Samuel Preston expresses his disdain for fame, stating, “I hated being famous, I hated, hated, hated it.” Two decades ago, Preston, who adopted his surname as a nod to Morrissey, was immersed in a significant level of public attention. He gained prominence as a member of the Worthing band the Ordinary Boys, whose politically aware ska-infused indie-punk music garnered a dedicated fanbase known as the Ordinary Army, particularly with their hit “Boys Will Be Boys.” However, it was his appearance on the 2006 season of Celebrity Big Brother, alongside contestant Chantelle Houghton\u2014who was introduced as a faux celebrity to engage the B-listers\u2014that propelled his public profile to new heights.<\/p>\n
After exiting the reality show, Preston recalls, “I was on loads of Prozac. I was in a weird space.” Following years of fluctuating residence in the United States, becoming a successful songwriter for various artists\u2014including Kylie Minogue, Cher, Olly Murs, Liam Payne, and Jessie Ware\u2014and overcoming a near-fatal experience with OxyContin addiction, he is now set to revive his career with the Ordinary Boys. The band’s latest single, “Peer Pressure,” marks their first release since 2015, aside from a Christmas collaboration with Olly Murs.<\/p>\n
Excited and dressed in a Martin Parr-themed T-shirt, with cropped bleached hair, the 44-year-old Preston was at the Strongroom venue in East London. Just two days prior, the Ordinary Boys performed their first concert in ten years at this location. While he holds no nostalgic feelings for the mid-2000s UK indie scene\u2014asserting, “literally the only time there\u2019s been no redeeming music except for about three bands”\u2014he acknowledges that upon revisiting the Ordinary Boys’ 2004 debut album, Over the Counter Culture, and its 2005 sequel, Brassbound, he recognized their underlying messages. “Every song [on the debut] was: don\u2019t get a job, capitalism is bad. We were a political band in our way,” he noted, reflecting on how he hadn’t fully grasped their significance at the time.<\/p>\n
Preston accepted the offer to join Celebrity Big Brother without hesitation, stating, “I\u2019m very experiential. I\u2019ll do anything twice.” Although his bandmates were displeased, he rationalized his decision as an “art piece” reminiscent of Warhol. The cast of that season included notable figures such as Pete Burns, whom he described as “the coolest guy ever,” and George Galloway, characterized by “evil energy.” He also recalled a brief appearance by Jimmy Savile, which left him feeling disturbed.<\/p>\n
However, it was the romantic tension between Preston and Houghton that captured the public’s attention, particularly given that Preston had a girlfriend, Camille Aznar, watching from home. This situation thrust him into a media frenzy. “It quickly became a nightmare,” he admitted.<\/p>\n
Following his stint on Big Brother, one of his first actions was to participate in a revealing photoshoot for the Sunday Mirror. “They made me take my clothes off. And I didn\u2019t want to. It was so uncomfortable,” he recounted, recalling his topless appearance on the front page alongside images of Houghton and Aznar, portraying him as caught between two women. His mother even has a framed copy of that front page in her home, which he finds distressing. “I don\u2019t think she realizes quite how triggering it is every time I take a piss,” he remarked.<\/p>\n
In August 2006, just eight months after meeting her, he married Houghton. “Of course we fell in love. We trauma-bonded through this intense experience,” he explained. They became the celebrity couple of the time, and despite his current claims of disliking fame, Preston seemed to revel in the attention: from television appearances to magazine covers and film events. He and Houghton reportedly sold their wedding photos to OK! Magazine for \u00a3300,000 each, a decision he stands by. “All these footballers would do it, why not me?” he questioned.<\/p>\n
Preston asserts that their 2006 album, How to Get Everything You Ever Wanted in Ten Easy Steps, was created quickly with the assistance of close friend Will Self, as a commentary on celebrity culture from within the spotlight. “I said, \u2018I\u2019m gonna make an album about this insane world.\u2019 But I found it intense and cruel and weird,” he explained, noting that the song “Lonely at the Top” reflects the confusion of being surrounded by people who may not genuinely care for him.<\/p>\n
When asked if he came across as genuinely fame-hungry rather than a self-aware participant in a Warholian experiment, Preston conceded, “I think that\u2019s very fair, but I don\u2019t know if those things cancel themselves out.” He recognized that while he was curious about fame, he did not initially anticipate the impacts it would have on his life. “I was a nerd at school. A spiky-haired, total background guy. No one ever fancied me. So when I stepped out of Big Brother it was like, \u2018I\u2019m in, I\u2019ve made it!\u2019” he shared.<\/p>\n
However, he quickly discovered that the celebrity world was profoundly unyielding. “The only way to survive seemed to be to contort myself to fit within the boundaries of whatever they wanted. I relinquished control,” he reflected.<\/p>\n
Being constantly pursued by paparazzi and having his trash rummaged through became a regular part of his life. “It was that Nuts and Zoo Weekly magazine era. The way that people were talked about\u2014\u2018Preston looks fat today\u2019\u2014it was just awful,” he lamented. Additionally, his phone was hacked, and in 2018, he was one of 16 celebrities to settle claims against News Group Newspapers, receiving significant compensation. “Phone hacking was a huge part of that whole ordeal,” he stated, expressing the paranoia that came with knowing paparazzi were often already waiting for him at his destinations. “It really made me doubt everyone. \u2018Who the fuck told you that we were going to be here?\u2019” he questioned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Samuel Preston expresses his disdain for fame, stating, “I hated being famous, I hated, hated, hated it.” Two decades ago, Preston, who adopted his surname as a nod to Morrissey, was immersed in a significant level of public attention. He gained prominence as a member of the Worthing band the Ordinary Boys, whose politically aware […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10127,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[631,1050,194,724,88],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uk-culture","category-uk-indie","category-uk-music","category-uk-pop-and-rock","category-uk"],"yoast_head":"\n