The witty, bitchy, eccentric winner of Big Brother Australia 2012 has exited the successful Channel 9 comeback show with a bang, and he’s here to do some explaining. As if being the first openly gay Big Brother winner Australia wasn’t enough, Benjamin Norris dropped to one knee at the live finale and popped the question to his long term boyfriend, Ben.
Despite this highly controversial act being seen as a political protest in favour of same-sex marriage rights, Norris insists it’s nothing of the sort.

‘People are trying to push me into being the spokesperson for the gay community and that’s not where I want to be. In reality I’m one gay story out of Australia’, said Norris.

Regardless of Norris’ resistance to being a poster boy for the cause, the 32 year old account manager hopes his proposal will normalise gay marriage to the Australian families and children that tuned in, ‘even though it’s not legalised, we’re presenting something of the norm. Who’s going to stop Ben and I sitting on the couch at the end of the day being a married couple.

‘Channel 9 wanted a PG rated Big Brother that’s for family and they’ve put me on the show and presented me as a gay character for families to be able to sit at home and say “that’s Benjamin, he’s gay, and that’s Benjamin’s boyfriend Ben, Benjamin’s from Big Brother and he’s normal, Benjamin proposed to his boyfriend and they’re getting married.” It’s speaking for itself without it being a political magnet’, he said.

Fighting back the accusations of being a bully in the house, Norris insists that his opinionated and outspoken persona was often portrayed incorrectly and misinterpreted. Although often viewed as targeting fellow housemate Estelle, Norris insists that the term ‘bullying’ is unjust.

‘They decided to portray Estelle in a different way. I’m not saying that Channel 9 has manipulated the audience in making Estelle look better than she was but they really did plate it up like she was the victim, like I was going well out of my way to destroy this girl.’

So what is the young Melbourne man going to be doing with $250,000? Setting up a family home like any other Australian couple,  ‘that Australian dream that I think everyone wants, everyone wants to find love and everyone wants to start a family. Everyone wants their mum to become a grandma and to pass on the values that their parents have taught them, and I don’t know, be normal’.

Read our previous story: Big Brother Contestant Wins and Proposes

Nadine Walker