BIG Brother heartthrob Alex Sibley is desperate to take part in I’m A Celebrity 18 years after a tragic car crash destroyed his TV career.
The former model, 41, shot to fame on the 2002 edition of the reality show, alongside Jade Goody, Adele Roberts and Alison Hammond.
His fun and flirty antics were rewarded with a third-place finish and lucrative telly deals including a live kids’ show on Nickelodeon.
But just two years later his world was turned upside down when 63-year-old butcher Kurt Lange was killed after being hit by Alex’s BMW on a crossing in Essex.
Reflecting on the incident in an exclusive chat with The Sun, Alex said: “A major thing happened in my life. A guy ran into the side of my car and died from his injuries.
“I lost my kids TV programme. I had a live show on Nickelodeon, and I was about to do panto.
“Because that all lost I then started f***ing hating Big Brother because it was my stepping stone into doing something else. I was making a lot of money. The first year I made nearly £250,000 which is insane.
“Every year after that I used to be a little bit excited watching it, but then it would bring back some bad memories.”
The case against Alex, who has always denied driving dangerously, was eventually dropped in 2006 due to insufficient evidence.
However, the former celeb was forced to retreat from the public eye as work dried up.
“If you Google me it will say I was involved in an accident where someone died,” he said. “It wasn’t my fault though, but it’s stuck.
“All I did was go to pick up my friend from the airport, and the police completely destroyed my career.”
Since the crash, Alex, who is married to a French ballerina and has four children under the age of six, has worked in affordable housing.
His attempts to secure a celebrity agent to revive his media career fell on deaf ears.
He explained: “There’s always someone going ‘you should give it a try.’ I’m not the sort of person that would go to the opening of an envelope.
“I did try getting an agent 2-3 years ago, and none of them got back to me except my old agent, and he said ‘Alex, I’ll be honest with you. Your boat set sail a very long time ago.’
“It’s a bit sad, but I still do blame the Metropolitan Police.”
Despite being without an agent and living outside the public eye, Alex remains keen to take part in I’m A Celebrity.
He said: “For the last four of five years I’ve been messaging the producers of I’m A Celebrity.
“I’m someone who was very famous that no one gives a f**k about anymore. That’s what people used to be on that programme, but they’re not anymore.
“Last year was the first year they never got back to me.
“That’s the only thing I’d like to do for my bucket list.”
And he joked: “I rather fancy a bit of crocodile penis.”
Alex also believes it would help him lose weight after bulking to over 15 stone in lockdown.
“I desperately need to lose weight,” he said. “I weigh a tenth of a ton now. I weigh 98kg which is just awful. My wife keeps on saying you’re lucky you’ve got a face like that.”
Having come to terms with the tainted memories of his post Big Brother fame, Alex admits he did enjoy tuning in each year before the show was axed in 2018.
And he has a particular soft spot for former Bit On The Side host and CBB contestant Rylan Clark-Neal.
He said: “Rylan used to be a massive fan of me. I think I was his first celebrity crush, and we went to the same school.
“And he came to my house when he was 13, knocked on the door and I gave him an autograph. He’ll message me every now and again.
“He’d always make me feel very welcome (on Bit On The Side) and make me remember what it was like when I was in my 20s, to be wanted.”
The dad-of-four certainly was wanted in his heyday, revealing he’d often command £10,000 for TV work.
“When I was doing jobs after Big Brother I thought it would last forever,” he said. “As a model it used to be really tough going to get work whereas on TV I didn’t even have to go anywhere.
“They said ‘we want you,we’re going to give you this for it’, and my agent was like ‘no, he doesn’t want 2 grand, he wants 10 grand,’ and they’d go ‘alright then.’”
While his current work might not be as glamorous, Alex admitted he doesn’t feel a desire to share every part of his life on social media like many celebs.
He also feels content in his work, adding: “I feel like I’m actually doing some good.”
One thing’s for sure, he’d certainly bring fun to the jungle.
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