The 43-year-old, who found fame 15 years ago after winning the first series of Big Brother, will join Miss Battle Chantelle Mundy on Thursday 13 August at the popular summer festival.
Mr Phillips, a builder, went on to appear as a DIY expert on a number of shows after winning the reality TV competition. He also hosted ITV’s home improvement show Sixty-minute Makeover. He is also a patron of the Down’s Syndrome Association and was in Jersey earlier this year to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Les Amis, which supports Islanders with learning disabilities.
Battle of Flowers events director Jackie Donald said that after hearing about the traditional summer parade, Mr Phillips had been keen to take part. She added: ‘He is so enthusiastic, I think he’ll be a worthy Mr Battle. He’s actually over from the Wednesday before the parade, when he will meet exhibitors.
‘When we asked Miss Battle, Chantelle, who she would like to be Mr Battle, she picked him because she had met him while filming for the JEP at Les Amis, and she said what a fantastic Mr Battle he would make.’
Miss Mundy said: ‘I met Craig a while ago through work. He is an ambassador for Les Amis and I got to interview him and just thought he was such a lovely guy.
‘What I liked about him was that he won the first Big Brother and became quite famous, but didn’t use his fame just for personal glory, he used it to help charities, especially Down’s Syndrome charities, and I really admire that about him. It’s important for young people in Jersey to see that celebrities can use their position to help people and do some good.’
After visiting and talking to this year’s Battle of Flowers exhibitors, Mr Phillips will accompany Miss Battle at the parade on Thursday 13 August and the Moonlight Parade the following evening.
Following his victory on Big Brother, he donated his £70,000 winnings to friend Joanne Harris, a Down’s Syndrome sufferer, to help to pay for her heart and lung transplant.
- The 43-year-old Liverpudlian secured a bricklaying apprenticeship when he was 18 and went on to run a successful construction business throughout the 1990s, employing 30 tradesmen and operating with an annual turnover of more than £1 million.
- In the summer of 2000, Craig beat 45,000 applicants to appear alongside nine other contestants on Britain’s first reality TV show, Big Brother.
- Watched by over 10 million people, Big Brother was a huge success fascinating both the public and the media – and after more than nine weeks in the Big Brother house, Craig won the series with 3.7 million votes, £70,000 prize money and a National Television Award for Best Live Television Moment of the Year.
- Craig famously donated his entire winnings to childhood friend and down’s syndrome sufferer Joanne Harris. Within six days of leaving the show, he had raised £250,000 to pay for her life-saving heart and lung transplant.
- He went on to combine his knowledge of construction and media savvy to forge a career as one of the UK’s leading DIY and home improvement experts. He has since presented and produced over 850 DIY and home improvement shows for major broadcasters including BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Five, Sky One, UKTV Style and Discovery Realtime, which have been broadcast throughout Europe and as far as Korea, New Zealand and the USA.
- He made his stage debut in 2002, playing Buttons in pantomime production Cinderella and has since appeared in many more pantomimes.
