Woman wins UK Big Brother prize

LONDON, England -- A 22-year-old IT consultant has become the first woman to win in the British version of the reality TV show, Big Brother.

Kate Lawler, from Kent, gasped and hugged her fellow final housemate 29-year-old Jonny Regan before they danced together and fell on the floor.

She was the last of the 14 contestants to leave the house after 64 days of scrutiny in the constant gaze of the television cameras.

Earlier, model Alex Sibley, 23, and dental nurse Jade Goody, 21, were evicted from the house in a dramatic finale to the show's third UK series.

Massive crowds of banner-waving fans, including some who had camped overnight to secure the best spots, gathered outside the custom-built house in Elstree, Hertfordshire.

First to go was Jade, from south-east London, despite support from celebrity backers including Graham Norton, who met her as she left the house, and Hollywood star Johnny Depp.

She was followed a short time later by Alex, from Essex, who received 27.4 percent of the total poll, with 1,817,086 votes.

Official figures revealed that Kate received 3,106,077 votes and Jonny 2,244,788.

Overall for this week's final poll, a total of 8,572,373 votes were cast by the public.

As each of the final four left, they were interviewed host by Davina McCall about their time in the house.

Jade said she had been scared about leaving the house after she had heard shouting about her from people outside. "I heard horrible things, that I was a minger. I was a bit gutted," she said.

She was also tackled on the tricky subject of her under-the-sheet antics with PJ during their third week in the house.

"He is such a nice person. I didn't fancy him like I wanted to go out with him. I didn't think we were compatible," she said.

Looking slightly shell-shocked and lost for words, Alex said he had realised during his time in the house that he was more grumpy than he thought he was.

For the final interview of this year's Big Brother, Davina went into the house to speak to Kate, who wins a 70,000 prize.

All the housemates, apart from Sandy, were reunited as a huge firework display marked the end of this year's hugely popular series.