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Before meeting Shabby Katchadourian, her management informs me that she’s always late, writes Sophie Wilkinson. So when she arrives before me, gesticulating exuberantly as she gives a tourist directions to the nearby London Eye, I’m pleasantly surprised.

The 24-year-old’s four week stint in the final series of Big Brother had thousands of young lesbians across the nation glued to their screens. Her wardrobe, today consisting of her grandfather’s hat, a military jacket, braces, bandanas and ankle-swingers, betrays more than a “vaudevillian punk” aesthetic. She’s cute, androgynous, cheeky and bloody entertaining, all things onscreen lesbians aren’t allowed to be.

As her legion of supporters campaign for her to enter Ultimate Big Brother [As BB11 culminates, the 'ultimate' housemates of the past decade will be carted back in for two weeks], why does she think she has such a dedicated fanbase?

“Probably because lesbians are underrepresented in the media. Apart from in Skins, there haven’t really been any young lesbians on television, visible lesbians at least. And I’m basically like a 15-year-old, so I guess they can relate”

And has her presence helped them to relate more to themselves - to come out?

“Yes. It’s the best part of the fame - I’ve had letters from all sorts of women who have said now they realise it’s ok to be a lesbian, and not deny your sexuality. And I think it’s great - if you can help a few people by being a bellend in a house for a month, then wicked!”

Caoimhe

Shabby knows that her sexual orientation was “never a choice”. However, there is one person who fans hoped Shabby could ‘turn’: fellow housemate Caoimhe. The two were inseparable in the house, and, despite the Irish student’s flirtations, she remains in a straight relationship.

As a jokey, ice-breaking question, the intention is to ask Shabby to spell Caoimhe’s name. But it is clear that she knows how: the Irish lass’ moniker could be written in the most elaborate hieroglyphics and Shabby would still know its depiction by heart.

“It’s a bit strange. I usually fancy straight girls is because they look feminine, whereas Caoihme is a straight girl who looks like a lesbian.”

“I still well heart her. I’m sure there’s something there. She’s a good Catholic Irish girl, though. And it’s a shame her boyfriend’s lovely, otherwise I’d go to Ireland and kidnap her!”

But surely she’s got women fawning over her now?

“Yeah. But I haven’t kissed anyone, let alone slept with anyone since leaving the house”

This is the first part of our chat that Shabby starts to fidget, something noticeable in her televised interviews after she walked from the house. Is she hurting over Caoimhe? Maybe, or perhaps the distraction’s down to the Diet Coke and coffee combo she’s sipping.

Drugs, wanking and Caoimhe

As every red-top pointed out once they got hold of her Gaydargirls profile, a double-whammy of caffeine is small fry for the squatter:

“I went through a very, very, very difficult time from when I was 18 to 20, I didn’t act, I didn’t sing with my band. I did drugs every day. But my usage now is as it says: recreational, social. It doesn’t hinder what I’m doing.”

Does she know of the recent study finding LGBT people more likely to take drugs than their straight counterparts? “That’s really interesting, and, I suppose, I know gay people have kids, but we’re less likely to have children.

“So we go into middle age a lot later, we tend to work in the media and creative jobs, [drug use] is a circumstantial thing.”

“The only thing I was worried about is my teenage following. I don’t want to advocate drug taking.”

Another habit the tabloids have dragged up, is, um…wanking. Her Myspace page claims she requires it thrice daily. Didn’t that make sharing a bed with Caoimhe torturous?

“Basically I like sex. Of course it’s difficult, even though I’d had sex just before I went in. She used to spoon me in the dark, and I was like ‘For god’s sake!’

“I don’t think she meant to lead me on…”

Maybe Caoimhe, aged 22, is a tad immature?

“But that’s the best thing about her. She can be a real hard-faced cow, but the essential part is geeky and sweet and very good-natured. There’s a certain naivety about her; I wish she would show that side more”

And what about all the “poontang” Shabby got before entering the house? Did any kiss-and-tells upset her?

“No, I was really lucky, all of them were with girls I’ve never seen before. Apart from one ex who I was furious with for slagging off Caoimhe. But yeah, it was all of these glamour models with huge boobs. I thought ‘Like I could get you!? Thanks, love!’”

The future

Shabby assures me she’s unlike other contestants, and “never went into the house to win”. With a talk show in the works, will her fame outlive summertime tabloid-fodder?

“Longevity and credibility mean more than money to me, and I can’t believe I’m saying that after leaving Big Brother. But I act in art house films, I make art house films, I DJ, am in a punk rock band…”

“I’d like to follow Kate Lawler’s footsteps in that she’s detached herself from Big Brother and is successful separately. I want to be Shabby from Voodoo Hussy [her vaudevillian punk band], not Shabby the ex-Big Brother housemate.”

Shabby’s promptness to the interview wasn’t the only pleasant surprise of the day. She’s not angry, until we discuss the axing of the UK Film Council. And she’s not particularly self-obsessed, asking: “So what do you do when you’re not interviewing Z-list celebrities?”

To be outspoken and self-assured is difficult enough for any young woman in the public eye, let alone a lesbian who doesn’t conform to mainstream feminine gender roles. But Shabby does all of this, and she does it with charm, humour and self-effacing jibes. She takes the burden of representing such a large, neglected demographic in her clownish stride.

Posted in: Exclusives, Tv & Film |