Former Big Brother winner Reggie Bird scammed out of $40K

The dark side of Big Brother: Reggie Bird reveals how she was scammed out of $40K after winning the 2003 series

Reggie Bird has revealed the harrowing aftermath of winning Big Brother in 2003.

The 46-year-old explained on the Not Here to Make Friends podcast last month how she was scammed out of money by a man who claimed to be a television producer.

Reggie handed over more than $40,000 to fund a pilot for a travel show she believed she would be starring in.   

The dark side of Big Brother: Reggie Bird (pictured), 46, revealed on the Not Here to Make Friends podcast last month, how she was scammed out of $40K after winning the 2003 series

The former fish and chip shop owner from Tasmania spent most of the $250,000 prize money on paying off her mortgage and her divorce from husband Adrian Bird. 

‘I spent all the money I had left on rent, and getting ripped off by that a***hole who made out he was a TV producer,’ Reggie said on the podcast. 

‘I thought it was legit. He said he didn’t have money and asked to borrow five grand and another five grand and then it all snowballed.’  

The mother-of-two also revealed how being a celebrity exposed her to stalkers, and made it difficult to find a job as no one would take her seriously. 

Prize money: The former fish and chip shop owner spent most of the $250,000 prize money on paying off her mortgage and her divorce from husband Adrian Bird. Pictured in 2003

Prize money: The former fish and chip shop owner spent most of the $250,000 prize money on paying off her mortgage and her divorce from husband Adrian Bird. Pictured in 2003

Scam: Reggie handed over more than $40,000 to a man who claimed to be a TV producer, to fund a pilot for a travel show she believed she would be starring in. 'I thought it was legit,' she said on the podcast last month

Scam: Reggie handed over more than $40,000 to a man who claimed to be a TV producer, to fund a pilot for a travel show she believed she would be starring in. ‘I thought it was legit,’ she said on the podcast last month 

Reggie is now legally blind after being diagnosed with a degenerative eye condition called retinitis pigmentosa.

She has lost 90 per cent of her vision and walks with the aid of a cane.  

However, in an interview with Woman’s Day in April, Reggie revealed she had regained some of her eyesight thanks to medical advances. 

Reggie told the magazine that her eye specialist had told her part of her vision could be restored thanks to a ‘groundbreaking’ new procedure.

Health issues: Reggie is now legally blind after being diagnosed with a degenerative eye condition called retinitis pigmentosa

Health issues: Reggie is now legally blind after being diagnosed with a degenerative eye condition called retinitis pigmentosa 

The doctor said the procedure would involve removing the cataracts she had developed, and if that didn’t work he would follow up with something called ‘the piggyback technique’.

‘When my eye specialist said there’s a small chance he can restore part of my sight, I couldn’t believe it,’ she said.

Reggie revealed in April it had been three months since she’d had the procedure, and she was due to have another surgery in the near future.

Aid: The Tasmanian native has lost 90 per cent of her vision and walks with the aid of a cane

Aid: The Tasmanian native has lost 90 per cent of her vision and walks with the aid of a cane 

‘It’s like a fogginess has lifted, is the best way to describe it,’ she explained.

‘It still needs tweaking, but we’re getting there. I will never regain my full sight – but that’s okay – it just means I can’t see the increasing number of wrinkles I’m getting!’ 

Meanwhile, her son Lucas, 11, suffers from cystic fibrosis, an inherited disorder that causes severe damage to the lungs, digestive system and other organs in the body.

Advances: However, in an interview with Woman's Day in April, Reggie revealed she had regained some of her eyesight thanks to medical advances

Advances: However, in an interview with Woman’s Day in April, Reggie revealed she had regained some of her eyesight thanks to medical advances