By Big Brother: Timebomb's first evictee Simon Gross has admitted that he is still "shocked" about his exit.
Simon was evicted from the house in a launch night twist just about an hour after he entered, and told reporters this morning that he still can't quite believe what happened.
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"It's all such a blur," he said. "It just feels like I've been asleep and just woken up and it was all a dream. I was shocked and I am shocked, and still shocked. It all just went so fast."
But Simon said he didn't feel cheated out of his experience, adding: "I feel disappointed because I was part of a game show really, a reality show. And I just hit the wrong buzzer – that's all that happened. That's just the way it goes. I'm not the sort of person that's going to crawl under the table this morning and never come back. Why should I? I've fought all my life, so why should I stop now?"
Simon, who said that he is looking forward to seeing his fellow housemates' reactions on tonight's show, also admitted that his mother had been really angry about his eviction, as Emma Willis revealed on Bit on the Side.
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"My mum is just an older lady that had travelled all the way from Cumbria to come and support her son," he said. "She doesn't understand Big Brother, she doesn't understand the showbiz thing.
"She came down, she loves me – my mum has fought for me all my life. My dad was a different situation, it was a different relationship I had with my dad, but my mum has been my rock. She's given me everything. And she was defending me. She was upset, but I know if she saw Emma now she would apologise and just explain herself. My mum is a very nice caring lady, and she was just sticking up for her son."
Simon vowed to keep watching, saying that the Big Brother team has been "fantastic" and pointing out that he is now part of the "Big Brother family and history".
He added that he has wondered if the Timebomb theme will mean he can go back into the house, saying: "It has crossed my mind if they're going to take me back in there. I've still got my suitcase packed, so who knows? It would be wonderful, because if anything from my short time being in there, I met those people and they were really lovely from first impressions. It kind of felt like I'd met a family for the first time and then I was taken away from them."
Simon also expressed disappointment that he didn't get to show people the real him in his short stint in the house, saying: "I'm talking to you now and you can hear I've got a brain in my head – I'm not just 'Showbiz! Showbiz!' I am in showbusiness but I am actually quite real. I lost my father in February this year. I've been through a lot of stuff in my life but my father obviously was a big thing, and in a way that's why I wanted to go on Big Brother.
"I wanted to, in a way, not grieve but try to move on from that and learn about myself. Yes, you walk down the catwalk, you're really nervous and the first thing you want to do for me is perform and the showbiz thing comes out, but nobody got to know the real Simon. I wasn't able to show my true colours and be my true self. In a way, that's why I wanted to go on Big Brother, for the next journey. That's one of the things I'm really sad about because I never got a chance to do that."
Simon - who joked that he felt like he was "in a crèche" thanks to all of the younger people in the house - suggested that either Jack McDermott or Harriet Jackson could end up being crowned the winner of the show.
"They're salt of the earth and they're real and you saw that straight away," he said. "I noticed when Harriet came in she was really giving it, 'Cor blimey', but then the models all walked in and she went very quiet. I think she's got to stay true to herself – she's got to be herself because she's beautiful, Harriet, actually, but there's very beautiful, beautiful people in there.
"I think Harriet is a really good one that may win it and Jack as well, just because they're both real, they're not your obvious models, glamour, which is very boring after a while, it really is."
But Simon admitted that if he'd had the power to evict one of his fellow housemates last night, he would have chosen Adjoa Mensah, saying: "I think bets on that she could be the next one to go. I think that she is going to be trouble. I just feel it – that's how I felt about it."
Simon explained that he is now interested in using "this small bit" of his life to further his career, pointing out: "I did make Big Brother history, I was the quickest evictee in history. I mean, that is something to go out and shout about. It's great! It's not great but it is great - and I think that's great for me."
He suggested that he could work as a showbiz columnist, become a presenter or appear on another reality show, explaining that his top picks would be Strictly Come Dancing, Celebrity Big Brother and I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!
And Simon joked that he is ready for his catchphrase "showbiz" to be shouted at him in the street, saying: "Someone did say to me earlier, 'You did say 'showbiz' a lot last night Simon, it could become very annoying', so I've actually been very good this morning, haven't I? I think I've said it three times.
"At breakfast this morning the girls were all shouting, 'Showbiz!' at me, so I think it could be the new word. Showbiz and very, very bright suits and flower power. Showbiz! Hope you lot are all saying it. We need it. We need a bit of Gross showbiz in life, and what happened last night is just really, really bad luck, that's all I can say. It's just really, really bad luck. But why does the glitter have to end now?"
Big Brother airs nightly on Channel 5.
