Doncaster woman who won Big Brother ten years ago reveals how she spent £116,000 prize
A Doncaster woman who won Big Brother ten years ago and scooped a £116,000 prize has revealed what she spent her cash on – in a candid question and answer session with fans.
Chloe Wilburn triumphed on the popular reality TV show in 2015 when she was 23.
But she shunned the celebrity lifestyle – and earlier this year ploughed some of her cash into opening a dog grooming salon in Sprotbrough.
Now, speaking on social media, the mother got candid on what she paid for with her winnings.
Posting online, Chloe responded to a comment which read: “Sorry to be nosey, but what did you spend it on?”
To this, Chloe replied and acknowledged that rather than designer clothes and expensive holidays, she put the money to good use and not only treated herself to a set of braces, but ensured her mum was sorted out too.
She said: “So I paid my mum's mortgage off, I got braces, because I had rank, crisscrossy teeth.
“And then I did the house up, sold it and made a bit of money.”
After getting married to her boyfriend Dom Tasker and having a son together, the series 16 winner explained: “Now I own a couple of houses and a dog grooming salon in Sprotbrough in Doncaster.”
Chloe’s TikTok clip, which was posted under the username @chloejade105, has quickly racked up 94,700 views and more than 1,800 likes.
Big Brother fans eagerly raced to the comments to praise the humble winner and some even called her an “inspiration.”
One person said: “Loved you on Big Brother, you were my winner from day one.”
Another added: “It makes me so happy to hear that someone has benefited from it.
“You’re so normal and authentic, and it didn’t go to your head! You should be so proud.”
A third commented: “Wow, well done babe.. an inspiration. I remember watching you and rooting for you to win.”
In March this year, she opened Barks of Sprotbrough and said: “After winning, I was the only winner to go straight back to work.
“At the time, I was with Cementation Skanska in Bentley where I'd worked for ten years and was granted sabbatical to do the show on the proviso I didn't embarrass myself or them, which evidently I didn't as I won Big Brother on the Friday night and on the Monday morning I was back in the office carrying out my job.
She added: “I found lockdown really hard and the working from home on a computer all day wasn't for me as I'm a social butterfly and love interacting with people and so I decided to finally bite the bullet and go to college to retrain as a dog groomer.
"Once qualified I opened a small home based salon which was fully booked from the get go and I’ve been turning lots of customers away ever since, most of which seemed to be from Sprotbrough.
"So at the end of 2023, I finally bit the bullet and went on the hunt for a shop front that I could groom from and also have a pet store.
"Within the same week as me putting the feelers out, the old Post Office on Thorpe Lane became available and it was like fate!”
She said: “I love spending my days with dogs, especially since no two days are the same, but more so, building a rapport with the owners and building genuine friendships with them.
"I'm so grateful to my original Bentley customers who have all followed me over to the new shop.”
For more details call 01302 683795 or email Barks at [email protected] for further information.