FORMER Tottenham midfielder Jamie O’Hara has revealed he turned down Championship side Burton to go on Celebrity Big Brother.
The 36-year-old agreed to appear on the reality show six years ago when he was without a club as he recovered from an injury.
But after accepting the opportunity, he was then approached by Burton – who were in the second tier at the time and managed by Nigel Clough.
This led to a series of events which ultimately resulted in O’Hara’s fee for going into Celebrity Big Brother being DOUBLED.
Speaking on talkSPORT, he said: “I was injured at the time, I was actually still playing football. I’d left Gillingham and I wasn’t allowed to sign for anyone until the 2nd of January when the transfer window opened.
“Around November I’m sat around and I’m doing nothing. Money’s running out, I’d gone through a divorce and I needed a few quid.
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“I got offered this show, Big Brother. They offered me £150,000 grand – that was a lot of money at the time. And I was like ‘you know what, big money, can’t turn that down, I’ll do it’.
“It got to December 28th. Nigel Clough phones me, Burton Albion. They was in the Championship. [Clough] says ‘I’m really interested in signing you, I know you can’t sign for anyone until January, would you come up for a couple of days and train with the team?’
“I was still struggling with an injury but I said ‘Yeah, you know what, I’ll go up there, I’ll see if I can get through it’.”
He continued: “I’ve gone up there and I’ve trained really well. I’ve kept myself fit, I’ve turned up and I’m training well, I’m flying.
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“So Nigel pulls me into his office after a couple of days and says ‘Look, I need you. I want to sign you, I need a midfielder, Championship football, I’ll give you £1500 a week until the end of the season’.
“So I was looking at it going ‘It’s Championship football, decent club, Burton, I can’t really turn this down’.
“So I’ve gone back and he’s said ‘I’ve heard you’re going in Big Brother’. I was like ‘No, no, Nigel I’m not. I’ve got to go back and speak to my agent’.
“So I’ve got straight in the car and I’m driving back to my house in London. Phoned my agent and my agent obviously didn’t know I’d done this deal with Big Brother.
“I said ‘Look, I’m doing Big Brother, they’re paying me £150,000 grand’. He went ‘You can’t, it’s football, you want to get back playing football, this is your opportunity’. I went ‘Yeah, you’re right’.
“I phoned Big Brother and said ‘I can’t do it, I’m sorry’. They said ‘Are you winding us up? You’re going in in two days, everything’s done, there’s no way we can replace that, you are going in the show. You can’t do it, you’ve signed the contract’.
“I went ‘No, I’m not going, there’s no way I’m doing the show, football’s more important’.
“They went ‘How much are they paying you?’ I went ‘£1500 a week’ and they said ‘It’s not even as much as you’re getting, we’re offering you £150,000’. I went ‘No, football’s more important’.
“They said ‘What can we do to entice you to turn down Burton Albion?’ I went ‘Nothing’. They went ‘What about another £150,000 grand?’
“I went ‘Yeah go on then’. £300,000 grand, I’m in Big Brother, see you later.”
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After coming out of Celebrity Big Brother – where he was evicted with five days to go – O’Hara went on to spend three years at non-league Billericay Town.
He eventually retired in 2020 and is now a regular talkSPORT pundit.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
