Received a phone call from Kevin on Thursday evening telling me to quickly turn the TV over to Channel 4 - I did and I was aghast to see John Loughton, a young guy I have known for seven years or so, large as life in the Big Brother House!
I first met John when he was a star pupil at Craigroyston High School and our paths have crossed many times since - we worked on stage together on North Edinburgh Arts' 'Oyster Wars' production in 2003 and have both been involved in numerous communityu events. I most recently met John at the Standard Life Education Awards in November, where John (in his capacity as Convener of The Scottish Youth Parliament) presented a category award.
We went for a few beers after the ceremony (as is compulsory on these occasions)and had a rare old natter - John is a real 'character', and while he has matured (he's now 20) he's retained his sense of fun and is great company. We talked about politics - a mutual passion - and his plans for the future, but one option we didn't discuss was a career on TV!
I've got to admit that I hate reality TV shows with a passion, and now John's presented me with my first real dilemma of 2008. I'd love to see him do well on Big Brother, but to watch that excrutiating show goes against everything I believe ... what to do?
I've no doubt John's personality and intelligence will shine through - Jade Goody he's not! What made him decide to take part, though, I'm not so sure. Perhaps he's adopted the George 'Would you like me to be the cat?' Galloway approach of taking politics out to wider, younger, more 'hip' audience. Or maybe he just thought it would be good fun. Whtever, I wish John the best of luck. One thing is for sure - with the exposure he'll receive on the show his life post BB will never be the same again. Whether that's for good or ill we'll just have to wait and see.
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