Big Brother’s Sam Ashby spills all – from George’s offensive unaired remarks, that awkward finale and latest Zelah exchange (EXCLUSIVE)
"For it to go that way, I just didn’t want to be in that situation anymore," said Sam
By Aaron Sugg
Sam Ashby had their fair share of ups and downs in this year’s Big Brother – from nearly being sent home in episode one, to being mimicked by controversial housemate George Gilbert, and an unexpected romantic storyline with Zelah Glasson.
They were the seventh housemate to be evicted from the series in a shock back-door exit, but returned for a toe-curling finale during Late & Live. Sam revealed to Attitude that they had to get up from their seat during the ad breaks, “sobbing” after a “venomous” exchange.
In an exclusive interview with Attitude, the 27-year-old spoke about how proud they are to have educated others in the house on LGBTQ+ rights, including friend Caroline Monk, who unforgettably misgendered Zelah early in the series, as well as Celebrity Big Brother legends reaching out in support, and the unaired anti-trans remarks made by booted housemate George.
Attitude: You identify with he/she/they pronouns. How do you feel about the term ‘non-binary’?
SAM ASHBY: I’m very much of the mindset that I don’t really feel too attached to anything in particular. So I just kind of flow through life as Sam, or as Smashby. So it’s not really a case of my gender so much. It’s more that I just feel quite fluid as a person. That’s why I’m kind of happy with all pronouns. Anything people want to address me as feels fine, because it all feels the same to me.
[Non-binary] I think on paper that makes the most sense. When I’ve looked into it, that seems to be the term that makes the most sense of how I feel. So I’m happy to wear that one… It makes so much sense to navigate the world regardless of gender.
How’s has it been coming off Big Brother 2025? Especially with some housemates you left as friends and some… not so much.
It’s been really weird, because it was such a journey in there. And I left at such a weird note, where things were left either unresolved or quite tense, and I felt quite negative about everything, especially after the finale and after the Late and Live. That was really uncomfortable… and wrap party. And then now it feels like the dust is settling a lot, and conversations are happening, and some beef has been squished, which is nice.
Oh! So yeah, it was weird and weird to leave it on, but now I feel a little lighter, a little positive now. It felt quite heavy coming off and seeing the reaction that I got, and I couldn’t really understand why from what I’d lived in there. And then from watching it back, I kind of see that a lot of context gets taken out of things. So I feel now quite happy with what I did in the house, ’cause as much as it’s been quite dicey, it’s made for good TV, so I’m like, ‘God, that’s good.’
I’ve spoken with Jenny, and we squished our beef, which is nice. I think she just doesn’t really give a fuck about anything, to be honest. So, basically, I blocked Jenny when I got out after the final. I went on a blocking spree though, it wasn’t just Jenny, because it felt so negative with a lot of people from that show for me… I was like, I need to calm down… So I unblocked. So I had to message her. And I was like, “I’m so sorry, diva. Basically, I felt really just terrible about the way things ended. I was just gonna block it and move on, and then I unblocked, and it’s not that deep.” And she was like, “I’ve got no ill will towards you. We’ve all gone through a crazy experience; it’d be good if we can all move from it together.”
Watching the show how do you feel you were written?
What I’ve noticed is, I think they wanted that narrative more, because if you noticed, me and Jenny were the last ones to enter the house, and normally the two people who enter last are kind of focused on a bit more, either pit against each other, and one’s brought up, one’s brought down… It looks like I’m more bitchy than what I am. But I think that was the point: to make us get heated towards each other. It works. I fell into the trap easily enough. I mean, girls will always bitch sometimes, you know what I mean?
You were really close with Nancy Nocerino and Caroline in there. What was it about the two of them that made you click?
Nancy was, from day one, it was the minute I walked in. I think she was the first hug that I had. I just remember looking at her and being like, “Who is this girl? Who is this Sidney Sweeney, Kylie Minogue look-alike?”
And then Caroline — we had a really rocky relationship from the start because, I wasn’t sure whether to save her or Emily. We then had the situation where she misgendered Zelah and offended Nancy’s sexuality. So that was quite a hard thing for me to get over, because they were my two closest people at the time. So to offend them two, and then just kind of keep digging the hole, was really horrible.
And so we had a bit of chat that night because I think as the only other queer person in the house, she was like, “Are you upset? Are you all right with me?” I think she wanted to make sure she had someone on her side from the community. And I was like, “Not really. Because that is fucking wild.” And so I was not rude, but, like, I couldn’t get past my friends’ feelings that night.
Once I’d got evicted and seen from the secret room that every eviction Nancy pretty much didn’t really care if she was alone or not, but Caroline did. I thought, well, that speaks volumes, because she’s obviously got a good heart and can feel something.
In the back of your head, do you still think about Caroline misgendering Zelah?
Well, we’ve had a lot of conversations since then, about queer issues and some political stuff and people that she aligns herself with. She’ll drop a name now and again, and I’m like, pulling a face, like, “What?” And she’s like, “No, they’re really nice.” Laurence Fox for example – she apparently had no idea he was burning Pride flags whilst I couldn’t be more repulsed by someone in my life. She said, “Oh, I didn’t know he’d done that. I thought he was just, a nice guy who was passionate about something else.”
We’d have open conversations and she’d be open to what I said. I had some really positive conversations with Caroline about queer issues. I saw a really warm side and quite an open-minded side I don’t think comes across on TV.
We can’t not talk about the Zelah situation. I know you two didn’t speak until the finale – have you talked since being in the Big Brother house?
The conversation’s started, and I don’t want to seem like that’s me forcing it to go a certain way or whatever. It was literally yesterday. I was on a podcast and I messaged him that morning, and I thought, I’ll do it before I do the podcast so I don’t pay attention to my phone.
And then mid-thing it popped up, and I was like, “Oh.” I’m just trying to keep it normal and not get, like, overwhelmed or emotional about it. So yeah, the conversation’s started. I don’t know where it’s going to go but I really, really hope it has a positive outcome because that friendship was so treasured to me in there.
And I think speaking to him so far, he feels the same way, and it’s just been a case of miscommunication and things getting blown out of proportion. Because the minute I came out and saw what happened, I was more than happy to hold my hands up and own where I went wrong. I am delulu. When I heard he had a crush… and then he told me I was his crush I was like, “What does this mean?” And so I’ve held my hands up with that and said I literally misheard, and I got carried away with something.
It’s the first time someone’s said I’m their crush. I’ve never had that before. So we were just talking in a really intense environment, a lot of feelings, but I’m absolutely holding my hands up and saying I got that wrong.
So it’s been hard, then, to kind of do that – extend the olive branch and say, “No hate towards Zelah, no hate towards Zelah.” I did feel led on, but on reflection, I don’t think it was intentional. I think it was really just a case of me misreading the signs.
But it’s been hard to then come out and see him doing a Q&A or going live and him seeing me in quite a negative and angry light, and thinking that things were intentional or malicious. This is an issue I kept seeing with Zelah in the house… he always kind of got caught up in how I was presented, he’d say: “Well, I feel like I don’t know you, I don’t trust you.” And I was like, “Why is it so easy for you to feel like that? And for me, I could not imagine doing that to you.” So I think that was something that was really difficult for me to get past with our relationship. It’ll be interesting to see what happens with that.
You went through a lot in the house – but when were you actually happiest in there?
I’d say about week four, when I came back in – not straight away, because I was quite sceptical of everyone’s movements, because I’d been shown and told by Big Brother that no one cared that I’d left in the eviction. So that kind of got my back up.
So to come back in and see them all be really excited, I didn’t trust anybody. But once I’d had the conversations and aired things out, I was really good with everybody. I remember thinking to myself, “God, I’m so happy. Everything’s going so well, and we’re good with everyone.”
I’ve not got that exit-room anxiety, I’ve got the big eviction validation – I’m meant to be here, and everything like that. So I was really happy, I’d say around the aeroplane challenge, like week four.
George – do you know why he wasn’t at the finale? And was there anything he said that hasn’t been shown that caused him to be booted?
There were a few. There was one about a couple in the new Buzz Lightyear film. He was saying that it was, like, pornographic, to see two same-sex people kiss in a Disney movie.
And I was like, “But how many straight couples have you seen kiss in Disney movies?” And he was like, “Yeah, but it’s different.” And I was like, “Why is it different? Are you putting your ideas of sexuality onto this couple and sexualising them, when it’s actually just a situation?” So that was quite weird.
And then there was a comment about trans kids, saying, “No, they might turn out to be gay and regret it.” And I was like, “But that’s a really, really, really rare situation.” And at the time, the reason you hear about those stories being brought up so much is because they’re so rare that they get reported on. Whereas if it was happening a lot, you wouldn’t hear about it, because it’d be so fucking normal… But yeah, I don’t really think he believed that shit. I think it’s just kind of for conversation.
My proudest moment from the show, looking back, is seeing the positive things I’ve done for the community. And most of the trans community stuff was something I was really proud of, because I didn’t even think about that going in. I’m really grateful to have done that for the trans community, because that’s always a blessing.
What happened at the afterparty?
It was the tension. The drama happened on Late and Live, and that’s where it all kicked off. In between the ad breaks, it was me running off, sobbing in the middle of the whole situation, because it was so embarrassing to have that play out.
I really didn’t think it was going to go that way. I was uncomfortable, hence why my face was, like, set in stone. But I kept it short, I kept it as clear as I could. I was trying to keep it as amicable as possible, just so it would be calm. But Zelah didn’t feel the same way, and he even said to me he was venomous about that situation, so that was uncomfortable. Then for it to go that way, I just didn’t want to be in that situation anymore.
So I’d gone off, and that’s when it came back from the break I’d moved, because I was like, “I can’t. I don’t want to do this anymore.” I didn’t even want to be on Late and Live at that point, that was the drama. And then afterwards, it was just the case that we were completely separated – I wasn’t involved with anybody.
There was a point when everyone was on “Sweet Caroline” and we got pulled to the front for that, and I was like, “I’ll take part in this, sure.” But it was mostly just me, Emily, and Farmer Cameron. I only spoke to Farmer Cameron and Emily, obviously Nancy and Caroline.
It was really bad because I was in quite a good mood, and obviously I knew things that were uncomfortable with Zelah. But I got through it, so I really got to have every moment of Big Brother I ever wanted, all the evictions, the back ones, the cat walk was great.
And then being told I had to sit next to Zelah, because of the eviction order, I was like, “Why would you put me in this position?” And then, after all of that, to hear him physically call me out, being quite angry about it… I really wish it hadn’t gone down that way. So it wasn’t comfortable. It was really bad.
You said your dream is to be on Eurovision – what kind of song are you performing to represent the UK?
I’ve always dreamed of it, and I’ve always imagined quite a fucking performance – like, every bell and every whistle. Because I just think the gays, we love a show. And then my music’s always changed over the years. It’s gone from being quite… kind of pop, then quite Drag Race-y, then kind of a little bit countryfied now. So, I’ve got all these songs ready to go that are so different. I just want it to be spectacular whenever I do do it. And I could have done it.
Like, Big Brother happened, so if I did that, I can do Eurovision… it can take another 10 years, but I’ll still do it.
Who is your Eurovision icon?
I mean, Sam Ryder for the UK really smashed it. Måneskin are absolutely amazing. Olly Alexander has been so supportive of me throughout the years. I’m really grateful for that; actually, he was the first proper artist I ever had who recognised me and was really supportive. And then I’ve got Loreen — who, like, you can’t not love. Oh, and Jedward.
Has anyone from previous seasons – celebrity or main show – reached out with support since you left?
I got my dream follow and dream interaction from this. Let me tell you. My favourite country singer, Megan McKenna. I absolutely love her. I love Big Brother, I love everything she does. And when I went to go and see her open for Blue years ago. I love her so much I left when Blue came on… I got my dream follow. So even if the whole country hates me, I feel like I’ve got everything I needed. I’m on the map in Megan’s eyes.
I’ve known Danny Beard for years, Danny’s been amazing. Lily’s been great from the last season, and Ali has been amazing for me and Nancy, actually. So Lily and Ali have been really lovely. I think I’ll be on their podcast soon… teaser.
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