BIG Brother proved to be such a hit that applications for its second series absolutely rocketed.
Just 40,000 people applied to take part in the first series but, following its huge success, a whopping 250,000 auditioned the following year.
Airing in the summer of 2001, Big Brother 2 captured the attention of millions and even featured the show's first blossoming romance.
Here, we take a look back at the contestants and what became of them...
Brian Dowling - Winner
Irish flight attendant Brian Dowling was the first big star to be born out of the Big Brother franchise.
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His hilarious personality won viewers over, meaning he walked away as the winner of series two.
Brian went on to forge a hugely successful career as a presenter, hosting shows including SMTV: Live, The Salon and Live From Studio Five.
In 2011, he went full circle and was given the honour of presenting Big Brother when original host Davina McCall stepped down.
Brian hosted two series' of Big Brother and four of the celebrity version, before the reigns were handed over to Emma Willis.
These days, Brian is living back in his native Ireland with his husband Arthur Gourounlian and their one-year-old daughter Blake Maria Rose.
He co-hosts a weekday morning radio show with Suzanne Blake on Dublin 98FM.
Helen Adams - Second Place
Welsh hairdresser Helen Adams is best known for both her sweet personality and for famously declaring: "I like blinking, I do."
During the summer of 2001, Big Brother viewers also found themselves gripped as she formed an adorable bond with fellow housemate Paul Clarke.
Helen was in a relationship with boyfriend 'Big G' when she entered the house, but she ditched him after growing close to Paul.
The couple went on to enjoy a five-year romance but broke fans' hearts when they split in 2006.
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Helen later told Heat magazine: 'I felt a little bit like the Wicked Witch because I was the first to say something.
"But then Paul said to me, “Would you want to marry me?” and I said, “I don’t think I would” and he said, “Well, I don’t want to marry you either”. And we laughed.
"Once we started being honest we realised we get on better as friends."
Helen, who came second in Big Brother 2, now lives a quiet life near Bristol and still works as a hairdresser. She is believed to be married with a daughter.
Dean O’Loughlin - Third Place
Sadly for Dean O'Loughlin, he was landed with the tag of 'the boring one' in Big Brother series two.
A musician at the time, Dean is now a successful writer and has written for Sky/HBO’s series THE THIRD DAY and for Sky and Film 4.
He is also a dad-of-two.
Dean finished in third place on Big Brother, however he later confessed to regretting ever taking part in the reality series.
Several years after leaving BB, he wrote in The Guardian: "I was no longer Dean O'Loughlin, but Dean O'ffabigbrother.
"The programme has, quite simply, disrupted my life to an enormous degree. Aside from having to contend with being 'the boring one' from Big Brother 2, the day to day business of life becomes harder to perform."
He added: "The public's perception of someone who has been on television for nine weeks is that you must be loaded. If they don't see you driving around in a limousine and attending movie premieres, most people consider you a failure."
Elizabeth Woodcock
Elizabeth Woodcock signed up to Big Brother to "see how she would react".
She managed to make it nearly all the way to the final, escaping nomination from her fellow housemates.
But on the outside, the web designer wasn't so popular with viewers.
In the final vote to win, which ran several days before the series finale, Elizabeth received just 2 per cent of the votes and was booted out in a surprise eviction.
Since her time in Big Brother, Elizabeth has turned her back on fame and is believed to be living abroad and working as a writer.
She also embarked on a three-month motorbike tour of Eastern Europe's former communist states for her website.
Paul Clarke
The other half of Big Brother's first romance, Paul Clarke tried to duck out of the spotlight after leaving the house.
During his five-year relationship with housemate Helen Adams, Paul turned down the chance for their own fly-on-the-wall reality series and concentrated on his career as a car designer.
Since 2019, Paul has been working as a self-employed independent consultant with an impressive automotive client base in the US and Asia.
Paul describes himself as a "passionate forward-thinking individual" on his LinkedIn.
Josh Rafter
Joshua Rafter was a late-comer to Big Brother series 2, entering the house through the Diary Room door as a surprise contestant on Day 16.
The fitness fanatic was quick to whip his T-shirt off in front of the hidden cameras and flex his muscles for the nation to see.
After leaving the show, Josh went back to working as an office manager at property company Outlet and, over time, he climbed the corporate ladder. In 2006, he bought the company.
It had started as "London’s first lettings service for the LGBT community".
Josh was the second gay housemate to take part in Big Brother, with Brian Dowling being the first - pipping him to the post by 16 days.
Amma Antwi-Agyei
Amma Antwi-Agyei was working as a lapdancer when she entered the Big Brother house in 2001.
She said in her audition tape: "When I was at school I wanted to be a lawyer or a writer.
"What made me decide to become a table dancer was boredom."
Amma's devote Christian parents were unaware of her lapdancing career until shortly before she entered Big Brother.
After being evicted on Day 43, Amma landed the part of Yasmin Shawcross in Sky One’s football soap Dream Team.
She played the character for one series before slipping out of the limelight. It was later rumoured she had returned to lapdancing.
Amma's current whereabouts are unknown.
Paul ‘Bubble’ Ferguson
One of the most iconic moments to come out of Big Brother series 2 was Paul 'Bubble' Ferguson falling over a chair.
The footie fan and warehouse operative was running through the living room when he dramatically slammed into an armchair and flew over a coffee table.
Bubble, who was also known for his elaborate hat collection, lasted in Big Brother for a respectable 36 days.
He went on to land cameo parts in The Office and Dead Set and signed up to several pantos off the back of his newfound fame.
Bubble even released a song called Standing Tall with housemate Dean O'Loughlin. It charted at 99 in the UK Singles charts.
Sadly, Bubble seems to have stepped back from the public eye and little is known about his current whereabouts.
Narinder Kaur
Medical rep Narinder Kaur lasted four weeks in the Big Brother house.
During that time, she formed a close friendship with housemate Brian Dowling and even went on to be his bridesmaid 14 years later.
Since finding fame on the show, Narinder has build up a successful career in broadcasting and regularly appears on Good Morning Britain, TalkTV, GB News and Jeremy Vine.
Now age 50, Narinder is not shy about showing off her fantastic figure.
But last month, the mum-of-two was forced to hit back at cruel trolls who criticised her for posting bikini pictures on social media.
Narinder got her revenge by posting another fabulous photo.
Stuart Hosking
Communications director Stuart Hosking was the second housemate to be evicted from Big Brother in 2001.
He earned himself a reputation for being sly and would wink whenever he was being dishonest.
Stuart has four children and went back to working in the IT industry following his brush with fame.
He also co-created and developed Teabag Bin with fellow housemate Dean O'Loughlin; a gadget to put used teabags in when making a brew.
Stuart still remembers his time on Big Brother fondly, with his X (formerly Twitter) bio reading: "Lived in a very public house when reality tv just started and was at its best!!"
Penny Ellis
English teacher Penny Ellis is best remembered for being given the sack after stripping off on Big Brother.
Penny dropped her towel during the live feed and Channel 4 was forced to issue an apology.
As a result, Penny - who insisted it was an accident - was let go from her job and later said the incident had "ruined" her life.
The Sun recently revealed that Penny now works in a Morrisons cafe.
She told us: "Every time Big Brother comes back on, I'm in the paper all the time and even for the 20th anniversary Rylan put on Twitter 'let's not forget Dame Penny'.
"I've tried to teach for the last 20 years on and off and it's been an absolute disaster every single time - it ranges from hysteria to kids throwing s**t at me so I've literally lost 16 jobs.
"The last job I lost I was on £700 a week because I'm a fantastic teacher, that was in February 2020."
Penny added: "I am now washing up - I call myself a cutlery cleaning agent - for a national retail grocery giant but actually I'm a washer-upper in Morrisons.
"At the end of the day I wash up in Morrisons and I've never been so happy. It's the best job I've ever had."
- Big Brother returns at 9pm, ITV1, Sunday October 8
