By Jack McDermott is "buzzing". The new Big Brother housemate is holed up in a top-secret hotel ahead of tomorrow's live launch, but he's just ready to hit the house now: "It will be nice when Tuesday comes and we can just get on with it!"
But there's still a bit of a wait before then, so we caught up with Jack for an exclusive chat about being called Pie Face, how he's an average Joe, why his political views could get him in trouble, what happens when he has a "meltdown" and why he's not a wannabe just because he was on Deal Or No Deal...
1. Jack thinks he's quite an unusual housemate.
"I don't think I'm the bog standard housemate," he said. "I don't go out getting pissed every weekend and sleeping around. That's not my thing – I'm just down to earth. I'm a floor manager at McDonalds, I work six days a week.
"Basically the one thing I love to do is go and watch the football. I'm mad about my team, I love it, and I think that's what stands me out – I'm a bit buzzing, a bit entertaining, but just because I'm the average Joe. Some of the people that maybe go in the house, because they slept with a celebrity or something, they think they're God's gift to Earth."
2. Jack wouldn't mind a bit of fame.
"Don't get me wrong, I love my job. A lot of people don't. At times, I have said, 'Oh, I hate this' and it can get very stressful, but the people really make it. I love the people I work with in my store. But if something was to come out of it, I wouldn't turn it down. I love to entertain, and I feel the opportunity to do that as a day job would be brilliant. But I'm not trying for that, that's not my aim. But if it did come from it, I'd have to take it with both hands."
3. Yes, Jack was on Deal or No Deal - but he insists he's not a wannabe.
"That was another of those life experiences I thought, 'I'll give it a shot'," he said. "I managed to get on and it was great fun, I really enjoyed that. But obviously, it's a lot different to this process. This is a lot more in the public eye than that is and a different type of audience. Some people might be disliked in this."
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But Jack said he's no wannabe: "I know I've been on Deal or No Deal but I don't feel that's a massive thing. It's just a gameshow. I don't feel it's like people who have done maybe something bad, and have got fame for that, or people who think they're celebrities and are actually not celebrities. I literally went on a game show once and I'm just average Joe. It was just an experience I wanted to do."
4. Jack genuinely loves being called Pie Face. Really.
"My parents call me Jack and my boss does – she wants people to not call me Pie Face because apparently it's a bit unprofessional, but it's just an easy way of communicating," he said. "I was just sat on a wall at school once eating a pie – it's still disputed actually as to who actually said it – and someone went, 'Pie Face'. Since then it's just grown and grown.
"Everyone knows me at the football – I do all the away games and I'm known as Pie Face on the bus." And he will probably get his housemates calling him Pie Face. "It's a bit of an identity, isn't it?" he said. "Jack is who I am, but if I go in as Pie Face, I'm comfortable with that. It's easier for people to know me as that and it gives me a bit of an edge, I suppose, over some of the other people."
5. Jack isn't a big drinker and he's already a bit worried about the shopping list. Arguments: incoming.
"I only ever drink on special occasions or long trips, if someone says, 'Have one'," he said. "I'll do it just for fun. But I don't personally want to. Hopefully people don't want to go spending too much on alcohol because I'd rather just have Um Bongo."
Jack doesn't smoke either, so he's worried about the shopping budget. "Smoking annoys me," he said. "I don't mind people who smoke with their own money – people are entitled to do what they want. But in the house, we've got a split budget – I don't want people saying, 'We want this much for cigarettes and alcohol'. Hang on a minute, I'm quite a large lad, I like my food. I don't see why they don't just divide it between people – it makes more logical sense."
He added: "I tend to see myself as quite good mentally. I see myself as quite an intelligent person – I know I work in McDonalds, but I'm not stupid. But surely the common sense thing to do would be to as general money have £200 or whatever and then give everyone a certain amount they can spend on what they want, so if certain people want to spend money on cigarettes they can, and I can use my money on what I want. But people are silly, so they probably won't do that. They'll probably just shout and yell, and then I'll stand back and shake my head because they don't listen."
6. Don't be fooled - Jack will get involved in arguments.
"People don't think that and as a manager I'm quite chilled out," he said. "But I am prone to the odd meltdown now and again. I've done it a lot playing on my games console, throwing plates and stuff. I've been known to do that in the past.
"People know sometimes at work as well when I'm getting heated and angry and they can wind me up – I have clocked out sometimes and gone to the back and smashed up cardboard just to let the anger out."
But how's he going to deal with anger in the house? "There might be a meltdown or two," Jack admitted. "Hopefully not, but if people are going to get me to that stage, people know how to push my buttons to try and wind me up, maybe I might get there. I'll have to try and vent my anger somehow – I might just go outside maybe and shout some obscenities to try to calm down."
7. Jack doesn't have time for people stirring up drama for fun.
"I'm guessing there's some people that are fame hungry and are just there to make themselves look better or just to purposely cause controversy," he said. "Those people – just chill out. Relax. There's no need to purposely pee people off just to look good."
But how will he annoy people? "Probably talking too much. It will probably pee people off but they'll have to just deal with that I suppose. That's just the way I am, unfortunately. But I don't see that as a bad thing. It just keeps people entertained most of the time."
8. Jack isn't interested in romance in the house.
"I ain't got no time for that," he said. "The only thing I love is Plymouth Argyle." (Incidentally, Jack's missing the play-offs two days after the Big Brother launch: "I'm going to miss that like no tomorrow.")
9. Jack has some strong political views.
"I voted," he said. "It's important for the country. I think people that say, 'What I do has no interest', they're the people who are changing your lives and running the country and you should maybe have some input into what's going on."
He admitted to having some big opinions: "That's one of the things that can be considered a negative about me, but I'm willing to tell someone if I've got an opinion, I'm willing to go through with it and if people try to say things against it I'll try to stick with it, which can be seen as a bad thing. But I personally voted Labour, that's who I chose to vote for, just because they look after working families like my mum and dad, so that's why I voted for them. I'm not bitter because someone else won, that was just my personal preference."
Jack promised he would be able to get on with Tories or UKIP voters, but added: "People that are blind to it is what's more stressful. People who don't understand basic stuff to do with it. I believe that immigration should be tighter, I don't think it's tight enough, so if someone said it's fine I'd be like, 'Hang on a minute, can you not see the way the country's going?' So I am strongly opinionated in that sort of sense... Everyone's entitled to their opinion but I will fight for mine if I think it's right."
That's not the only controversial view he had: "I think religion causes 99% of the world's problems, but that's just my view again!"
Big Brother begins on Tuesday (May 12) at 9pm on Channel 5.
