A Stockport reporter is recovering after subjecting herself to the ‘Big Brother’ experience to raise money for a cancer charity.

Clarissa Satchell, of the Stockport Express, volunteered to become the fifth member of ‘Big Bazza’ after a pub landlord organised a scaled-down version of the hit show.

The idea was simple, five people would be kept in the playroom and garden of the pub, with their every move filmed by a video cameras for the amusement of the regulars.

The members would spend the time completing tasks in exchange for the reward of an Indian takeaway and a quantity of booze.

And sticking to the principles of the programme, pub regulars were given the chance to vote one member out of the ‘house’ at regular intervals.

The final remaining member would win the top prize of a long weekend in Paris.

Each member had been sponsored by friends and family with all money raised going towards MacMillan Cancer Relief.

As the official reporter of the event, Clarissa was safe from being voted out, but in every other aspect she was equal.

The challenge began on Friday evening and the first challenge for the housemates was to guess the cheapest and most expensive from a choice of wines.

The crew failed miserable and had to wait till they succesfully completed the second challenge before getting their hands on the beer and curry.

This challenge involved sculpting animal shapes out of potatoes and after they had won their prize, the five spent the remainder of the night playing twister and watching videos.

But after settling down to sleep, Clarissa realised she had forgotten to bring a sleeping bag and she spent a very uncomfortable night on the hard floor.

Saturday started with a full English breakfast before their third challenge arrived – an assaut course featuring a bouncy castle and an old car.

The group failed to do the assault course in the required five minutes but a generous regular offered the crew two pints each if they did the course backwards.

Tears came later that day when the first eviction took place with the exit of Tina, one of the main organisers of the event.

Clarissa explained: “The housemates were in tears as well as everyone in the pub.”

Following the second eviction later that day, two people remained along with Clarissa who wasn’t competing for the prize.

It was close but in the end, pub barmaid Diane walked away with the trip to Paris.

Clarissa said: “I enjoyed it and we all got on really well. It was a good laugh.”

The amount raised for charity was £3,000 and Clarissa still has to count donations from her colleagues at the Express.

And as the real Big Brother swings into action, she said: “If the housemates are even half as much fun as in Stockport’s own version, it will well be worth watching.”

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