Why Donna Preston vowed ‘never to do Celebrity Big Brother’ before U-turn
She's now rubbing shoulders with JoJo Siwa and Trisha Goddard.
Celebrity Big Brother 2025 star Donna Preston once had a valid reason never to enter the house – until she had a change of heart.
Now, the comedian and actor, 38, is mingling with the likes of Mickey Rourke, JoJo Siwa and Michael Fabricant on the ITV show in what has been branded the ‘best’ lineup ever.
She was even starstruck by fellow housemate Patsy Palmer, accidentally calling her Bianca, her former EastEnders character, before learning that Patsy isn’t her real name – it’s Julie.
But not long before meeting her soap idol, Donna had no interest in becoming a Celebrity Big Brother housemate, fearing it would be ‘too exposing.’
However, she decided she was willing to go ‘out of her comfort zone’ for the payday. According to reports, the Brassic actor is earning a fee of £30,000.
A friend told The Sun they were ‘really shocked’ by Donna’s U-turn, but she ‘couldn’t turn down’ the cash.
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Previous Page Next Page But she had a change of heart when she saw the fee (Picture: Vianney Le Caer/Shutterstock for)However, it fraction of what some of her fellow housemates are earning, with Mickey said to be banking a cheque of an eye-watering £500,000, while Siwa is set to net £400,000.
The friend said: ‘I was really shocked by Donna’s U-turn. While she has been a regular guest on Late and Live, she has always said she wouldn’t be able to be a housemate as she would feel too exposed being in there.
‘She obviously had a change of heart when she was offered the money and couldn’t turn down the payday, but this is definitely out of her comfort zone. It’s hard for comedians to be “on” 24/7.’
Before entering the Celebrity Big Brother house, The Sandman actor said she reckoned ‘rude’ people will ‘grate’ on her but has a strong tactic for avoiding conflict.
This might be useful for dealings with Rourke, 72, who has been reprimanded by ITV over his homophobic remarks to fellow housemate Jojo Siwa, 21, and was previously called out for his ‘creepy’ behaviour towards AJ Odudu.
Donna is an accomplished actor and has appeared in Hollywood films and a Netflix show (Picture: Can Nguyen/Shutterstock)Donna said: ‘If I find that something is getting to me, I’ll move myself away from the situation.
‘Everyone’s got their habits, I understand that. I’ll just spend my time in the bath.’
Donna has appeared in a number of films and TV shows, including The Hitman’s Bodyguard, with Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L Jackson, and Holmes & Watson with Will Ferrell.
She has also starred in Coronation Street, Fantastic Beasts, Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman on Netflix and alongside Joel Dommett in Hey Tracey on ITV.
Michael McIntrye fans will recognise Donna for executing pranks on the general public on Big Show.
Also in the Celebrity Big Brother house are Chesney Hawkes, Trisha Goddard, Jack P Shepherd, Ella Rae Wise, Daley Thompson, Danny Beard, Chris Hughes and Angellica Bell.
Last year, reality TV star David Potts won the show.
Metro has contacted Donna’s rep for comment.
Celebrity Big Brother airs tonight from 9pm on ITV and ITVX.
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