Kate Lawler has become the first woman to win Channel 4's reality TV series Big Brother.

The 22-year-old IT worker from Beckenham, south London, spent 64 days in a camera-filled house at Elstree Studios, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire.

Voting breakdown: The final pair

8,572,373 votes cast 3,106,077 for Kate 2,244,788 for Jonny Of these: 3,372,382 were by phone 1,107,821 by text message 870,662 by interactive TV

She beat fellow contestants Jade Goody, Alex Sibley and Jonny Regan in Friday night's live final to win the show's �70,000 prize.

The show's viewers cast 8.5 million votes for their favourite by telephone, text message and through interactive TV.

Jade was the first contestant to be evicted at 2100 BST.

Alex followed her out of the show an hour later, with Jonny leaving at 2230.

Kate embraced Jonny after she won

Kate left the house to a firework display at 2315, as members of her family rushed to embrace her.

She follows in the footsteps of 2000's winner Craig Phillips, and last year's victor Brian Dowling.

As presenter Davina McCall announced the winner, Kate gasped and hugged runner-up Jonny before they danced together and fell on the floor.

A record 8,572,373 votes were cast in the final programme - and 22,739,999 were cast during the entire series, six million more than last year's run.

Interviewed inside the house, Kate said she "never expected" to win the show.

Appearing to be overwhelmed by her victory, she told McCall: "I don't want to go outside."

Jonny greets the press outside the house

Asked if the experience had affected her, Kate said: "It opened my eyes a bit more but I know I'm still the same person I was."

Jonny - who had 2.2 million votes to Kate's 3.1 million - paid tribute to his rival, calling her "my tower of strength". The pair hugged and danced on stage after Kate left the house.

Emotional eviction

Earlier in the evening, a clearly emotional Jade ran to greet her family - and comedian Graham Norton - when she was evicted from the house.

But the 21-year-old dental nurse from Bermondsey, south London, had trouble holding onto her strapless top, which fell down as soon as her eviction was announced.

Interviewed after her eviction, Jade burst into tears when she saw footage of Hollywood star Johnny Depp willing her on to win.

Jade's votes

1,404,422 votes overall 843,741 by phone 337,287 by text 223,394 byTV

Quizzed about her behaviour in the house, she said: "I was a bit of a bitch in the house, but you saw all sides of me in there - what you see is what you get with me."

Some viewers abused her from outside the house, but she said this had not bothered her.

"All I heard was 'Jade, you're a minger,'" she said, adding sarcastically, "Yeah, I'm gutted."

"Just for being here tonight, I'm a winner."

Alex, a 23-year-old model from Hornchurch, Essex, admitted he had found life in the house hard.

Jade came fourth, but still had 20% of the vote

"I found I'm more grumpy than I thought I was. There weren't many times I thought I was really enjoying it - I thought I'd lost a bit of my fun," he said.

Firefighter Jonny, 29, from County Durham, admitted feeling self-conscious inside the house.

"Whatever anyone says, you're always aware of the cameras," he said.

More viewers

Alex's votes

1,817,086 overall 1,239,175 by phone 341,239 by text 303,672 by TV

The original 12 contestants entered the house on 24 May, although one - Sunita Sharma - quit after less than a week, and a second - Sandy Cumming - walked out after 20 days.

Both were replaced, and while Sunita was happy to star as a guest on the final show, Sandy declined to appear.

Although the third series of Big Brother has been lambasted by critics - many say producers have attempted to exert too much control over the contestants - Channel 4 has been toasting improved viewing figures.

Alex Sibley admitted life was hard

More than seven million people watched public schoolboy Tim Culley get evicted last week, and the viewing figures for the nightly shows are up 24% on last year, with an average of 5.4 million tuning in.

Channel 4's pay-TV offshoot E4 saw ratings for Big Brother's Little Brother rise by 200% compared with 2001's figures.

The network, which recorded its first financial loss in a decade earlier this year, is also set to share in millions of pounds in revenue from telephone votes and subscriptions to the show's website. A 30-second advertising spot during Big Brother cost up to �100,000.

More text messages were sent for Big Brother 3 than for any other event in Europe, while page impressions on the website were up by a third.

Channel 4 commissioning editor Julian Bellamy hit back at the show's critics, hailing the programme's success.

"The show appeals to a generation of viewers who are tired of watching programmes that tell them what to think and who they should like.

"They're an audience who constantly search for programming that reflects their world, and not a world that some cultural commentators think young people should inhabit," he said.