I'm a former Premier League star who turned down contract to go on Big Brother and earn £300k – I still regret it now | The Sun
JAMIE O'HARA has revealed he still regrets turning down a contract to appear on Celebrity Big Brother.
The former Premier League star was paid £300,000 to appear on the reality TV show in January 2017.
However, he had also been offered a short-term deal at then Championship side Burton.
Nigel Clough was keen to sign O'Hara after the ex-England under-21 international impressed on trial.
At the time, the midfielder was a free agent after leaving Gillingham in September 2016.
O'Hara instead opted to enter the Big Brother house, with the pair reuniting on talkSPORT on Friday.
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Recalling the incident, Clough said: "He said he was happy and he wanted to get back playing and I thought if we offer him a few hundred quid a week then Big Brother happened."
The former Brewers boss was offered an apology by O'Hara, though, as he gave his side of the story.
"Oh Nige I’m sorry mate," he replied. "I went up there [Burton] and Nige was brilliant with me to be fair because I hadn’t been playing. I was out and I was a little bit worried about my fitness.
"He asked me to come up there and I trained really well for a few days. He was like ‘look, I really want you, I need a midfielder’ but I’d already signed a contract to go in Big Brother!
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"I said to my agent ‘Nigel wants me to sign a contract. How much are they offering?’ He said, ‘a couple of grand a week’.
"It was £300,000 to go on Big Brother. I said sorry Nige, I’m off. I do apologise though Nige, I do regret that one."
Asked how long he spent on the show and why he did not sign for Burton afterwards, O'Hara added: "Three weeks and big Nige didn’t talk to me when I got out!"
The 37-year-old lasted 27 days before becoming the ninth housemate to be evicted.
Coleen Nolan would win the series – with Jedward finishing runners-up.
After the show, he joined non-league Billericay, spending two years with the club before retiring in 2019 aged 32.
O'Hara, who made 93 Premier League appearances for Tottenham, Wolves and Portsmouth, remained with Billericay until 2021 as both a player-coach and manager.
As for Burton, Clough's side went on to avoid relegation in their first Championship season by a single point, finishing 20th in the second tier.
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