Jonny Regan, the 29-year-old fireman from the north east of England, is the oldest person remaining in the Big Brother house and the only finalist not from the Greater London area.

Jonny lives with his mother Margaret, 52, and his retired father John, 53, in the family home in Trimdon Grange, Co Durham.

He has been with fianc�e Joanne Llewellyn, 30, a chartered accountant from Hartlepool, for eight years.

Big Brother may have granted Jonny's long-time wish - to be famous.

His last brush with celebrity was playing for Tony Blair at a Labour Party charity dinner, in a band with his brother David.

He kept a relatively low profile in the house to begin with, quickly forging close friendships with early evictee Alison Hammond and fellow finalist Kate Lawler.

All my headlines will be, 'Jonny - the 29 year old ex-fireman'

Jonny Regan

He has cultivated an avuncular personality, offering housemates a shoulder to cry on and keeping the others entertained with jokes and silly games.

He even gave up his place on the "rich" side of the house when it was partitioned to Jade Goody.

But his fellow housemates seemed to feel his behaviour was a cynical attempt to win over viewers - and accused him of playing to the cameras.

Like Alex Sibley, Jonny has survived multiple evictions, seeing off Lee Davey, Sophie Pritchard and, in the week when four housemates were nominated for the chop, Adele Roberts.

Jonny Regan: The fireman has missed his family

But he fell out with Spencer Smith and PJ Ellis after the basketball task that separated the house into rich and poor sides - both claimed that Jonny had cheated at the task.

Sandy Cumming told Jonny that he found his sense of humour "basic".

Jonny came close to quitting the house halfway through the series - but his genial personality and chirpy demeanour have helped him find a role in the house.