A house party


09 July 2003 12:18

Big Brother "bore" Jon Tickle will return to his native Norwich this weekend to join drinkers in a city bar.

The former Earlham High School pupil, was branded dull and boring for his antics on the show, which saw him nominated for eviction every week by his fellow housemates.

But the 29-year-old won an army of fans on the outside though with his bizarre behaviour on the Channel Four show, not least The Sun newspaper which launched a Save Jon campaign to keep him in the house.

Jon became a loveable cult hero for his tendency to talk about obscure science fiction films and the laws of physics.

His number finally came up last month when he and Frederico were kicked out in a double eviction special.

Despite missing out on the Big Brother prize, Jon will make a triumphant return to Norwich on Saturday when he appears Brannigans in Riverside from around 9.30pm.

Erin Metcalfe, of Brannigans, said the surprise visit had been a last minute decision because Jon will be attending a business conference in the area. He will be paid a "substantial" fee for the appearance.

She said: "They sprang it on us yesterday that Jon would be coming. It is good for us because we had Jade last year and she really drew in the crowds.

"I think he will be chatting to people and signing some autographs, while I suspect the DJ will fire off a couple of questions for him to answer.

"He is coming up to Norwich for a conference on Friday and he agreed to come and drop in for a while."

Jon's father Dr Ken Tickle was headmaster at Earlham High and mum Edith was also involved in education in the city.

The pair, now retired, still live in Norwich in Earlham Road and Jon's identical brother Matt appealed to people in the city to stop him getting booted out.

After his Norwich childhood, Jon went to Leicester University where he studied physics before heading down to Staines where he landed a £70,000 a year post with British Gas a job he gave up to go on Big Brother.

Before entering the house the 6ft 2ins boffin signed up to Friends Reunited asking former schoolmates to get in touch.

He posted a cheeky message saying: "You'll probably see quite a bit of me this year and I would like to see you all too."

Staff from Brannigans are distributing flyers around the city, which will get people free entry before 10pm.

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