I turned down a £300k offer from a Championship team after playing for Spurs. Celebrity Big Brother transaction
Since Jamie O’Hara’s time on Celebrity Big Brother, football and reality TV have become more closely associated.
While lower league players have recently postponed their football careers in order to try their hand at romance in the Love Island Villa, former Manchester United player Lee Sharpe joined Celebrity Love Island 1 in 2005.
Late in his career, O’Hara chose to decline a move to Burton.
Following his impressive performance during a trial under then-manager Nigel Clough, O’Hara, who started at Tottenham and later played for Portsmouth, Wolves, and Blackpool, was handed a short-term contract with then-championship Burton Albion in 2017.
However, after leaving Gillingham to take a job on Celebrity Big Brother, talkSPORT’s Sports Bar host declined an offer.
For the first time since the proposed transfer, O’Hara and Clough met on talkSPORT in December, during which they reminisced about the circumstances behind the former midfielder’s rejection.
“He expressed his happiness and desire to resume playing, and I reasoned that if we give him a few hundred pounds a week, Big Brother would happen,” Clough stated.
O’Hara and used the occasion to extend a sincere apology to the former Liverpool and Nottingham Forest player.
He apologized to Nige before giving his account of what had happened.
To be fair, Nige was quite patient with me when I went up there [to Burton] because I hadn’t been playing. I was concerned about my fitness level while I was out.
“He invited me up there, and for a few days, I trained quite hard. I had already signed a deal to participate in Big Brother, but he was like, “Look, I really want you, I need a midfielder!”
O’Hara received £300,000 to participate on Big Brother.
When Clough left Big Brother, he didn’t answer the phone to O’Hara.
When Clough left Big Brother, he didn’t answer the phone to O’Hara.
“Nigel wants me to sign a contract,” I told my agent. What is their offer amount? “A couple of grand a week,” he continued.
The cost to appear on Big Brother was £300,000. “Sorry, Nige, I have to go,” I said.
Following Chelsea’s defeat in the Carabao Cup final, Jason Cundy rushes out of The Sports Bar as a Liverpool fan plays a violin and leaves a voicemail for the Chelsea fan.
“But, Nige, I really apologize; I really regret that one.”
After the show, O’Hara was questioned about his time in the Big Brother house and the reason he was unable to sign with the club.
“Three weeks and big Nige didn’t talk to me when I got out,” he retorted.
O’Hara afterwards became a member of Billericay Town, where he managed the team after playing. After that concluded in 2020, he became a member of the talkSPORT family.
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