I was one of reality TV’s first ever stars, but I quit fame after heartbreaking split and returned to my normal job
BIG Brother 2’s Paul Clarke stepped back from the limelight after it was one of the causes of his split from housemate Helen Adams.
But 17 years on from that breakup Paul's go on to have a successful career in car design and has barely aged since leaving the house.
Paul shot to fame in 2001 on the beloved reality series and became a household name thanks to his relationship with Helen who were one of the show's original lovebirds.
He left the house before Helen - who would go on to be runner-up to Brian - but the couple stayed together for another five years after that, defying the public's expectations.
The former Reading lad fell head over heels for the Welsh bombshell in the house but they kept their relationship purely to flirting because Helen had a boyfriend outside the BB house.
But love couldn't keep them apart and they eventually shacked up, moving to Barnet until their break-up in 2006.
While Helen would go on to make a number of media appearances on Loose Women, GMTV, and as a celeb chef on Ready, Steady, Cook, the couple chose to keep their relationship private.
They even turned down an offer to film a fly-on-the wall series about their life together.
The media scrutiny around their relationship was one of the reasons the couple eventually called it quits.
Now in his mid-40s, Paul stepped out of the limelight and built a successful career in car design.
Based in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, Paul's even managed to ditch his bosses to set up his own company and has worked as an independent consultant since 2019.
He describes himself as a "passionate forward-thinking individual" on his LinkedIn and even recruited Sonning spoonbender Uri Geller to help avoid eviction from the Big Brother house.
Paul asked Uri to use his psychic powers to help him and he even visited Paul's parents at home to help send him positive.
Back in 2001, Helen came in second after Brian.
As for Helen, the Welsh beauty will be forever remembered for saying: "I like blinking, I do."
She reportedly moved to Portishead, near Bristol, where she now works as a hair stylist.
Helen got married and has a daughter with her husband.