'It was really pressurised': Inaugural Big Brother winner and Shropshire builder Craig shares tips for surviving lockdown

Nearly 20 years ago, a defining TV social experiment began, featuring ten strangers who were shut off together from the outside world.

Now, as the UK grapples with the coronavirus crisis, inaugural Big Brother winner and former Shropshire builder, Craig Phillips, has come forward to offer his advice on how to cope with life in lockdown.

Speaking to Sky News, Craig commented on how similar lockdown has felt to being back in the Big Brother house.

"I keep thinking that, now we're all self-contained and can't go out," he said. "When we were in the house we just wanted to see our friends, see our family and get out of the four walls. It was really pressurised, certainly after 64 days locked in there.

"The Big Brother house looked bigger on TV than it actually was and we couldn't open the front door and had no windows to look out of. We could look in the garden, of course, through the patio doors, but no window to look outside and see what was going on in the real world. At least now we can go out for a walk in the park or to the shops."

Craig also discussed the challenge of being trapped with other people, and how the circumstances of the Big Brother house forced him to make friends with people he may not normally have associated with.

"We were in there with people we didn't really want to be in there with," he said. "I remember the psychiatrist saying to me before we went into the house, 'You know, Craig, if you were put in this environment with your best friends and your family, you're still going to fall out'.

"It forced us to make friends because most of the people in there I generally wouldn't have hung around with. We became friends because of the circumstances of living in the house. I've stayed friends with a few and even went to visit Nick in Australia."

Craig's confrontation with 'Nasty' Nick Bateman over cheating in the house is a well-remembered moment in Big Brother history. In a lockdown situation, he said, tensions can rise and relationships can be tested.

"It had been heating up for a day and a half in the Big Brother house over Nick writing people's names down and trying to manipulate us to vote for each other. It was building up tension in the house and I was getting wound up myself. I'm quite calm and patient and can normally detach myself from a situation and look at it from a different angle.

"I suggested we all sleep on it, then sit down the next day and talk about it around the table. I was fuming at Nick, but I was relatively polite and professional – I even made him a cup of tea. It didn't go too well for Nick on the day. Nick was a cheat, he was doing wrong, so he had to be confronted for it and pay the price, which was to be chucked out of the house.

"I think for people living at home now, it's going to be testing for relationships too. I think if people are having issues, having this lockdown is going to magnify them. My advice would be to keep busy doing DIY; you can work in one room and your partner can work in the other. And when you do your daily exercise, go in different directions…"

During his time in the Big Brother house, Craig used improvised exercise as a way to maintain his mental and physical wellbeing.

"Something I did a lot was try to keep myself fit," he said. "We didn't have any weights or anything like that, so I got tins of beans and spaghetti and put them all inside pillowcases and did bench presses, shoulder presses, squats and lateral raises. I improvised to make weights and to try to keep my body strong, because I think if your body's strong, your mind can be a lot stronger."

Craig has been in lockdown with his wife Laura and daughter Nelly. He said that his time in the Big Brother house has made him more disciplined and more easily able to cope with the restrictions.

"I fell out with lots of my friends and family because 10 days before lockdown, we started self-isolating. Nelly was our priority," he said. "I'd only go out to the shops wearing a mask and gloves and everyone would move out of my way. Now everyone's wearing them.

"I think being in Big Brother has made me more disciplined and able to cope with lockdown, as well as being told what to do. It also taught me how to live on basics – we were only given £1.50 per day for food, so we had to be very selective about what we bought and how to make the most of it. That's useful now we're economising and thinking about what we can freeze to give us two or three meals for later in the week."

Craig believes routine is a very important part of a healthy life in lockdown.

"I think it's important to have a good structure," he added. "We made a list. I'll get up with the baby, tinker around for two or three hours, go for our dog walk, then put the baby for a nap and go in the office and get on the computer and do some emails. Every day feels like a Sunday."

True to his professional roots, Craig has been using DIY as a means to keep busy.

"We built a new house and moved in a week before the baby was born," he said. "It's been a bit of a labour of love this last 12 months, dipping in and out and finishing off loads of little tasks. Now I'm housebound the list has got bigger and bigger, putting a fence in here and tiling there.

"We're trying to create a structure to keep us busy and motivated. I think if you just get up and sit around and watch TV and Netflix you turn into a bit of a slob. Now, we all deserve a bit of time being a slob when we've worked hard, but I think it's dangerous if several weeks in you're still sitting in your pyjamas at 4 o'clock and watching the TV."

He believes that indulging in home improvements and maintenance can be a good way for people to make themselves feel better during this difficult time.

"My background is DIY and we're trying to encourage people to do home improvements while they've got the time," he added. "If you've got some tools, some things don't need materials. You can just get out and fix and maintain things. It makes your house a more enjoyable place to be around; if you're looking at the four walls and they're looking a bit shabby, paint them up and make it feel brighter and you'll make yourself feel better too."

Following his time on Big Brother, Craig had become a household name whose world was forever changed.

"My life changed overnight," he said. "I went into that house just normal Craig from the building site and came out a household name. I remember coming out of the house and I was raced away by police and bodyguards, it was terrifying. You got taken to a hotel, and I didn't end up going home for 97 days, right the way up to Christmas."

When the coronavirus crisis has abated, he expects much of the world to have changed forever too.

"I think it will make everybody learn a lot about themselves and respect their freedom a little bit more," he added. "We've got it easy in England and we still moan about it, so I think it will help put things in perspective. Most of all, lockdown teaches you to enjoy the real things that matter most, like friends and family and your house around you."