‘This is for the future of my kids’: The single mum who just won Big Brother

After a short 30-day season, Network 10’s reboot of Big Brother has crowned a winner: Coco Beeby, the surfy, single 30-year-old mother of three from Tweed Heads. In Monday night’s live finale, she took home $135,000, beating runner-ups Emily Dale, a 30-year-old Perth schoolteacher, and Colin Ridley, a 21-year-old aspiring MMA fighter from Wollongong.

Across the season, Beeby emerged as a fan favourite for her heart-on-sleeve attitude and her will-they-won’t-they relationship with 25-year-old tradie Bruce Dunne, with the two kissing in the final days.

Chatting the morning after her win, Beeby talks to Jared Richards about her game plan (or lack of one), how there’s no bad blood between her and fellow housemate Holly Young as well as her future with Dunne.

Congratulations! It’s been just over 12 hours since you’ve won. How have you celebrated?

Wow. It feels like two hours. I haven’t had that much time with my family just yet, so I’m really looking forward to that. I got off stage, hugged my kids and didn’t want to let them go. I told them, “Don’t worry, I’m not going back into the house!” Then I was taken to the hotel because I had an early start. But I’ve been lapping up a king-size bed to meself!

Did you expect to win?

Honestly, I didn’t think I was gonna win because I didn’t know how to play the game. I went into [the Diary Room] so many times going, “Please, what do I do here? I don’t know how to strategise. I don’t know how to do this.” And Big Brother couldn’t give me anything, so I just went with my heart on everything that I did in the house. It got me over the finish line.

With Dreamworld’s Tail Spin ride going over the house and people shouting out to the housemates, you must have had some idea of who was popular with the public?

It was really an even playing field! You couldn’t tell just by that ride. It was so overwhelming, too – sometimes people would yell my name, so I’d run inside.

Otherwise, would you forget that you were being watched?

Yes, absolutely! I thought there’d be memes of me picking my nose or pulling a wedgie out. There are cameras in every nook and cranny of the house, so there are eyes on you 24/7. But you get used to it after a while. And you don’t know how many people are watching.

On stage after winning, you said, “I just went in there, and I was myself. My whole life, I’ve been myself, and I was never accepted. So to be accepted by all of you…” What were you referring to?

My entire life, I’ve been told I’m “too much” or “too loud”. I’ve always just felt a little bit alone. To be chosen, because of my personality, to go on a show like this, it already felt like, “Oh my god, this is the bravest thing I’ve ever done”.

You didn’t have a game plan. But did you have things you didn’t want to discuss, or a sense that you didn’t want to ruffle feathers?

In the first week I definitely sat back a bit and just scanned the room. What I found was a lot of people would go to other parties with their worries, whereas if I had something to say, I would go straight to the person. It was so much easier just to be direct and upfront about things.

We saw you struggle with being away from your kids. What was the second-hardest part of Big Brother?

I’ve always struggled with confrontation. I feel like I got better at it on the show. You have to withstand really hard, confronting conversations while not being able to walk away. Allana was my saviour in those moments. She could tell when I was retreating, and she’d always bring me back. Pretty sure I hid myself behind a couch at one stage and yelled out, “Allana help me!”

Your relationship with Holly was fascinating. You gravitated towards each other quickly, but later grew apart and clashed repeatedly. You called her out for being self-centred, and for offhand mean comments about Emily not being the type of girl who was invited to parties…

Look, I just want to say, it’s water off a duck’s back now that we’re out. I don’t have anything bad to say about Holly. We’ve just very different individuals, with different values and morals in life. Not to say that she’s a bad person or anything. We’re just very different.

Why was it important to you to hold a house meeting after that comment about Emily?

If people are being unkind and speaking out of turn, I take on a duty of care for that person – especially Emily, who had no idea about what was being said. That broke my heart. She’s the kindest soul. If Holly had taken a second to get to know Emily, she would never say something like that. I think it’s important to speak up for people.

Let’s talk about Bruce. You were both resistant to an in-house romance and even nominated each other week one, but something blossomed. What happened?

Oh my god, I tried so hard! I didn’t want to go into the house and find a relationship. I went in there head-strong, going “Nah, I don’t care how good-looking the guy is. I don’t care.” And then slowly it started to unravel. We were just drawn to each other.

When he had that outburst [during week three’s taxing Grand BB Hotel challenge in which he swore repeatedly at the housemates], I retracted a bit. But after he did some self-reflecting, I could see that wasn’t really who he was. It was really endearing. I’m glad I gave him another chance to get to understand him.

Early on, Bruce bonded with Michael, who was voted out first, and both voiced similar traditional positions on gender roles in relationships. But he seemed to shift away from those views.

I had a big conversation with him about it, saying, “You’re allowed to speak your piece, but just be aware when people are saying things, and you go along with it, it reflects on you.” He started to tap into who he really was, and I think that showed towards the end of the show.

Do you and Bruce have any plans for life on the outside? Sorry, it’s a very invasive question!

It is a very invasive question, isn’t it? [Laughs] Look mate, I haven’t even had time to scratch meself yet, so I’m not too sure. I can’t really give you an answer on that one just yet. But I’m looking forward to getting to know Bruce more in the outside world, without cameras all around us and without people putting their nose in it! Nah, just joking.

You auditioned for Big Brother in 2014 when you were just 19. How do you think you would have fared?

I am so glad that I didn’t make it back then. I definitely wouldn’t have been prepared for what Big Brother had in store. I was only just ready now. I feel like if I didn’t have my kids in the back of my mind during the whole experience, I don’t think I could have got through.

What will you do with the $135,000 prize?

When you say that number out loud, it sounds crazy to me! But this is for the future of my kids. I just want to be able to support them, and this money will be the first step in creating a really beautiful future.

What’s next for you? Some people use Big Brother to launch a media career or do something in the public eye. Is that something you’re interested in?

I’ve never really thought that far ahead, to be honest. All I want right now is just to get back to normality and have my kids in my arms. Whatever comes next is a bonus.

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