For fans who tuned into this year’s Big Brother, it seemed the relationship between series winner Richard Storry and housemate Caroline Monk was a contentious one.
The kind-hearted composer, 60, became the oldest winner in the show’s history when he was crowned champion on Friday, beating runner-up Elsa Rae with 38% of the vote.
Throughout the series, viewers saw Richard endure a string of insults and jibes from Caroline, with the PR guru branding him ‘boring’ and the ‘antichrist.’
But while this may lead fans to think there is no love lost between Richard and Caroline now the series has come to an end, the author has now told Daily Mail that they actually enjoyed many pleasant conversations, which were not aired.
Speaking just four days after leaving the famous house, Richard insisted that despite Caroline’s ‘barbed comments,’ he sees it as ‘water off a duck’s back,’ and he would hold no ill will if they were to ever cross paths in the future.
He also shared that after many viewers, and the show’s crew, were left in tears by his emotional letter from his son in the series, he hopes to use some of his £100,000 towards travel so he, and his three grandchildren, can fly to the UK for a visit.
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Big Brother winner Richard Storry has revealed an unlikely truth behind his frenemy Caroline Monk’s ‘insults and barbed comments’ after viewers were gripped by their verbal sparring
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The author has revealed that he and the PR guru enjoyed many pleasant exchanges that were not aired, raising questions of whether Caroline was playing up to the cameras
Richard said: ‘There were two sides to my interactions with Caroline. See, I don’t know how much of what we said to each other was actually shown, of course, because the cameras are rolling 24/7, but they’re rolling 24/7 in six different locations.
‘So there’s very little of what was actually happening that could be shown, there just isn’t enough time.
‘But when I spoke to her on my own, when it was just the two of us chatting, it was actually very nice, a very nice little chat. She and I both have experiences with dealing with celebrities in the past and so on, and it was very interesting, like I had a kind of kindred spirit in that area.
‘There was also a very obviously, what I can only describe, as a kind of a soft heart to her. She had a soft centre and I could see that.
‘For some reason that I don’t know, once we were in a group setting and all of the housemates were all sitting around, that’s when the claws would come out and that’s when all these abrasive comments would be made.
‘And I was standing there going, well, why are you doing this? I don’t know. There was two sides to it, you see.
‘So the harsh side, which actually to be honest with you, didn’t really trouble me at all. she was coming out with all these insults and barbed comments.
‘It was honestly water off a duck’s back, it didn’t bother me. If I’d been 40 years younger, it might have done, but I’m too old and long in the tooth for things like that to worry me.
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Caroline was evicted a week before the final, with her treatment of Richard leading in a surge of support for him
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Richard became the oldest winner in the show’s history when he was crowned champion on Friday, beating runner-up Elsa Rae with 38% of the vote.
‘But on the other hand, we did have some very nice chats too, and I don’t know whether any of those were shown.’
Richard joked that after being reunited with Caroline at the live final and wrap party last week, he may have to ‘dodge her fists’ if they were to cross paths in the future.
He added: ‘If I met her in the street, I would dodge all her fists. But yeah, I mean, it’s only been three days since we finished the show and so I mean, I haven’t really had a chance to catch up with anyone yet.
‘I did a TikTok, a live TikTok call with Tate last night, and she did make a little appearance there and was her usual Caroline self.
‘Questions full of innuendos and all the rest of it. But apart from that, I haven’t seen her, but yes, we could, of course. Hopefully I can get on well with anybody.’
Richard entered this year’s Big Brother as a late entrant on the second day, and became a surprise fan favourite thanks to his verbal spars with Caroline.
While he faced early accusations of being a ‘game-player’, Richard soon won over fans, and he survived several evictions before being crowned champion.
He admitted that while be briefly entertained the thought that he could win the show at the beginning of Friday’s final, when it got down to both himself and Elsa in the final two, he was convinced she would win due to her vast online following.
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Reflecting on the touching moment he received a letter from his son in the house, Richard said plans to spend some of his £100,000 prize money on travel so his family can visit him in the UK
Asked how he plans to spend his £100,000 prize money, Richard said: ‘I haven’t given it very much thought, but I’m very keen for my son to come and visit, so that will help cover that.
‘There’s also a friend of mine who’s wanting to record an album of music that I’ve written for him, and I’ll put a little bit into that as well.
‘So, because I’m not the kind of person who… I’m not going to rush out and buy a Rolls Royce or something like that. I’m not very materialistic, but those things just don’t particularly register in my thinking.
‘But what does register is doing things, the projects and so like, you know, buying a plane ticket with my son or or investing in a forthcoming recording, that kind of thing is what I like to do.’
Big Brother is set to return for a new series in 2026, while the Celebrity version will also hit screens again in March,
However this next run will be without spin-off Late and Live, as reports circulated on Monday that the show has been axed due to low ratings.