TV award. |
| - | In 2006 Broadcast magazine voted the Big Brother confrontation between Craig & Nick as one of the most important 50 broadcast moments of the 20th century. |
| - | Craig's appeared twice in the Guinness Book of Records; having received most votes on the last night of a reality TV show for Big Brother & taking part in the largest tandem skydive (for charity). |
| - | Craig has met various British prime ministers & many members of the Royal Family through charity & public engagements. |
| - | Craig was an ambassador for Everbuild building products for 3 years 2006-2009 during which time sales on 3 flagship products Pinkgrip, Wonder Wipes & Forever White increased by 70%. |
| - | Craig has appeared in national TV adverts for Kit Kat & Dulux. |
| 2010 & building beyond... |
| Craig is currently the UK brand ambassador for 2 companies; Ryobi Power & Garden tools & Heat Holders thermal socks range. |
| 2010...saw Craig feature in the Big Brother promotional advert graveyard scene, he played the trumpet to start the New Orleans funeral style party & lifted the diary room chair into a grave. His image was also seen on a major Big Brother campaign nationwide. |
| 2010...saw Craig complete his building project to date, a complete replica rebuild of a 27 room 1850s Victorian house which was bombed in World War 2. |
| 2010...saw Craig on our screens on 60 Minute Makeover for ITV 1 & soon presenting 2 of his own new TV series! Celebrity DIY with Craig Phillips & If It's Broke Fix It! both for UKTV Home to air in 2011. Craig also featured in the final Ultimate Big Brother series & various Big Brother documentaries & shows for C4, More4 & E4. |
| 2010...saw Craig begin a new 1 year DIY tips column with Sunday Mirror in Easter. |
| 2010 guest appearances included The 5 'O' Clock Show, GMTV, Big Brothers Little Brother, Celebrity Shock Moments 2009, QVC in addition to in depth radio guest appearances on BBC Radio 4s Today & Front Row. |
For more information on Craig Phillips, Contact Arena. Tel: 0113-239-2222 |